BlackRock Funds - Core Equity Statement of Additional Information

497 1 d497.htm BLACKROCK FUNDS - CORE EQUITY STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BlackRock Funds - Core Equity Statement of Additional Information

BLACKROCK FUNDS^SM

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This Statement of Additional Information provides supplementary information pertaining to shares representing interests in the Core Equity Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) of BlackRock Funds^SM (the “Fund”). This Statement of Additional Information is not a prospectus, and should be read only in conjunction with the Prospectus of the Portfolio dated January 31, 2006, as amended from time to time (the “Prospectus”). The Prospectus of the Portfolio may be obtained from the Fund’s distributor at no charge by calling toll-free (800) 441-7762. This Statement of Additional Information is dated January 31, 2006.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


		Page
INVESTMENT POLICIES		1

ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS		9

TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS		11

SHAREHOLDER AND TRUSTEE LIABILITY OF THE FUND		17

INVESTMENT ADVISORY, ADMINISTRATION, DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICING ARRANGEMENTS		18

EXPENSES		24

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS AND PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS		25

PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION INFORMATION		30

VALUATION OF PORTFOLIO SECURITIES		31

TAXES		33

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING SHARES		37

MISCELLANEOUS		38

APPENDIX A		A-1

APPENDIX B		B-1

INVESTMENT POLICIES

The following supplements information contained in the Prospectus concerning the Portfolio’s investment policies. To the extent that an investment strategy is discussed in this Statement of Additional Information but not in the Prospectus, such strategy is not a principal strategy of the Portfolio.

Additional Information on Investment Strategy

Equity securities include common stock and preferred stock (including convertible preferred stock); bonds, notes and debentures convertible into common or preferred stock; stock purchase warrants and rights; equity interests in trusts, limited and general partnerships and limited liability companies; and depositary receipts.

From time to time the Portfolio may invest in shares of companies through initial public offerings (IPOs). IPOs have the potential to produce, and have in fact produced, substantial gains. There is no assurance that the Portfolio will have access to profitable IPOs and therefore investors should not rely on these past gains as an indication of future performance. The investment performance of the Portfolio during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in IPOs may be lower than during periods when it is able to do so. In addition, as the Portfolio increases in size, the impact of IPOs on its performance will generally decrease. Securities issued in IPOs are subject to many of the same risks as investing in companies with smaller market capitalizations. Securities issued in IPOs have no trading history, and information about the companies may be available for very limited periods. In addition, the prices of securities sold in IPOs may be highly volatile or may decline shortly after the initial public offering.

The Portfolio may invest in companies that have relatively small market capitalizations. These organizations will normally have more limited product lines, markets and financial resources and will be dependent upon a more limited management group than larger capitalized companies. In addition, it is more difficult to get information on smaller companies, which tend to be less well known, have shorter operating histories, do not have significant ownership by large investors and are followed by relatively few securities analysts. The securities of smaller capitalized companies are often traded in the over-the-counter markets and may have fewer market makers and wider price spreads. This may result in greater price movements and less ability to sell a Portfolio’s investment than if the Portfolio held the securities of larger, more established companies.

The Portfolio may, but under normal market conditions does not expect to, engage in active and frequent trading of its securities to achieve its principal investment strategies.

Additional Information on Portfolio Investments

Non-U.S. Investments. The Portfolio may invest in non-U.S. securities, including securities from issuers located in emerging market countries. Investing in non-U.S. securities involves risks not typically associated with investing in securities of companies organized and operated in the United States. Because non-U.S. securities generally are denominated and pay dividends or interest in non-U.S. currencies, the value of a portfolio that invests in non-U.S. securities as measured in U.S. dollars will be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in exchange rates.

The Portfolio’s investments in non-U.S. securities may also be adversely affected by changes in non-U.S. political or social conditions, diplomatic relations, confiscatory taxation, expropriation, limitation on the removal of funds or assets, or imposition of (or change in) exchange control regulations. In addition, changes in government administrations or economic or monetary policies in the U.S. or abroad could result in appreciation or depreciation of portfolio securities and could favorably or adversely affect the Portfolio’s operations.

In general, less information is publicly available with respect to non-U.S. issuers than is available with respect to U.S. companies. Most non-U.S. companies are also not subject to the uniform accounting and financial reporting requirements applicable to issuers in the United States. While the volume of transactions effected on non-U.S. stock exchanges has increased in recent years, it remains appreciably below that of the New York Stock Exchange. Accordingly, the Portfolio’s non-U.S. investments may be less liquid and their prices may be more volatile than comparable investments in securities in U.S. companies. In addition, there is generally less government supervision and regulation of securities exchanges, brokers and issuers in foreign countries than in the United States.

The Portfolio may invest its assets in countries with emerging economies or securities markets. Political and economic structures in many of these countries may be undergoing significant evolution and rapid development, and these countries may lack the social, political and economic stability characteristic of more developed countries. Some of these countries may have in the past failed to recognize private property rights and have at times nationalized or expropriated the assets of private companies. As a result the risks described above, including the risks of nationalization or expropriation of assets, may be heightened. In addition, unanticipated political or social developments may affect the value of investments in these countries and the availability to the Portfolio of additional investments in emerging market countries. The small size and inexperience of the securities markets in certain of these countries and the limited volume of trading in securities in these countries may make investments in the countries illiquid and more volatile than investments in Japan or most Western European countries. There may be little financial or accounting information available with respect to issuers located in certain emerging market countries, and it may be difficult to assess the value or prospects of an investment in such issuers.

ADRs, EDRs and GDRs. The Portfolio may invest in both sponsored and unsponsored American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”), European Depository Receipts (“EDRs”), Global Depository Receipts (“GDRs”) and other similar global instruments. ADRs typically are issued by an American bank or trust company and evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a non-U.S. corporation. EDRs, which are sometimes referred to as Continental Depository Receipts, are receipts issued in Europe, typically by non-U.S. banks and trust companies, that evidence ownership of either non-U.S. or domestic underlying securities. GDRs are depository receipts structured like global debt issues to facilitate trading on an international basis. Unsponsored ADR, EDR and GDR programs are organized independently and without the cooperation of the issuer of the underlying securities. As a result, available information concerning the issuer may not be as current as for sponsored ADRs, EDRs and GDRs, and the prices of unsponsored ADRs, EDRs and GDRs may be more volatile than if such instruments were sponsored by the issuer. Investments in ADRs, EDRs and GDRs present additional investment considerations as described under “Non-U.S. Investments.”

Reverse Repurchase Agreements and Other Borrowings. The Portfolio is authorized to borrow money. If the securities held by the Portfolio should decline in value while borrowings are outstanding, the net asset value of the Portfolio’s outstanding shares will decline in value by proportionately more than the decline in value suffered by the Portfolio’s securities. Borrowings may be made by the Portfolio through reverse repurchase agreements under which the Portfolio sells portfolio securities to financial institutions such as banks and broker-dealers and agrees to repurchase them at a particular date and price. Such Agreements are considered to be borrowings under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”). The Portfolio will use the proceeds of reverse repurchase agreements to purchase additional securities that meet the Portfolio’s investment guidelines. This use of reverse repurchase agreements may be regarded as leveraging and, therefore, speculative. Reverse repurchase agreements involve the risks that the interest income earned in the investment of the proceeds will be less than the interest expense, that the market value of the securities sold by the Portfolio may decline below the price of the securities the Portfolio is obligated to repurchase and that the securities may not be returned to the Portfolio. During the time a reverse repurchase agreement is outstanding, the adviser will designate liquid assets on its books and records in an amount equal to the amount of the Portfolio’s commitments to the extent required by SEC guidelines. The Portfolio’s reverse repurchase agreements, together with any other borrowings, will not exceed, in the aggregate, 33¹/3% of the value of its total assets. Whenever borrowings exceed 5% of the Portfolio’s total assets, it will not make any investments.

Money Market Obligations of Domestic Banks, Non-U.S. Banks and Non-U.S. Branches of U.S. Banks. The Portfolio may purchase bank obligations, such as certificates of deposit, notes, bankers’ acceptances and time deposits, including instruments issued or supported by the credit of U.S. or non-U.S. banks or savings institutions having total assets at the time of purchase in excess of $1 billion. These obligations may be general obligations of the parent bank or may be limited to the issuing branch or subsidiary by the terms of a specific obligation or by government regulation. The assets of a bank or savings institution will be deemed to include the assets of its domestic and non-U.S. branches for purposes of the Portfolio’s investment policies. Investments in short-term bank obligations may include obligations of non-U.S. banks and domestic branches of non-U.S. banks, and also non-U.S. branches of domestic banks.

Supranational Organization Obligations. The Portfolio may purchase debt securities of supranational organizations such as the World Bank, which are chartered to promote economic development.

Lease Obligations. The Portfolio may hold participation certificates in a lease, an installment purchase contract, or a conditional sales contract (“lease obligations”).

The adviser will monitor the credit standing of each municipal borrower and each entity providing credit support and/or a put option relating to lease obligations. In determining whether a lease obligation is liquid, the adviser will consider, among other factors, the following: (i) whether the lease can be cancelled; (ii) the degree of assurance that assets represented by the lease could be sold; (iii) the strength of the lessee’s general credit (e.g., its debt, administrative, economic, and financial characteristics); (iv) in the case of a municipal lease, the likelihood that the municipality would discontinue appropriating funding for the leased property because the property is no longer deemed essential to the operations of the municipality (e.g., the potential for an “event of nonappropriation”); (v) legal recourse in the event of failure to appropriate; (vi) whether the security is backed by a credit enhancement such as insurance; and (vii) any limitations which are imposed on the lease obligor’s ability to utilize substitute property or services other than those covered by the lease obligation.

Municipal leases, like other municipal debt obligations, are subject to the risk of non-payment. The ability of issuers of municipal leases to make timely lease payments may be adversely impacted in general economic downturns and as relative governmental cost burdens are allocated and reallocated among federal, state and local governmental units. Such non-payment would result in a reduction of income to the Portfolio, and could result in a reduction in the value of the municipal lease experiencing non-payment and a potential decrease in the net asset value of the Portfolio. Issuers of municipal securities might seek protection under the bankruptcy laws. In the event of bankruptcy of such an issuer, the Portfolio could experience delays and limitations with respect to the collection of principal and interest on such municipal leases and the Portfolio may not, in all circumstances, be able to collect all principal and interest to which it is entitled. To enforce its rights in the event of a default in lease payments, the Portfolio might take possession of and manage the assets securing the issuer’s obligations on such securities, which may increase the Portfolio’s operating expenses and adversely affect the net asset value of the Portfolio. When the lease contains a non-appropriation clause, however, the failure to pay would not be a default and the Portfolio would not have the right to take possession of the assets. Any income derived from the Portfolio’s ownership or operation of such assets may not be tax-exempt. In addition, the Portfolio’s intention to qualify as a “regulated investment company” under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, may limit the extent to which the Portfolio may exercise its rights by taking possession of such assets, because as a regulated investment company the Portfolio is subject to certain limitations on its investments and on the nature of its income.

Commercial Paper. The Portfolio may purchase commercial paper rated (at the time of purchase) “A-1” by S&P or “Prime-1” by Moody’s or, when deemed advisable by the Portfolio’s adviser, “high quality” issues rated “A-2,” “Prime-2” or “F-2” by S&P, Moody’s or Fitch, respectively. These ratings symbols are described in Appendix A.

Commercial paper purchasable by the Portfolio includes “Section 4(2) paper,” a term that includes debt obligations issued in reliance on the “private placement” exemption from registration afforded by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933. Section 4(2) paper is restricted as to disposition under the Federal securities laws, and is frequently sold (and resold) to institutional investors such as the Fund through or with the assistance of investment dealers who make a market in the Section 4(2) paper, thereby providing liquidity. Certain transactions in Section 4(2) paper may qualify for the registration exemption provided in Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933.

Repurchase Agreements. The Portfolio may agree to purchase securities from financial institutions subject to the seller’s agreement to repurchase them at an agreed upon time and price (“repurchase agreements”). Repurchase agreements are, in substance, loans. Default by or bankruptcy of a seller would expose the Portfolio to possible loss because of adverse market action, expenses and/or delays in connection with the disposition of the underlying obligations.

The Portfolio may enter into “tri-party” repurchase agreements. In “tri-party” repurchase agreements, an unaffiliated third party custodian maintains accounts to hold collateral for the Portfolio and its counterparties, and therefore, the Portfolio may be subject to the credit risk of those custodians.

The repurchase price under the repurchase agreements generally equals the price paid by the Portfolio involved plus interest negotiated on the basis of current short-term rates (which may be more or less than the rate on securities underlying the repurchase agreement). The financial institutions with which the Portfolio may enter into

repurchase agreements will be banks and non-bank dealers, if such banks and non-bank dealers are deemed creditworthy by the Portfolio’s adviser. The Portfolio’s adviser will continue to monitor creditworthiness of the seller under a repurchase agreement, and will require the seller to maintain during the term of the agreement the value of the securities subject to the agreement to equal at least the repurchase price (including accrued interest). In addition, the Portfolio’s adviser will require that the value of this collateral, after transaction costs (including loss of interest and any accrued premium). The accrued premium is the amount specified in the repurchase agreement or the daily amortization of the difference between the purchase price and the repurchase price specified in the repurchase agreement. The Portfolio’s adviser will mark-to-market daily the value of the securities. Securities subject to repurchase agreements will be held by the Fund’s custodian (or sub-custodian) in the Federal Reserve/Treasury book-entry system or by another authorized securities depository. Repurchase agreements are considered to be loans by the Portfolio under the 1940 Act.

The use of repurchase agreements involves certain risks. For example, if the seller of securities under a repurchase agreement defaults on its obligation to repurchase the underlying securities, as a result of its bankruptcy or otherwise, the Portfolio will seek to dispose of such securities, which action could involve costs or delays. If the seller becomes insolvent and subject to liquidation or reorganization under applicable bankruptcy or other laws, the Portfolio’s ability to dispose of the underlying securities may be restricted. Finally, it is possible that the Portfolio may not be able to substantiate its interest in the underlying securities. To minimize this risk, the securities underlying the repurchase agreement will be held by the custodian at all times in an amount at least equal to the repurchase price, including accrued interest. If the seller fails to repurchase the securities, the Portfolio may suffer a loss to the extent proceeds from the sale of the underlying securities are less than the repurchase price.

Investment Grade Debt Obligations. The Portfolio may invest in “investment grade securities,” which are securities rated in the four highest rating categories of an NRSRO or deemed to be of equivalent quality by the Portfolio’s adviser. It should be noted that debt obligations rated in the lowest of the top four ratings (i.e., “Baa” by Moody’s or “BBB” by S&P) are considered to have some speculative characteristics and are more sensitive to economic change than higher rated securities. If an investment grade security of the Portfolio is subsequently downgraded below investment grade, the Portfolio’s adviser will consider such an event in determining whether the Portfolio should continue to hold the security. Subject to its other investment strategies, there is no limit on the amount of such downgraded securities the Portfolio may hold, although under normal market conditions the adviser does not expect to hold these securities to a material extent.

See Appendix A to this Statement of Additional Information for a description of applicable securities ratings.

When-Issued Purchases and Forward Commitments. The Portfolio may purchase securities on a “when-issued” basis and may purchase or sell securities on a “forward commitment,” including “TBA” (to be announced) basis. These transactions involve a commitment by the Portfolio to purchase or sell particular securities with payment and delivery taking place at a future date (perhaps one or two months later), and permit the Portfolio to lock in a price or yield on a security it owns or intends to purchase, regardless of future changes in interest rates or market action. When-issued and forward commitment transactions involve the risk, however, that the price or yield obtained in a transaction may be less favorable than the price or yield available in the market when the securities delivery takes place.

When the Portfolio agrees to purchase securities on this basis, the adviser will designate liquid assets on its books and records in an amount equal to the amount of the Portfolio’s commitments to the extent required by SEC guidelines. It may be expected that the market value of the Portfolio’s net assets will fluctuate to a greater degree when it sets aside portfolio securities to cover such purchase commitments than when it sets aside cash.

If deemed advisable as a matter of investment strategy, the Portfolio may dispose of or renegotiate a commitment after it has been entered into, and may sell securities it has committed to purchase before those securities are delivered to the Portfolio on the settlement date. In these cases the Portfolio may realize a taxable capital gain or loss.

When the Portfolio engages in when-issued, TBA or forward commitment transactions, it relies on the other party to consummate the trade. Failure of such party to do so may result in the Portfolio’s incurring a loss or missing an opportunity to obtain a price considered to be advantageous.

The market value of the securities underlying a commitment to purchase securities, and any subsequent fluctuations in their market value, is taken into account when determining the market value of the Portfolio starting on the day the Portfolio agrees to purchase the securities. The Portfolio do not earn interest on the securities it has committed to purchase until they are paid for and delivered on the settlement date.

Rights Offerings and Warrants to Purchase. The Portfolio may participate in rights offerings and may purchase warrants, which are privileges issued by corporations enabling the owners to subscribe to and purchase a specified number of shares of the corporation at a specified price during a specified period of time. Subscription rights normally have a short life span to expiration. The purchase of rights or warrants involves the risk that the Portfolio could lose the purchase value of a right or warrant if the right to subscribe to additional shares is not exercised prior to the rights’ and warrants’ expiration. Also, the purchase of rights and/or warrants involves the risk that the effective price paid for the right and/or warrant added to the subscription price of the related security may exceed the value of the subscribed security’s market price such as when there is no movement in the level of the underlying security. The Portfolio will not invest more than 5% of its net assets, taken at market value, in warrants, or more than 2% of its net assets, taken at market value, in warrants not listed on the New York or American Stock Exchanges. Warrants acquired by the Portfolio in units or attached to other securities are not subject to this restriction.

Options and Futures Contracts. To the extent consistent with its investment objective, the Portfolio may write (i.e., sell) covered call options, buy put options, buy call options and write secured put options for the purpose of hedging or earning additional income, which may be deemed speculative, or cross-hedging. For the payment of a premium, the purchaser of an option obtains the right to buy (in the case of a call option) or to sell (in the case of a put option) the item which is the subject of the option at a stated exercise price for a specific period of time. These options may relate to particular securities or securities indices, and may or may not be listed on a securities exchange and may or may not be issued by the Options Clearing Corporation. The Portfolio will not purchase put and call options when the aggregate premiums on outstanding options exceed 5% of its total assets at the time of purchase, and will not write options on more than 25% of the value of its total assets (measured at the time an option is written). There is no limit on the amount of the Portfolio’s assets that can be put at risk through the use of options. In addition, unlisted options are not subject to the protections afforded purchasers of listed options issued by the Options Clearing Corporation, which performs the obligations of its members if they default.

Options on particular securities may be more volatile than the underlying securities, and therefore, on a percentage basis, an investment in the underlying securities themselves. The Portfolio will write call options only if they are “covered.” In the case of a call option on a security, the option is “covered” if the Portfolio owns the security underlying the call or has an absolute and immediate right to acquire that security without additional cash consideration (or, if additional cash consideration is required, liquid assets in such amount are designated on the adviser’s books and records in an amount equal to the amount of the Portfolio’s commitments to the extent required by SEC guidelines) upon conversion or exchange of other securities held by it. For a call option on an index, the option is covered if the Portfolio maintains with its custodian liquid assets equal to the contract value. A call option is also covered if the Portfolio holds a call on the same security or index as the call written where the exercise price of the call held is (i) equal to or less than the exercise price of the call written, or (ii) greater than the exercise price of the call written provided the difference is maintained by the Portfolio in liquid assets designated on the adviser’s books and records to the extent required by SEC guidelines.

When the Portfolio purchases an option, the premium paid by it is recorded as an asset of the Portfolio. When a Portfolio writes a put option, in return for receipt of the premium, it assumes the obligation to pay the strike price for the instrument underlying the option if the other party to the option chooses to exercise it. When the Portfolio writes an option, an amount equal to the net premium (the premium less the commission) received by the Portfolio is included in the liability section of the Portfolio’s statement of assets and liabilities as a deferred credit. The amount of this asset or deferred credit will be subsequently marked-to-market to reflect the current value of the option purchased or written. The current value of the traded option is the last sale price or, in the absence of a sale, the mean between the last bid and asked prices. If an option purchased by the Portfolio expires unexercised the

Portfolio realizes a loss equal to the premium paid. If the Portfolio enters into a closing sale transaction on an option purchased by it, the Portfolio will realize a gain if the premium received by the Portfolio on the closing transaction is more than the premium paid to purchase the option, or a loss if it is less. If an option written by the Portfolio expires on the stipulated expiration date or if the Portfolio enters into a closing purchase transaction, it will realize a gain (or loss if the cost of a closing purchase transaction exceeds the net premium received when the option is sold) and the deferred credit related to such option will be eliminated. If an option written by the Portfolio is exercised, the proceeds of the sale will be increased by the net premium originally received and the Portfolio will realize a gain or loss.

There are several risks associated with transactions in options on securities and indexes. For example, there are significant differences between the securities and options markets that could result in an imperfect correlation between these markets, causing a given transaction not to achieve its objectives. In addition, a liquid secondary market for particular options, whether traded over-the-counter or on a national securities exchange (“Exchange”) may be absent for reasons which include the following: there may be insufficient trading interest in certain options; restrictions may be imposed by an Exchange on opening transactions or closing transactions or both; trading halts, suspensions or other restrictions may be imposed with respect to particular classes or series of options or underlying securities; unusual or unforeseen circumstances may interrupt normal operations on an Exchange; the facilities of an Exchange or the Options Clearing Corporation may not at all times be adequate to handle current trading volume; or one or more Exchanges could, for economic or other reasons, decide or be compelled at some future date to discontinue the trading of options (or a particular class or series of options), in which event the secondary market on that Exchange (or in that class or series of options) would cease to exist, although outstanding options that had been issued by the Options Clearing Corporation as a result of trades on that Exchange would continue to be exercisable in accordance with their terms.

To the extent consistent with its investment objective, the Portfolio may also invest in futures contracts and options on futures contracts (interest rate futures contracts or index futures contracts, as applicable). These instruments are described in Appendix B to this Statement of Additional Information. There is no limit on the amount of the Portfolio’s assets that can be put at risk through the use of futures contracts and the value of the Portfolio’s contracts may equal or exceed 100% of its total assets.

Futures contracts obligate the Portfolio, at maturity, to take or make delivery of securities, the cash value of a securities index or a stated quantity of a non-U.S. currency. The Portfolio may sell a futures contract in order to offset an expected decrease in the value of its portfolio positions that might otherwise result from a market decline or currency exchange fluctuation. The Portfolio may do so either to hedge the value of their securities portfolios as a whole, or to protect against declines occurring prior to sales of securities in the value of the securities to be sold. In addition, the Portfolio may utilize futures contracts in anticipation of changes in the composition of its holdings or in currency exchange rates.

The Portfolio may purchase and sell call and put options on futures contracts traded on an exchange or board of trade. When the Portfolio purchases an option on a futures contract, it has the right to assume a position as a purchaser or a seller of a futures contract at a specified exercise price during the option period. When the Portfolio sells an option on a futures contract, it becomes obligated to sell or buy a futures contract if the option is exercised. In connection with the Portfolio’s position in a futures contract or related option, the adviser will designate liquid assets on its books and records in an amount equal to the amount of the Portfolio’s commitments or will otherwise cover its position in accordance with applicable SEC requirements.

The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts and options are (a) the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by the Portfolio and the price of the futures contract or option; (b) possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a futures contract and the resulting inability to close a futures contract when desired; (c) losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited; (d) the adviser’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors; and (e) the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations.

The Fund and the Portfolio are operated by persons who have claimed exclusions from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act and, therefore, are not subject to registration or regulation as commodity pool operators under the Act.

Securities Lending. The Portfolio may seek additional income by lending securities on a short-term basis. Voting rights may pass with the lending of securities. The trustees of the Fund will call loans of securities to vote proxies or otherwise obtain rights to vote or consent if a material event affecting the investment occurs. The securities lending agreements will require that the loans be secured by collateral in cash, U.S. Government securities or irrevocable bank letters of credit maintained on a current basis equal in value to at least the market value of the loaned securities. The Portfolio may not make such loans in excess of 33¹/3% of the value of its total assets. Securities loans involve risks of delay in receiving additional collateral or in recovering the loaned securities, or possibly loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower of the securities becomes insolvent.

The Portfolio would continue to accrue interest on loaned securities and would also earn income on investment collateral for such loans. Any cash collateral received by the Portfolio in connection with such loans may be invested in a broad range of high quality, U.S. dollar-denominated money market instruments that meet Rule 2a-7 restrictions for money market funds. Specifically, cash collateral may be invested in any of the following instruments: (a) securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. Government or by its agencies or instrumentalities and related custodial receipts; (b) “first tier” quality commercial paper and other obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. and non-U.S. corporations and other issuers rated (at the time of purchase) in the highest rating category by at least two NRSRO’s, or one if only rated by one NRSRO; (c) U.S. dollar-denominated obligations issued or supported by the credit of U.S. or non-U.S. banks or savings institutions with total assets in excess of $1 billion (including obligations of non-U.S. branches of such banks) (i.e., CD’s, BA’s and time deposits); (d) repurchase agreements relating to the above instruments, as well as corporate debt; and (e) unaffiliated and, to the extent permitted by SEC guidelines, affiliated money market funds. Any such investments must be rated “first tier” and must have a maturity of 397 days or less from the date of purchase.

PFPC Trust Company acts as the lending agent for the Portfolio and is paid a fee for the provision of these services. The lending agent has hired BlackRock Capital Management, Inc. (“BCM”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc., and pays BCM to provide advisory services with respect to the collateral of all of the clients of its securities lending program. The lending agent may invest such collateral in short-term investments, including the Institutional Money Market Trust (the “Trust”), a portfolio of money market securities, or high-quality, short-term instruments with a maturity date not to exceed 397 days. BCM serves as investment adviser to the Trust, but receives no fees from the Trust for these services. Administrative and accounting services are provided by PFPC Inc., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. PFPC, Inc. is paid a fee from the Trust at an annual rate not to exceed 0.10% of the Trust’s average daily net assets.

Yields and Ratings. The yields on certain obligations are dependent on a variety of factors, including general market conditions, conditions in the particular market for the obligation, the financial condition of the issuer, the size of the offering, the maturity of the obligation and the ratings of the issue. The ratings of Moody’s, Fitch Investor Services, Inc. (“Fitch”) and S&P represent their respective opinions as to the quality of the obligations they undertake to rate. Ratings, however, are general and are not absolute standards of quality. Consequently, obligations with the same rating, maturity and interest rate may have different market prices. Subsequent to its purchase by the Portfolio, a rated security may cease to be rated. The Portfolio’s adviser will consider such an event in determining whether the Portfolio should continue to hold the security. Subject to its other investment strategies, there is no limit on the amount of unrated securities the Portfolio may hold, although under normal market conditions the adviser does not expect to hold these securities to a material extent.

Investment Companies. In connection with the management of its daily cash positions, the Portfolio may invest in securities issued by other investment companies which invest in short-term debt securities and which seek to maintain a $1.00 net asset value per share. The Portfolio may also invest in securities issued by other investment companies with similar investment objectives. Securities of other investment companies, including investments in Exchange Traded Funds, which are typically open-end funds or unit investment trusts listed on a stock exchange, will be acquired within limits prescribed by the 1940 Act and set forth below. As a shareholder of another investment company, the Portfolio would bear, along with other shareholders, its pro rata portion of the other investment company’s expenses, including advisory fees. These expenses would be in addition to the advisory fees and other expenses the Portfolio bears directly in connection with their own operations.

The Portfolio currently intends to limit its investments so that, as determined immediately after a securities purchase is made: (i) not more than 5% of the value of its total assets will be invested in the securities of any one investment company; (ii) not more than 10% of the value of its total assets will be invested in the aggregate in securities of investment companies as a group; and (iii) not more than 3% of the outstanding voting stock of any one investment company will be owned by the Portfolio or by the Fund as a whole.

Liquidity Management. As a temporary defensive measure if its adviser determines that market conditions warrant, the Portfolio may invest without limitation in high quality money market instruments. During the course of its normal operations, the Portfolio may also invest in high quality money market instruments pending investment or to meet anticipated redemption requests. High quality money market instruments include U.S. government obligations, U.S. government agency obligations, dollar denominated obligations of non-U.S. issuers, bank obligations, including U.S. subsidiaries and branches of non-U.S. banks, corporate obligations, commercial paper, repurchase agreements and obligations of supranational organizations. Generally, such obligations will mature within one year from the date of settlement, but may mature within two years from the date of settlement.

Illiquid Securities. The Portfolio will not invest more than 15% of the value of its net assets in securities that are illiquid. Repurchase agreements and time deposits that do not provide for payment within seven days after notice, without taking a reduced price, are subject to these limits. The Portfolio may purchase securities which are not registered under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act”) but which can be sold to “qualified institutional buyers” in accordance with Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. These securities will not be considered illiquid so long as it is determined by the adviser that an adequate trading market exists for the securities. This investment practice could have the effect of increasing the level of illiquidity in the Portfolio during any period that qualified institutional buyers become uninterested in purchasing these restricted securities.

Any securities that are thinly traded or whose resale is restricted can be difficult to sell at the desired time and price. Some of these securities are new and complex, and trade only among institutions; the markets for these securities are still developing, and may not function as efficiently as established markets. Owning a large percentage of restricted or illiquid securities could hamper the fund’s ability to raise cash to meet redemptions. Also, because there may not be an established market price for these securities, the fund may have to estimate their value, which means that their valuation (and, to a much smaller extent, the valuation of the fund) may have a subjective element. Transactions in restricted or illiquid securities may entail registration expense and other transaction costs that are higher than those for transactions in unrestricted or liquid securities. Where registration is required for restricted or illiquid securities a considerable time period may elapse between the time the fund decides to sell the security and the time it is actually permitted to sell the security under an effective registration statement. If during such period, adverse market conditions were to develop, the fund might obtain less favorable pricing terms that when it decided to sell the security.

Guarantees. The Portfolio may purchase securities which contain guarantees issued by an entity separate from the issuer of the security. Generally, the guarantor of a security (often an affiliate of the issuer) will fulfill an issuer’s payment obligations under a security if the issuer is unable to do so.

Real Estate Investment Trusts. In pursuing its investment strategy, an Equity Portfolio may invest in shares of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”). REITs possess certain risks which differ from an investment in common stocks. REITs are financial vehicles that pool investor’s capital to purchase or finance real estate. REITs may concentrate their investments in specific geographic areas or in specific property types, i.e., hotels, shopping malls, residential complexes and office buildings. REITs are subject to management fees and other expenses, and so a Portfolio that invests in REITs will bear its proportionate share of the costs of the REITs’ operations. There are three general categories of REITs: Equity REITs, Mortgage REITs and Hybrid REITs. Equity REITs invest primarily in direct fee ownership or leasehold ownership of real property; they derive most of their income from rents. Mortgage REITs invest mostly in mortgages on real estate, which may secure construction, development or long-term loans; the main source of their income is mortgage interest payments. Hybrid REITs hold both ownership and mortgage interests in real estate.

The market value of REIT shares and the ability of the REITs to distribute income may be adversely affected by several factors, including rising interest rates, changes in the national, state and local economic climate and real estate conditions, perceptions of prospective tenants of the safety, convenience and attractiveness of the properties, the ability of the owners to provide adequate management, maintenance and insurance, the cost of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act, increased competition from new properties, the impact of present or future environmental legislation and compliance with environmental laws, changes in real estate taxes and other operating expenses, adverse changes in governmental rules and fiscal policies, adverse changes in zoning laws and other factors beyond the control of the issuers of the REITs. In addition, distributions received by a Portfolio from REITs may consist of dividends, capital gains and/or return of capital. As REITs generally pay a higher rate of dividends (on a pre-tax basis) than operating companies, to the extent application of the Portfolio’s investment strategy results in the Portfolio investing in REIT shares, the

percentage of the Portfolio’s dividend income received from REIT shares will likely exceed the percentage of the Portfolio’s portfolio which is comprised of REIT shares. Generally, dividends received by a Portfolio from REIT shares and distributed to the Portfolio’s shareholders will not constitute “qualified dividend income” eligible for the reduced tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income; therefore, the tax rate applicable to that portion of the dividend income attributable to REIT shares held by the Portfolio that shareholders of the Portfolio receive will be taxed at a higher rate than dividends eligible for the reduced tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income.

REITs (especially Mortgage REITs) are subject to interest rate risk. Rising interest rates may cause REIT investors to demand a higher annual yield, which may, in turn, cause a decline in the market price of the equity securities issued by a REIT. Rising interest rates also generally increase the costs of obtaining financing, which could cause the value of a Portfolio’s REIT investments to decline. During periods when interest rates are declining, mortgages are often refinanced. Refinancing may reduce the yield on investments in Mortgage REITs. In addition, since REITs depend on payment under their mortgage loans and leases to generate cash to make distributions to their shareholders, investments in REITs may be adversely affected by defaults on such mortgage loans or leases.

Investing in certain REITs, which often have small market capitalizations, may involve the same risks as investing in other small capitalization companies. REITs may have limited financial resources and their securities may trade less frequently and in limited volume and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements than larger company securities. Historically, small capitalization stocks, such as REITs, have been more volatile in price than large capitalization stocks such as those included in the S&P 500 Index. The management of a REIT may be subject to conflicts of interest with respect to the operation of the business of the REIT and may be involved in real estate activities competitive with the REIT. REITs may own properties through joint ventures or in other circumstances in which the REIT may not have control over its investments. REITs may incur significant amounts of leverage.

Portfolio Turnover Rates. The Portfolio’s annual portfolio turnover rate will not be a factor preventing a sale or purchase when the adviser believes investment considerations warrant such sale or purchase. Portfolio turnover may vary greatly from year to year as well as within a particular year. High portfolio turnover (i.e., 100% or more) may result in increased transaction costs to the Portfolio, including brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities. The sale of the Portfolio’s securities may result in the recognition of capital gain or loss. Given the frequency of sales, such gain or loss will likely be short-term capital gain or loss. These effects of higher than normal portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance.

ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS

The Portfolio is subject to the investment limitations enumerated in this subsection which may be changed only by a vote of the holders of a majority of the Portfolio’s outstanding shares (as defined below under “Miscellaneous”).

The Portfolio may not:

1. Purchase securities of any one issuer (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities or certificates of deposit for any such securities) if more than 5% of the value of the Portfolio’s total assets would (taken at current value) be invested in the securities of such issuer, or more than 10% of the issuer’s outstanding voting securities would be owned by the Portfolio or the Fund, except that up to 25% of the value of the Portfolio’s total assets may (taken at current value) be invested without regard to these limitations. For purposes of this limitation, a security is considered to be issued by the entity (or entities) whose assets and revenues back the security. A guarantee of a security shall not be deemed to be a security issued by the guarantors when the value of all securities issued and guaranteed by the guarantor, and owned by the Portfolio, does not exceed 10% of the value of the Portfolio’s total assets.

2. Purchase any securities which would cause 25% or more of the value of the Portfolio’s total assets at the time of purchase to be invested in the securities of one or more issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry, provided that (a) there is no limitation with respect to (i) instruments issued or guaranteed by the United States, any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or any of their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions, and (ii) repurchase agreements secured by the instruments described in clause (i); (b) wholly-owned finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of the parents; and (c) utilities will be divided according to their services; for example, gas, gas transmission, electric and gas, electric and telephone will each be considered a separate industry.

3. Borrow money or issue senior securities, except that the Portfolio may borrow from banks and enter into reverse repurchase agreements for temporary purposes in amounts up to one-third of the value of its total assets at the time of such borrowing; or mortgage, pledge or hypothecate any assets, except in connection with any such borrowing and then in amounts not in excess of one-third of the value of the Portfolio’s total assets at the time of such borrowing. The Portfolio will not purchase securities while its aggregate borrowings (including reverse repurchase agreements and borrowings from banks) in excess of 5% of its total assets are outstanding. Securities held in escrow or separate accounts in connection with the Portfolio’s investment practices are not deemed to be pledged for purposes of this limitation.

4. Purchase or sell real estate, except that the Portfolio may purchase securities of issuers which deal in real estate and may purchase securities which are secured by interests in real estate.

5. Acquire any other investment company or investment company security except in connection with a merger, consolidation, reorganization or acquisition of assets or where otherwise permitted by the 1940 Act.

6. Act as an underwriter of securities within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 except to the extent that the purchase of obligations directly from the issuer thereof, or the disposition of securities, in accordance with the Portfolio’s investment objective, policies and limitations may be deemed to be underwriting.

7. Write or sell put options, call options, straddles, spreads, or any combination thereof, except for transactions in options on securities and securities indices, futures contracts and options on futures contracts.

8. Purchase securities of companies for the purpose of exercising control.

9. Purchase securities on margin, make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, except that (a) this investment limitation shall not apply to the Portfolio’s transactions in futures contracts and related options or the Portfolio’s sale of securities short against the box, and (b) the Portfolio may obtain short-term credit as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of portfolio securities.

10. Purchase or sell commodity contracts, or invest in oil, gas or mineral exploration or development programs, except that the Portfolio may, to the extent appropriate to its investment policies, purchase securities of companies engaging in whole or in part in such activities and may enter into futures contracts and related options.

11. Make loans, except that the Portfolio may purchase and hold debt instruments and enter into repurchase agreements in accordance with its investment objective and policies and may lend portfolio securities.

12. Purchase or sell commodities except that the Portfolio may, to the extent appropriate to its investment policies, purchase securities of companies engaging in whole or in part in such activities, may engage in currency transactions and may enter into futures contracts and related options.

Unless otherwise indicated, all limitations apply only at the time that a transaction is undertaken. Any change in the percentage of a Portfolio’s assets invested in certain securities or other instruments resulting from market fluctuations or other changes in the Portfolio’s total assets will not require the Portfolio to dispose of an investment until the adviser determines that it is practicable to sell or close out the investment without undue market or tax consequences.

TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS

The business and affairs of the Fund are managed under the direction of its Board of Trustees. The trustees and executive officers of the Fund, and their business addresses and principal occupations during the past five years, are:

Interested Trustees:


Name, Address and Age	Position(s) Held with Fund	Term of Office¹ and Length of Time Served	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years	Number of Portfolio in Fund Complex² Overseen by Trustee	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Richard S. Davis³ BlackRock, Inc. 40 E. 52nd Street New York, NY 10022 Age: 59	Trustee	Since 2005	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2005); Chief Executive Officer, State Street Research & Management Company (2000-2005); Chairman of the Board of Trustees, State Street Research mutual funds (“SSR Funds”) (2000-2005); Senior Vice President, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (1999-2000); Chairman, SSR Realty (2000-2004).	56 (includes 51 Portfolios of the Fund and 5 Portfolios of BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares)	None

Laurence D. Fink⁴ BlackRock, Inc. 40 E. 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 Age: 51	Trustee	Since 2000	Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BlackRock, Inc. since its formation in 1998 and of BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities since 1988; Chairman of the Management Committee; formerly, Managing Director of the First Boston Corporation, Member of its Management Committee, Co-head of its Taxable Fixed Income Division and Head of its Mortgage and Real Estate Products Group; Chairman of the Board of Nomura BlackRock Asset Management and several of BlackRock’s alternative investment vehicles; Director of several of BlackRock’s offshore funds; Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Mount Sinai-NYU; Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NYU Hospitals Center; member of the Board of Trustees of NYU; member of the Board of Executives of the New York Stock Exchange; and Trustee of the American Folk Art Museum.	56 (includes 51 Portfolios of the Fund and 5 Portfolios of BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares)	Director, BlackRock, Inc.

Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earlier of (1) the next meeting of shareholders at which Trustees are elected and until his or her successor is elected and qualified and (2) such time as such Trustee resigns or his or her term as a Trustee is terminated in accordance with the Fund’s code of regulations and Declaration of Trust.

A Fund Complex means two or more registered investment companies that hold themselves out to investors as related companies for purposes of investment and investor services, that have a common investment adviser or that have an investment adviser that is an affiliated person of the investment adviser of any of the other registered investment companies.

³	Mr. Davis is an interested person of the Fund due to his position at BlackRock, Inc.

⁴	Mr. Fink is an interested person of the Fund due to his position at BlackRock, Inc.

Disinterested Trustees:


Name, Address and Age	Position(s) Held with Fund	Term of Office¹ and Length of Time Served	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years	Number of Portfolio in Fund Complex² Overseen by Trustee	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Bruce R. Bond c/o BlackRock Funds 100 Bellevue Parkway Wilmington, DE 19809 Age: 59	Trustee	Since 2005	Retired; Trustee and member of the Governance Committee, SSR Funds (1997-2005).	56 (includes 51 Portfolios of the Fund and 5 Portfolios of BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares)	Director, Avaya, Inc. (information technology).

Peter S. Drotch c/o BlackRock Funds 100 Bellevue Parkway Wilmington, DE 19809 Age: 64	Trustee and Chairman of the Compliance Committee	Since 2005	Retired; Trustee and member of the Audit Committee, SSR Funds (January-December 2004); Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (accounting firm) (1964-2000).	56 (includes 51 Portfolios of the Fund and 5 Portfolios of BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares)	Director, First Marblehead Corp. (student loan processing and securitization); Trustee, University of Connecticut; Trustee, Huntington Theatre; Trustee, New England College of Finance.

Honorable Stuart E. Eizenstat Covington & Burling 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004 Age: 63	Trustee	Since 2001	Partner, Covington & Burling (law firm) (2001-Present); Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (1999-2001), Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs (1997-1999); Chairman, International Board of Governors, Weizmann Institute of Science.	56 (includes 51 Portfolios of the Fund and 5 Portfolios of BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares)	Director, United Parcel Service, Inc.; Advisory Board member, The Coca-Cola Company; Advisory Board member, Group Menatep (energy); Advisory Board member, BT Americas. (information technology).

Robert M. Hernandez c/o BlackRock Funds, 100 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19809 Age: 61	Trustee, Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee	Since 1996	Retired; Director (1991-2001), Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer (1994-2001), Executive Vice President-Accounting and Finance and Chief Financial Officer (1991-1994), USX Corporation (a diversified company principally engaged in energy and steel businesses).	56 (includes 51 Portfolios of the Fund and 5 Portfolios of BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares)	Lead Director, ACE Limited (insurance company); Director and Chairman of the Board, RTI International Metals, Inc.; Director, Eastman Chemical Company.

Dr. Matina Horner c/o BlackRock Funds, 100 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19809 Age: 66	Trustee and Chairperson of the Governance and Nominating Committee	Since 2004	Retired; Executive Vice President of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) (1989-2003); Honorary Trustee, Massachusetts General Hospital (1995-2004); Director, The Neiman Marcus Group (until 2005).	56 (includes 51 Portfolios of the Fund and 5 Portfolios of BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares)	Trustee, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions; Chair of the Board of the Greenwall Foundation; Trustee, Century Foundation (formerly The Twentieth Century Fund); Director, N STAR (formerly called Boston Edison).

Toby Rosenblatt c/o BlackRock Funds 100 Bellevue Parkway Wilmington, DE 19809 Age: 67	Trustee	Since 2005	President, Founders Investments Ltd. (private investments) (since 1999); Trustee, SSR Funds (1990-2005); Trustee, MetLife Series Funds (2001-2005).	56 (includes 51 Portfolios of the Fund and 5 Portfolios of BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares)	Director, A.P. Pharma, Inc.

David R. Wilmerding, Jr. c/o BlackRock Funds, 100 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19809 Age: 69	Trustee and Chairman of the Board	Since 1996	Chairman, Wilmerding & Associates, Inc. (investment advisers) (1989-2005); Chairman, Coho Partners, Ltd. (investment advisers) (2003-2005); Director, Beaver Management Corporation (land management corporation); Managing General Partner, Chestnut Street Exchange Fund.	57 (includes 51 Portfolios of the Fund, 5 Portfolios of BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares and 1 Portfolio of Chestnut Street Exchange Fund, which is managed by BlackRock Financial Management Inc. and BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation.)	Director, Beaver Management Corporation (land management corporation); Director, The Widows Corporation (death benefits provider).

Executive Officers:


Name, Address and Age	Position(s) Held with Fund	Term of Office¹ and Length of Time Served	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
Anne Ackerley BlackRock, Inc. 40 E. 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 Age: 43	Vice President	Since 2003 (previously served as Assistant Secretary since 2000)	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. since May 2000; First Vice President and Operating Officer, Mergers and Acquisitions Group (1997-2000), First Vice President and Operating Officer, Public Finance Group (1995-1997), and First Vice President, Emerging Markets Fixed Income Research (1994-1995), Merrill Lynch & Co.

Edward Baer BlackRock, Inc. 40 E. 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 Age: 37	Assistant Secretary	Since 2005	Director and Senior Counsel of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2004); Associate, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (2000-2004); Associate, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (1995-2000).

Bart Battista BlackRock, Inc. 40 E. 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 Age: 46	Chief Compliance Officer and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer	Since 2004	Chief Compliance Officer and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of BlackRock, Inc. since 2004; Managing Director (since 2003), and Director (1998-2002) of BlackRock, Inc.; Compliance Officer at Moore Capital Management from 1995 to 1998.

Each officer holds office for an indefinite term until the earlier of (1) the next meeting of trustees at which his or her successor is appointed and (2) such time as such officer resigns or his or her term as an officer is terminated in accordance with the Fund’s code of regulations and Declaration of Trust.


Name, Address and Age	Position(s) Held with Fund	Term of Office¹ and Length of Time Served	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
Ellen L. Corson PFPC Inc. 103 Bellevue Parkway Wilmington, DE 19809 Age: 41	Assistant Treasurer	Since 1998	Senior Director and Vice President of Fund Accounting and Administration, PFPC Inc. since 2003; Vice President and Director of Mutual Fund Accounting and Administration, PFPC Inc. since November 1997; Assistant Vice President, PFPC Inc. from March 1997 to November 1997; Senior Accounting Officer, PFPC Inc. from March 1993 to March 1997.

Henry Gabbay BlackRock, Inc. 40 E. 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 Age: 57	President	Since 2005	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 1989).


Name, Address and Age	Position(s) Held with Fund	Term of Office¹ and Length of Time Served	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
Brian P. Kindelan BlackRock Advisors, Inc. 100 Bellevue Parkway Wilmington, DE 19809 Age: 46	Secretary	Since 1997	Managing Director and Senior Counsel (since January 2005), Director and Senior Counsel (2001-2004), and Vice President and Senior Counsel (1998-2000), BlackRock Advisors, Inc.; Senior Counsel, PNC Bank Corp. (May 1995 - April 1998).

William McGinley BlackRock, Inc. 100 Bellevue Parkway Wilmington, DE 19809 Age: 38	Treasurer	Since 2005	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2004); prior to joining BlackRock, Mr. McGinley was employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP from 1990–2004, and was a Partner from 1998-2004.

Vincent Tritto BlackRock, Inc. 40 E. 52nd Street New York, NY 10022 Age: 44	Assistant Secretary	Since 2003	Managing Director and Assistant Secretary (since January 2005) and Director and Senior Counsel (2002-2004) of BlackRock, Inc.; Executive Director (2000-2002) and Vice President (1998-2000), Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and Morgan Stanley Asset Management Inc. and officer of various Morgan Stanley-sponsored investment vehicles; Counsel (1998) and Associate (1988-1997), Rogers & Wells LLP, New York, NY.

The standing committees of the Board are the Audit Committee, the Governance and Nominating Committee, the Compliance Committee and the Valuation and Pricing Committee.

The members of the Audit Committee are Dr. Horner and Messrs. Bond, Drotch, Eizenstat, Hernandez, Rosenblatt and Wilmerding. Mr. Hernandez serves as Chairman. The Audit Committee is responsible for, among other things: (i) considering management’s recommendations of independent accountants for the Fund and evaluating such accountants’ performance, costs and financial stability; (ii) reviewing and coordinating audit plans prepared by the Fund’s independent accountants and management’s internal audit staff; and (iii) reviewing financial statements contained in periodic reports to shareholders with the Fund’s independent accountants and management. The Audit Committee met 5 times in the last fiscal year.

The members of the Governance and Nominating Committee are Dr. Horner and Messrs. Eizenstat and Bond. Mr. Wilmerding is an ex-officio member. Dr. Horner serves as Chairwoman. The Committee is responsible for selecting and nominating “disinterested” trustees of the Fund. The Committee will consider nominees recommended by shareholders when a vacancy becomes available. Shareholders who wish to recommend a nominee should send a nomination which includes biographical information and sets forth the qualifications of the proposed nominee to the Fund’s Secretary. The Committee also is responsible for, among other things, the scheduling and organization of board meetings, evaluating the structure and composition of the board and determining compensation of the Fund’s disinterested trustees. The Committee met 4 times in the last fiscal year.

The members of the Compliance Committee are Messrs. Drotch, Hernandez and Rosenblatt. Mr. Wilmerding is an ex-officio member. Mr. Drotch serves as Chairman. The Committee is responsible for monitoring compliance issues regarding the Fund. The Committee is newly formed and therefore did not meet in the Fund’s last fiscal year.

The members of the Valuation and Pricing Committee are Messrs. Bond, Davis, Drotch, Eizenstat, Fink, Hernandez, Rosenblatt, Wilmerding and Dr. Horner. Mr. Fink serves as Chairman. The Committee is responsible for valuation issues regarding the Fund’s portfolio securities. The Committee is newly formed and therefore did not meet in the Fund’s last fiscal year.

The following table shows the dollar range of equity securities owned by the Trustees in the Fund and in other investment companies overseen by the Trustees within the same family of investment companies as of December 31, 2005. Investment companies are considered to be in the same family if they share the same investment adviser or principal underwriter and hold themselves out to investors as related companies for purposes of investment and investor services.


Name of Trustee	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in All Registered Investment Companies Overseen by the Trustee in the Family of Investment Companies
Interested Trustees
Richard S. Davis	High Yield Bond—$1-$10,000, Investment Trust—$1-$10,000, Small/Mid Cap Growth—$1-$10,000, Global Resources—$10,001-$50,000	$10,001-$50,000

Laurence D. Fink	International Opportunities –over $100,000 Global Science & Technology Opportunities – $50,001-$100,000	Over $100,000
Disinterested Trustees
Toby Rosenblatt	Investment Trust—over $100,000	Over $100,000

Stuart E. Eizenstat	Investment Trust—$1-$10,000, Low Duration Bond—$1-$10,000	$1-$10,000

Robert M. Hernandez	Pennsylvania Municipal Money Market—over $100,000	Over $100,000

Dr. Matina Horner	None	None

Bruce R. Bond	Mid-Cap Value—over $100,000	Over $100,000

Peter S. Drotch	Money Market Portfolio—over $100,000	Over $100,000

David R. Wilmerding, Jr.	None	None

Compensation

Trustees who are not affiliated with BlackRock Advisors, Inc. (“BlackRock”) or BlackRock Distributors, Inc. (“BDI” or the “Distributor”) receive from the BlackRock open-end funds (BlackRock Funds and BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares (“BATS”)) the following: $20,000 annually, $2,500 for each meeting that they attend, whether by phone or in person, and $350 per Portfolio for each full in-person meeting of the Board that they attend; in addition, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the open-end Boards receive an additional $10,000 and $5,000 per year, respectively, for their service in such capacities and trustees who are not affiliated with BlackRock or BDI receive from the BlackRock open-end funds (BlackRock Funds and BATS) the following: $1,500 for each committee meeting that they attend, whether by phone or in person, and the Audit Committee Chairman receives an additional $10,000 and each other committee chairperson an additional $5,000 per year, for their service in such capacities. Trustees who are not affiliated with BlackRock or the Distributor are reimbursed for any expenses incurred in attending meetings of the Board of Trustees or any committee thereof. The term of office of each trustee will automatically terminate when such trustee reaches 72 years of age. Other than the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) and certain of his staff, no officer, director or employee of BlackRock, PFPC Inc. (“PFPC”) (with BlackRock, the “Administrators”), BDI, PNC Bank, National Association (“PNC Bank”) or BlackRock, Inc. currently receives any compensation from the Fund. As of the date of this Statement of Additional Information, the trustees and officers of the Fund, as a group, owned less than 1% of the outstanding shares of each class of the Fund.

The table below sets forth the compensation actually received from the Fund and the Fund Complex of which the Fund is a part by the disinterested trustees and the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer and certain of his staff for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005. The Trustees and the Chief Compliance Officer and certain of his staff are paid jointly by the Fund and BATS. The portion of such compensation to be paid by each of the Fund and BATS is determined based on total net assets of each at the end of each fiscal year.


	Aggregate Compensation from Registrant		Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued as Part of Fund Expenses	Estimated Annual Benefits upon Retirement	Total Compensation from Registrant and Fund Complex
David R. Wilmerding, Jr.	$	134,947	N/A	N/A	145,100(3)¹
Honorable Stuart E. Eizenstat	$	129,953	N/A	N/A	130,100(2)¹
Robert M. Hernandez	$	139,988	N/A	N/A	140,100(2)¹
Dr. Matina Horner	$	104,428	N/A	N/A	104,550(2)¹
Bruce R. Bond	$	84,518	N/A	N/A	84,600(2)¹
Peter S. Drotch	$	84,518	N/A	N/A	84,600(2)¹
Toby Rosenblatt	$	84,518	N/A	N/A	84,600(2)¹
Bart Battista, Chief Compliance Officer and Anti-Money Laundering Officer²	$	368,122	N/A	N/A	368,547

^1.	Total number of investment company boards trustees served on within the Fund Complex.

^2.

The Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer and certain of his staff are paid jointly by the Fund, other funds in the BlackRock fund family and BlackRock. The Fund’s Board approves annually the compensation for the Chief Compliance Officer and certain of his staff, including the appropriate portion of such compensation to be paid by the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER AND TRUSTEE LIABILITY OF THE FUND

Under Massachusetts law, shareholders of a business trust may, under certain circumstances, be held personally liable as partners for the obligations of the trust. However, the Fund’s Declaration of Trust provides that shareholders shall not be subject to any personal liability in connection with the assets of the Fund for the acts or obligations of the Fund, and that every note, bond, contract, order or other undertaking made by the Fund shall contain a provision to the effect that the shareholders are not personally liable thereunder. The Declaration of Trust provides for indemnification out of the trust property of any shareholder held personally liable solely by reason of his being or having been a shareholder and not because of his acts or omissions or some other reason. The Declaration of Trust also provides that the Fund shall, upon request, assume the defense of any claim made against any shareholder for any act or obligation of the Fund, and shall satisfy any judgment thereon.

The Declaration of Trust further provides that all persons having any claim against the trustees or Fund shall look solely to the trust property for payment; that no trustee of the Fund shall be personally liable for or on account of any contract, debt, tort, claim, damage, judgment or decree arising out of or connected with the administration or preservation of the trust property or the conduct of any business of the Fund; and that no trustee shall be personally liable to any person for any action or failure to act except by reason of his own bad faith, willful misfeasance, gross negligence or reckless disregard of his duties as a trustee. With the exception stated, the Declaration of Trust provides that a trustee is entitled to be indemnified against all liabilities and expenses reasonably incurred by him in connection with the defense or disposition of any proceeding in which he may be involved or with which he may be threatened by reason of his being or having been a trustee, and that the Fund will indemnify officers, representatives and employees of the Fund to the same extent that trustees are entitled to indemnification.

INVESTMENT ADVISORY, ADMINISTRATION,

DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICING ARRANGEMENTS

Advisory Agreement. The advisory services provided by BlackRock pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) are described in the Prospectus.

For its advisory services, BlackRock is entitled to fees, computed daily and payable monthly, at the maximum annual rates set forth below.

MAXIMUM ANNUAL CONTRACTUAL FEE RATE

(BEFORE WAIVERS)


Average Daily Net Assets	Investment Advisory Fee
first $1 billion	.350	%
$1 billion — $2 billion	.325	%
$2 billion — $3 billion	.300	%
greater than $3 billion	.275	%

Under the Advisory Agreement, BlackRock is not liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Fund or the Portfolio in connection with the performance of the Advisory Agreement. Under the Advisory Agreement, BlackRock is liable for a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of their respective duties or from reckless disregard of their respective duties and obligations thereunder. The Advisory Agreement is terminable as to the Portfolio by vote of the Fund’s Board of Trustees or by the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Portfolio, at any time without penalty, on 60 days’ written notice to BlackRock as the case may be. BlackRock may also terminate their advisory relationship with respect to the Portfolio on 60 days’ written notice to the Fund.

Administration Agreement. BlackRock and PFPC serve as the Fund’s co-administrators pursuant to an administration agreement (the “Administration Agreement”). PFPC has agreed to maintain office facilities for the Fund; furnish the Fund with statistical and research data, clerical, accounting, and bookkeeping services; provide and supervise the operation of an automated data processing system to process purchase and redemption orders; prepare and file certain reports required by regulatory authorities; prepare and file federal and state tax returns; prepare and file material requested by state securities regulators; calculate various contractual expenses; compute the Portfolio’ net asset value, net income and net capital gain or loss; and serve as a liaison with the Fund’s independent public accountants. The Administrators may from time to time voluntarily waive administration fees with respect to the Portfolio and may voluntarily reimburse the Portfolio for expenses.

Under the Administration Agreement, the Fund pays to BlackRock and PFPC on behalf of the Portfolio a fee, computed daily and payable monthly, at an aggregate annual rate of (i) .075% of the first $500 million of the Portfolio’s average daily net assets, .065% of the next $500 million of the Portfolio’s average daily net assets and .055% of the average daily net assets of the Portfolio in excess of $1 billion and (ii) .025% of the first $500 million of average daily net assets allocated to each class of shares of the Portfolio, .015% of the next $500 million of such average daily net assets and .005% of the average daily net assets allocated to each class of shares of the Portfolio in excess of $1 billion.

Under the Administration Agreement, BlackRock is responsible for: (i) the supervision and coordination of the performance of the Fund’s service providers; (ii) the negotiation of service contracts and arrangements between the Fund and its service providers; (iii) acting as liaison between the trustees of the Fund and the Fund’s service providers; and (iv) providing ongoing business management and support services in connection with the Fund’s operations.

The Administration Agreement provides that BlackRock and PFPC will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Fund or the Portfolio in connection with the performance of the Administration Agreement, except a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of their respective duties or from reckless disregard of their respective duties and obligations thereunder. In addition, the Fund will indemnify each of BlackRock and PFPC and their affiliates against any loss arising in connection with their provision of services under the Administration Agreement, except that neither BlackRock nor PFPC nor their affiliates shall be indemnified against any loss arising out of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of their respective duties under the Administration Agreement.

The Fund and its service providers may engage third party plan administrators who provide trustee, administrative and recordkeeping services for certain employee benefit, profit-sharing and retirement plans as agent for the Fund with respect to such plans, for the purpose of accepting orders for the purchase and redemption of shares of the Fund.

In addition, pursuant to a Shareholders’ Administrative Services Agreement, BlackRock provides certain shareholder liaison services in connection with the Fund’s investor service center. The Fund reimburses BlackRock for its costs in maintaining the service center, which costs include, among other things, employee salaries, leasehold expenses, and other out-of-pocket expenses. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005, the Fund reimbursed BlackRock $2,156,146 pursuant to the Agreement.

Custodian and Transfer Agency Agreements. Pursuant to the terms of a custodian agreement (the “Custodian Agreement”) between the Fund and PFPC Trust Company (“PTC”), an affiliate of BlackRock, PTC or a sub-custodian (i) maintains a separate account or accounts in the name of the Portfolio, (ii) holds and transfers portfolio securities on account of the Portfolio, (iii) accepts receipts and makes disbursements of money on behalf of

the Portfolio, (iv) collects and receives all income and other payments and distributions on account of the Portfolio’s securities and (v) makes periodic reports to the Board of Trustees concerning the Portfolio’s operations. PTC is authorized to select one or more banks or trust companies to serve as sub-custodian on behalf of the Fund, provided that, with respect to sub-custodians other than sub-custodians for non-U.S. securities, PTC remains responsible for the performance of all its duties under the Custodian Agreement and holds the Fund harmless from the acts and omissions of any sub-custodian. Citibank, N.A. serves as the international sub-custodian for various portfolios of the Fund and has been appointed by the Board of Trustees as the Fund’s “foreign custody manager” under Rule 17f-5 of the 1940 Act. As foreign custody manager, Citibank, N.A. selects and monitors foreign sub-custodian banks and furnishes information relevant to the selection of foreign depositories.

For its services to the Fund under the Custodian Agreement, PTC receives a fee which is calculated based upon each investment portfolio’s average gross assets as follows: .0073% of the first $250 million of each Portfolio’s average gross assets, .006% of the next $250 million of each Portfolio’s average gross assets, .0056% of the next $250 million of each Portfolio’s average gross assets, .0048% of the next $250 million of each Portfolio’s average gross assets and .004% of each Portfolio’s average gross assets in excess of $1.00 billion. PTC is also entitled to out-of-pocket expenses and certain transaction charges.

PFPC, which has its principal offices at 301 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19809 and is an affiliate of BlackRock, serves as the transfer and dividend disbursing agent for the Fund pursuant to a Transfer Agency Agreement (the “Transfer Agency Agreement”), under which PFPC (i) issues and redeems shares in the Portfolio, (ii) addresses and mails all communications by the Portfolio to record owners of its shares, including reports to shareholders, dividend and distribution notices and proxy materials for its meetings of shareholders, (iii) maintains shareholder accounts and, if requested, sub-accounts and (iv) makes periodic reports to the Board of Trustees concerning the operations of the Portfolio. PFPC may, on 30 days’ notice to the Fund, assign its duties as transfer and dividend disbursing agent to any other affiliate of PNC Bank Corp. For its services, PFPC receives per account and transaction fees and disbursements.

Distribution Agreement and Distribution and Service Plan. The Fund has entered into a distribution agreement with the Distributor under which the Distributor, as agent, offers shares of the Portfolio 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 760 Moore Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406. The Distributor is an affiliate of BlackRock.

Pursuant to the Fund’s Amended and Restated Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”), the Fund may pay the Distributor and/or BlackRock or any other affiliate of BlackRock fees for distribution and sales support services. Currently, only HL Shares, Investor A Shares, Investor B Shares and Investor C Shares bear the expense of distribution fees under the Plan. In addition, the Fund may pay to brokers, dealers, financial institutions and industry professionals (including BlackRock, Hilliard Lyons and their affiliates) (collectively, “Service Organizations”) fees for the provision of personal services to shareholders. In the past, BlackRock has retained a portion of the shareholder servicing fees paid by the Fund. The Plan provides, among other things, that: (i) the Board of Trustees shall receive quarterly reports regarding the amounts expended under the Plan and the purposes for which such expenditures were made; (ii) the Plan will continue in effect for so long as its continuance is approved at least annually by the Board of Trustees in accordance with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act; (iii) any material amendment thereto must be approved by the Board of Trustees, including the trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Fund (as defined in the 1940 Act) and who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or any agreement entered into in connection with the Plan (the “12b-1 Trustees”), acting in person at a meeting called for said purpose; (iv) any amendment to increase materially the costs which any class of shares may bear for distribution services pursuant to the Plan shall be effective only upon approval by a vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of such class and by a majority of the 12b-1 Trustees; and (v) while the Plan remains in effect, the selection and nomination of the Fund’s trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Fund shall be committed to the discretion of the Fund’s non-interested trustees.

The Plan is terminable as to any class of shares without penalty at any time by a vote of a majority of the 12b-1 Trustees, or by vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of such class.

The Fund currently does not make distribution payments with respect to Service, Institutional or BlackRock Shares under the Plan. However, the Plan permits BDI, 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 the Fund). From time to time, BDI, BlackRock or their affiliates may compensate affiliated and unaffiliated Service Organizations for the sale and distribution of shares of the Fund or for services to the Fund and its shareholders. These payments would be in addition to the Fund payments described in this Statement of Additional Information for distribution and shareholder servicing. These payments may take the form of, among other things, “due diligence” payments for a dealer’s examination of the Portfolios and payments for providing extra employee training and information relating to Portfolios; “listing” fees for the placement of the Portfolios on a dealer’s list of mutual funds available for purchase by its customers; “finders” or “referral” fees for directing investors to the Fund; “marketing support” fees for providing assistance in promoting the sale of the Funds’ 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 BDI, 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 Organizations involved, and may be different for different Service Organizations. The payments described above are made from BDI’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 the Fund’s shares or the amount the Fund will receive as proceeds from such sales.

The payments described above may be made, at the discretion of BDI, 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: Citigroup, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, MetLife, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Linsco/Private Ledger and Wachovia Securities. The level of payments made to Citigroup, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Linsco/Private Ledger and Wachovia Securities in any year will vary and normally will not exceed the sum of (a) 0.25% of such year’s Fund sales by that Service Organization and (b) 0.12% of the assets attributable to that Service Organization invested in Equity Portfolios of the Fund and 0.11% of the assets attributable to that Service Organization invested in Bond Portfolios of the Fund.

In lieu of payments pursuant to the foregoing formula, BDI, BlackRock or their affiliates may make payments to the above-named Service Organizations of an agreed upon amount which will 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 advisor and review carefully any disclosure by the financial firm as to compensation received by your financial advisor for more information about such payments.

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 NASD regulations in which participants may receive prizes such as travel awards, merchandise and cash. Subject to applicable NASD regulations, the Distributor, BlackRock and their affiliates may also (i) pay for the travel expenses, meals, lodging and entertainment of 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 BAI, has agreed to pay PNC Bank, National Association and PNC Bank, Delaware (including Hilliard Lyons Asset Management, Wealth Management, Hawthorn and Institutional Investment Group) fees for administration and servicing with respect to assets of the Fund attributable to shares held by customers of such entities. These assets are predominantly in the Institutional Share Class of the Fund, with respect to which the Fund does not pay shareholder servicing fees under the Plan. The fees are paid at .25% of the net assets of the Portfolio.

In addition to, rather than in lieu of, distribution and shareholder servicing fees that the 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, BDI 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.

Other Distribution Arrangements. The Fund and BlackRock have entered into distribution agreements with UBS AG, Celfin International Limited and BMO Harris Investment Management Inc. whereby those firms sell shares of the Fund in certain foreign jurisdictions. The Fund does not pay any compensation pursuant to these agreements other than the shareholder servicing fee paid pursuant to the Plan. BlackRock, BDI and their affiliates may make payments under these or similar agreements.

Code of Ethics. The Fund, BlackRock, BFM and the Distributor have adopted codes of ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act. These codes of ethics permit personnel subject to the codes to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund.

Proxy Voting Policies. The Fund has delegated proxy voting responsibilities to BlackRock and its affiliates, subject to the general oversight of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. The Fund expects BlackRock and its affiliates to vote proxies related to the Fund’s portfolio securities for which the Fund has voting authority consistent with the Fund’s best interests. BlackRock has adopted its own proxy voting policies (the “Proxy Voting Policy”) to be used in voting the Fund’s proxies, which are summarized below.

BlackRock recognizes that implicit in the initial decision to retain or invest in the security of a corporation is acceptance of its existing corporate ownership structure, its management, and its operations. Accordingly, proxy proposals that would change the existing status of a corporation are supported only when BlackRock concludes that the proposed changes are likely to benefit the corporation and its shareholders. Notwithstanding this favorable predisposition, BlackRock assesses management on an ongoing basis both in terms of its business capability and its dedication to shareholders to seek to ensure that BlackRock’s continued confidence remains warranted. If BlackRock determines that management is acting on its own behalf instead of for the well being of the corporation, it will vote to support the shareholder, unless BlackRock determines other mitigating circumstances are present.

BlackRock’s proxy voting policy and its attendant recommendations attempt to generalize a complex subject. Specific fact situations, including differing voting practices in jurisdictions outside the United States, might warrant departure from these guidelines. In such instances, BlackRock will consider the facts it believes are relevant, and if it votes contrary to these guidelines it will record the reasons for this contrary vote. With respect to voting proxies of non-U.S. companies, a number of logistical problems may arise that may have a detrimental effect on BlackRock’s ability to vote such proxies in the best interests of the Fund. Accordingly, BlackRock may determine not to vote proxies if it believes that the restrictions or other detriments associated with such vote outweigh the benefits that will be derived by voting on the company’s proposal.

Additionally, situations may arise that involve an actual or perceived conflict of interest. For example, BlackRock may manage assets of a pension plan of a company whose management is soliciting proxies, or a BlackRock employee may have a close relative who serves as a director or executive of a company that is soliciting proxies. BlackRock’s policy in all cases is to vote proxies based on its clients’ best interests.

BlackRock has engaged Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) to assist it in the voting of proxies. ISS analyzes all proxy solicitations BlackRock receives for its clients and advises BlackRock how, based upon BlackRock’s guidelines, the relevant votes should be cast.

Below is a summary of some of the procedures described in the Proxy Voting Policy.

Routine Matters. BlackRock will generally support routine proxy proposals, amendments, or resolutions if they do not measurably change the structure, management control, or operation of the issuer and they are consistent with industry standards as well as the corporate laws of the state of incorporation of the issuer. However, BlackRock will withhold its vote for a nominee to the board who failed to attend at least 75% of the board meetings in the previous year without a valid reason, and will withhold its vote for all nominees if (1) since the last annual meeting of shareholders and without shareholder approval, the board or its compensation committee has repriced underwater options; or (2) within the last year, shareholders approved by majority vote a resolution recommending that the board rescind a “poison pill” and the board has failed to take responsive action to that resolution. BlackRock evaluates a contested election of directors on a case-by-case basis.

Social Issues. If BlackRock has determined that management is generally socially responsible, it will generally vote against social issue proposals, which are generally proposed by shareholders who believe that the corporation’s internally adopted policies are ill-advised or misguided.

Financial/Corporate Issues. BlackRock will generally vote in favor of proposals that seek to change a corporation’s legal, business or financial structure provided the position of current shareholders is preserved or enhanced.

Shareholder Rights. Proposals in this category are made regularly both by management and shareholders. They can be generalized as involving issues that transfer or realign board or shareholder voting power. BlackRock will generally oppose any proposal aimed solely at thwarting potential takeover offers by requiring, for example, super-majority approval. At the same time it believes stability and continuity promote profitability. Individual proposals may have to be carefully assessed in the context of their particular circumstances.

Copies of the proxy voting record of the Portfolios are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-699-1236 and are posted on the Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov no later than August 31 of each year and reflect the twelve-month period beginning July 1 and ending June 30. The proxy voting record is also available on the Fund’s website at www.blackrock.com.

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

Asset and Return Information. Data on NAV’s, asset levels (by total Portfolio and share class), accruals, yields, capital gains, dividends and Portfolio returns (net of fees by share class) are available to shareholders, prospective shareholders, consultants, intermediaries 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, intermediaries 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 Portfolio 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 to shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries and consultants on a quarterly basis and will be posted to the Fund’s website immediately upon becoming available.

Portfolio Holdings. In addition to position description, portfolio holdings may also include ticker if equity, face amount or quantity, CUSIP or SEDOL, market value, market price, yield, weighted average life, duration and convexity of each security in the Portfolio as of a specific date.

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

¹	The precise number of days specified above may vary slightly from period to period depending on whether the fifth or the 20^th calendar day falls on a weekend or holiday.

Quarter-end portfolio holdings are available to third party data providers (e.g., Lipper, Morningstar, Bloomberg, Thomson and S&P) on the 20^th calendar day after quarter-end.¹

Other Information. To the extent other Fund information such as attribution analyses or security-specific information (e.g., information about Portfolio holdings where an issuer has been downgraded, been acquired or declared bankruptcy) is provided on an individual basis, such information shall also be made available to existing and prospective shareholders through the Fund’s website. The executive officers of the Fund may authorize disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities and other portfolio information.

Implementation. All Fund and BlackRock employees must adhere to the Guidelines when responding to inquiries from shareholders, prospective shareholders, consultants, intermediaries and third party data providers. With respect to requests for portfolio information, BlackRock maintains a request log that is reviewed regularly. 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 deems necessary or appropriate to ensure the Fund’s and BlackRock’s compliance.

Ongoing Arrangements. As of January 28, 2005, the Fund has ongoing arrangements with the following entities to make available portfolio holdings information:

PFPC Trust Company pursuant to the Fund’s Amended and Restated Custodian Agreement under which the Fund’s portfolio holdings information is provided daily on a real-time basis.

PFPC Inc. pursuant to the Fund’s Amended and Restated Administration Agreement under which the Fund’s portfolio holdings information is provided daily on a real-time basis.

Deloitte & Touche LLP, the Fund’s independent registered public accountant, whereby the Fund’s portfolio holdings information is provided in connection with the preparation of the Fund’s annual financial statements.

With respect to each such arrangement, the 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 Fund, BlackRock and their affiliates do not receive any compensation or other consideration in connection with such arrangements.

EXPENSES

Expenses are deducted from the total income of the Portfolio before dividends and distributions are paid. These expenses include, but are not limited to, fees paid to BlackRock, PFPC, transfer agency, networking and recordkeeping fees, reimbursement to BlackRock for costs related to the investor service center, fees and expenses of officers and trustees who are not affiliated with BlackRock, BDI or any of their affiliates (although the Fund bears certain fees and expenses of the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer and certain of his staff), taxes, interest, legal fees, custodian fees, auditing fees, distribution fees, shareholder servicing fees, fees and expenses in registering and qualifying the Portfolios and their shares for distribution under federal and state securities laws, expenses of preparing prospectuses and statements of additional information and of printing and distributing prospectuses and statements of additional information to existing shareholders, expenses relating to shareholder reports, shareholder meetings and proxy solicitations, fidelity bond and trustees and officers liability insurance premiums, the expense of independent pricing services and other expenses which are not expressly assumed by BlackRock or the Fund’s service providers under their agreements with the Fund. Any general expenses of the Fund that do not belong to a particular investment portfolio will be allocated among all investment portfolios by or under the direction of the Board of Trustees in a manner the Board determines to be fair and equitable.

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS AND PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

Portfolio Managers

As of September 30, 2005, David Byrket, CFA managed or was a member of the management team for the following client accounts:


Type of Account	Number of Accounts	Assets of Accounts	Number of Accounts Subject to a Performance Fee	Assets Subject to a Performance Fee
Registered Investment Companies	13	$ 7.8 billion	0	—
Pooled Investment Vehicles Other Than Registered Investment Companies	0	—	0	—
Other Accounts	8	$291 million	0	—

As of September 30, 2005, Fred Herrmann, CFA managed or was a member of the management team for the following client accounts:


Type of Account	Number of Accounts	Assets of Accounts	Number of Accounts Subject to a Performance Fee	Assets Subject to a Performance Fee
Registered Investment Companies	13	$ 7.8 billion	0	—
Pooled Investment Vehicles Other Than Registered Investment Companies	0	—	0	—
Other Accounts	8	$291 million	0	—

BlackRock has built a professional working environment, firm-wide compliance culture and compliance procedures and systems designed to protect against potential incentives that may favor one account over another. BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures that address the allocation of investment opportunities, execution of portfolio transactions, personal trading by employees and other potential conflicts of interest that are designed to ensure that all client accounts are treated equitably over time. Nevertheless, BlackRock furnishes investment management and advisory services to numerous clients in addition to the Fund, and BlackRock may, consistent with applicable law, make investment recommendations to other clients or accounts (including accounts which are hedge funds or have performance or higher fees paid to BlackRock, or in which portfolio managers have a personal interest in the receipt of such fees), which may be the same as or different from those made to the Fund. In addition, BlackRock, its affiliates and any officer, director, stockholder or employee may or may not have an interest in the securities whose purchase and sale BlackRock recommends to the Fund. BlackRock, or any of its affiliates, or any officer, director, stockholder, employee or any member of their families may take different actions than those recommended to the Fund by BlackRock with respect to the same securities. Moreover, BlackRock may refrain from rendering any advice or services concerning securities of companies of which any of BlackRock’s (or its affiliates’) officers, directors or employees are directors or officers, or companies as to which BlackRock or any of its affiliates or the officers, directors and employees of any of them has any substantial economic interest or possesses material non-public information. Each portfolio manager also may manage accounts whose investment strategies may at times be opposed to the strategy utilized for the Fund. The portfolio managers may in the future manage accounts or funds that are subject to performance fees and may be entitled to receive a portion of any incentive fees earned on such accounts and funds.

As a fiduciary, BlackRock owes a duty of loyalty to its clients and must treat each client fairly. When BlackRock purchases or sells securities for more than one account, the trades must be allocated in a manner consistent with its fiduciary duties. BlackRock attempts to allocate investments in a fair and equitable manner among client accounts, with no account receiving preferential treatment. To this end, BlackRock has adopted a policy that is intended to ensure that investment opportunities are allocated fairly and equitably among client accounts over time. This policy also seeks to achieve reasonable efficiency in client transactions and provide BlackRock with sufficient flexibility to allocate investments in a manner that is consistent with the particular investment discipline and client base.

Portfolio Manager Compensation

BlackRock’s financial arrangements with its portfolio managers, its competitive compensation and its career path emphasis at all levels reflect the value senior management places on key resources. Compensation may include a variety of components and may vary from year to year based on a number of factors. The principal components of compensation include a base salary, a discretionary bonus, participation in various benefits programs and one or

more of the incentive compensation programs established by BlackRock such as its Long-Term Retention and Incentive Plan and Restricted Stock Program.

Base compensation. Generally, portfolio managers receive base compensation based on their seniority and/or their position with the firm.

Discretionary compensation. In addition to base compensation, portfolio managers may receive discretionary compensation, which can be a substantial portion of total compensation. Discretionary compensation can include a discretionary cash bonus as well as one or more of the following:

Long-Term Retention and Incentive Plan (LTIP) —The LTIP is a long-term incentive plan that seeks to reward certain key employees. The plan provides for the grant of awards that are expressed as an amount of cash that, if properly vested and subject to the attainment of certain performance goals, will be settled in cash and/or in BlackRock, Inc. common stock. Each portfolio manager has received awards under the LTIP.

Deferred Compensation Program —A portion of the compensation paid to each portfolio manager may be voluntarily deferred by the portfolio manager into an account that tracks the performance of certain of the firm’s investment products. Each portfolio manager is permitted to allocate his deferred amounts among various options, including to certain of the firm’s hedge funds and other unregistered products. In addition, prior to 2005, a portion of the annual compensation of certain senior managers, including each portfolio manager, was mandatorily deferred in a similar manner for a number of years. Beginning in 2005, a portion of the annual compensation of certain senior managers, including each portfolio manager, is paid in the form of BlackRock, Inc. restricted stock units which vest ratably over a number of years.

Options and Restricted Stock Awards —While incentive stock options are not currently being awarded to BlackRock employees, BlackRock, Inc. previously granted stock options to key employees, including certain portfolio managers who may still hold unexercised or unvested options. BlackRock, Inc. also has a restricted stock award program designed to reward certain key employees as an incentive to contribute to the long-term success of BlackRock. These awards vest over a period of years. Each portfolio manager has been granted stock options in prior years.

Incentive Savings Plans —The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., which owns approximately 71% of BlackRock, Inc.’s common stock, has created a variety of incentive savings plans in which BlackRock employees are eligible to participate, including an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) and a 401(k) plan. The 401(k) plan may involve a company match of the employee’s contribution of up to 6% of the employee’s salary. The company match is made using BlackRock, Inc. common stock. The firm’s 401(k) plan offers a range of investment options, including registered investment companies managed by the firm. Each portfolio manager is eligible to participate in these plans.

Annual incentive compensation for each portfolio manager is a function of several components: the performance of BlackRock, Inc., the performance of the portfolio manager’s group within BlackRock, the investment performance, including risk-adjusted returns, of the firm’s assets under management or supervision by that portfolio manager relative to predetermined benchmarks, and the individual’s teamwork and contribution to the overall performance of these portfolios and BlackRock. Unlike many other firms, portfolio managers at BlackRock compete against benchmarks rather than each other. In most cases, including for the portfolio managers of the Fund, these benchmarks are the same as the benchmark or benchmarks against which the performance of the Fund or other accounts are measured. A group of BlackRock, Inc.’s officers determines the benchmarks against which to compare the performance of funds and other accounts managed by each portfolio manager. With respect to the Fund’s portfolio managers, such benchmarks include the following:


Portfolio Manager	Portfolio(s) Managed	Benchmarks Applicable to Each Manager
Fred Herrmann, CFA	Core Equity	A combination of market-based indices (e.g., The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, The Russell 1000 Growth Index, The Russell 1000 Value Index), certain customized indices and certain fund industry peer groups.

David Byrket, CFA	Core Equity	A combination of market-based indices (e.g., The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, The Russell 1000 Growth Index, The Russell 1000 Value Index), certain customized indices and certain fund industry peer groups.

The group of BlackRock, Inc.’s officers then makes a subjective determination with respect to the portfolio manager’s compensation based on the performance of the funds and other accounts managed by each portfolio manager relative to the various benchmarks. Senior portfolio managers who perform additional management functions within BlackRock may receive additional compensation for serving in these other capacities.

As of September 30, 2005, the end of the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, the dollar range of securities beneficially owned by each portfolio manager in the Portfolio is shown below:


Portfolio Manager	Portfolio Managed	Dollar Range of Equity Securities of the Portfolio Owned¹
Fred Herrmann, CFA	Core Equity	None




David Byrket, CFA	Core Equity	None

¹	Includes securities attributable to the portfolio manager’s participation in certain deferred compensation and retirement programs.

Portfolio Transactions

In executing portfolio transactions, the adviser seeks to obtain the best price and most favorable execution for the Portfolio, taking into account such factors as the price (including the applicable brokerage commission or dealer spread), size of the order, difficulty of execution and operational facilities of the firm involved. While the

adviser generally seeks reasonably competitive commission rates, payment of the lowest commission or spread is not necessarily consistent with obtaining the best price and execution in particular transactions. Payments of commissions to brokers who are affiliated persons of the Fund (or affiliated persons of such persons) will be made in accordance with Rule 17e-1 under the 1940 Act.

The Portfolio does not have any obligation to deal with any broker or group of brokers in the execution of portfolio transactions. The adviser may, consistent with the interests of the Portfolio, select brokers on the basis of the research, statistical and pricing services they provide to the Portfolio and the adviser’s other clients. Information and research received from such brokers will be in addition to, and not in lieu of, the services required to be performed by the adviser under its contract. A commission paid to such brokers may be higher than that which another qualified broker would have charged for effecting the same transaction, provided that the adviser determines in good faith that such commission is reasonable in terms either of the transaction or the overall responsibility of the adviser to the Portfolio and its other clients and that the total commissions paid by the Portfolio will be reasonable in relation to the benefits to the Portfolio over the long-term. The advisory fees that the Portfolio pays to the adviser will not be reduced as a consequence of the adviser’s receipt of brokerage and research services. To the extent the Portfolio’s portfolio transactions are used to obtain such services, the brokerage commissions paid by the Portfolio will exceed those that might otherwise be paid by an amount which cannot be presently determined. Such services generally would be useful and of value to the adviser in serving one or more of their other clients and, conversely, such services obtained by the placement of brokerage business of other clients generally would be useful to the adviser in carrying out their obligations to the Portfolio. While such services are not expected to reduce the expenses of the adviser, the adviser would, through use of the services, avoid the additional expenses which would be incurred if they should attempt to develop comparable information through their own staffs.

Commission rates for brokerage transactions on non-U.S. stock exchanges are generally fixed.

Over-the-counter issues, including corporate debt and U.S. Government securities, are normally traded on a “net” basis without a stated commission, through dealers acting for their own account and not as brokers. The Portfolio will primarily engage in transactions with these dealers or deal directly with the issuer unless a better price or execution could be obtained by using a broker. Prices paid to a dealer with respect to both non-U.S. and domestic securities will generally include a “spread,” which is the difference between the prices at which the dealer is willing to purchase and sell the specific security at the time, and includes the dealer’s normal profit.

Purchases of money market instruments by the Portfolio are made from dealers, underwriters and issuers. The Portfolio does not currently expect to incur any brokerage commission expense on such transactions because money market instruments are generally traded on a “net” basis with dealers acting as principal for their own accounts without a stated commission. The price of the security, however, usually includes a profit to the dealer.

Securities purchased in underwritten offerings include a fixed amount of compensation to the underwriter, generally referred to as the underwriter’s concession or discount. When securities are purchased or sold directly from or to an issuer, no commissions or discounts are paid.

The adviser may seek to obtain an undertaking from issuers of commercial paper or dealers selling commercial paper to consider the repurchase of such securities from the Portfolio prior to maturity at their original cost plus interest (sometimes adjusted to reflect the actual maturity of the securities), if it believes that the Portfolio’s anticipated need for liquidity makes such action desirable. Any such repurchase prior to maturity reduces the possibility that the Portfolio would incur a capital loss in liquidating commercial paper, especially if interest rates have risen since acquisition of such commercial paper.

Investment decisions for the Portfolio and for other investment accounts managed by the adviser are made independently of each other in light of differing conditions. BlackRock allocates investments among client accounts in a fair and equitable manner. A variety of factors will be considered in making such allocations. These factors include: (i) investment objectives or strategies for particular accounts, (ii) tax considerations of an account, (iii) risk or investment concentration parameters for an account, (iv) supply or demand for a security at a given price level, (v) size of available investment, (vi) cash availability and liquidity requirements for accounts, (vii) regulatory restrictions, (viii) minimum investment size of an account, (ix) relative size of account, and (x) such other factors as may be approved by BlackRock’s general counsel. Moreover, investments may not be allocated to one client

account over another based on any of the following considerations: (i) to favor one client account at the expense of another, (ii) to generate higher fees paid by one client account over another or to produce greater performance compensation to BlackRock, (iii) to develop or enhance a relationship with a client or prospective client, (iv) to compensate a client for past services or benefits rendered to BlackRock or to induce future services or benefits to be rendered to BlackRock, or (v) to manage or equalize investment performance among different client accounts.

Equity securities will generally be allocated among client accounts within the same investment mandate on a pro rata basis. This pro-rata allocation may result in a Portfolio receiving less of a particular security than if pro-ration had not occurred. All allocations of equity securities will be subject, where relevant, to share minimums established for accounts and compliance constraints.

Initial public offerings of securities may be over-subscribed and subsequently trade at a premium in the secondary market. When BlackRock is given an opportunity to invest in such an initial offering or “hot issue,” the supply of securities available for client accounts is often less than the amount of securities the accounts would otherwise take. In order to allocate these investments fairly and equitably among client accounts over time, each portfolio manager or a member of his or her respective investment team will indicate to BlackRock’s trading desk their level of interest in a particular offering with respect to eligible clients accounts for which that team is responsible. Initial public offerings of U.S. equity securities will be identified as eligible for particular client accounts that are managed by portfolio teams who have indicated interest in the offering based on market capitalization of the issuer of the security and the investment mandate of the client account and in the case of international equity securities, the country where the offering is taken place and the investment mandate of the client account. Generally, shares received during the initial public offering will be allocated among participating client accounts within each investment mandate on a pro rata basis. In situations where supply is too limited to be allocated among all accounts for which the investment is eligible, portfolio managers may rotate such investment opportunities among one or more accounts so long as the rotation system provides for fair access for all client accounts over time.

Because different accounts may have differing investment objectives and policies, BlackRock may buy and sell the same securities at the same time for different clients based on the particular investment objective, guidelines and strategies of those accounts. For example, BlackRock may decide that it may be entirely appropriate for a growth fund to sell a security at the same time a value fund is buying that security. There may be circumstances when purchases or sales of portfolio securities for one or more clients will have an adverse effect on other clients. For example, sales of a security by BlackRock on behalf of one or more of its clients may decrease the market price of such security, adversely impacting other BlackRock clients that still hold the security.

In certain instances, BlackRock may find it efficient for purposes of achieving best execution, to aggregate certain contemporaneous purchases or sale orders of its advisory accounts (a/k/a “bunching”). In general, all contemporaneous trades for client accounts under management by the same portfolio manager or investment team will be bunched in a single order if the trader believes the bunched trade would provide each client with an opportunity to achieve a more favorable execution at a potentially lower execution cost. The costs associated with a bunched order will be shared pro rata among the clients in the bunched order. Generally, if an order for a particular portfolio manager or management team is filled at several different prices through multiple trades, all accounts participating in the order will receive the average price except in the case of certain international markets where average pricing is not permitted. While in some cases this practice could have a detrimental effect upon the price or value of the security as far as the Portfolio is concerned, in other cases it could be beneficial to the Portfolio. Transactions effected by BlackRock on behalf of more than one of its clients during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, causing an adverse effect on price. The trader will give the bunched order to the broker dealer that the trader has identified as being able to provide the best execution of the order. Orders for purchase or sale of securities will be placed within a reasonable amount of time of the order receipt and bunched orders will be kept bunched only long enough to execute the order.

The Portfolio will not purchase securities during the existence of any underwriting or selling group relating to such securities of which BlackRock, BFM, PTC, the Administrators, the Distributor or any affiliated person (as defined in the 1940 Act) thereof is a member except pursuant to procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees in accordance with Rule 10f-3 under the 1940 Act. In no instance will portfolio securities be purchased from or sold to BlackRock, BFM, PNC Bank, PTC, PFPC, the Distributor or any affiliated person of the foregoing entities except as permitted by SEC exemptive order or by applicable law.

The portfolio turnover rate of the Portfolio is calculated by dividing the lesser of the Portfolio’s annual sales or purchases of portfolio securities (exclusive of purchases or sales of securities whose maturities at the time of acquisition were one year or less) by the monthly average value of the securities held by the Portfolio during the year.

PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION INFORMATION

The Fund has authorized one or more brokers and/or financial institutions (“Authorized Persons”) to receive on its behalf purchase and redemption orders that are in “good form” in accordance with the policies of those Authorized Persons. Such Authorized Persons are authorized to designate other intermediaries to receive purchase and redemption orders on the Fund’s behalf, and the Fund will be deemed to have received a purchase or redemption order when an Authorized Persons or, if applicable, such Authorized Person’s authorized designee, receives the order. Such customer orders will be priced at a Portfolio’s net asset value next computed after they are received by an Authorized Person or such Authorized Person’s authorized designee. Financial institutions may include retirement plan service providers who aggregate purchase and redemption instructions received from numerous retirement plans or plan participants.

Institutional Shares

Purchase of Shares. Institutional Shares are offered to investors with minimum investments as described in the prospectus and to employees of BlackRock without regard to any applicable investment minimums. The Fund may in its discretion waive or modify the minimum investment amount, may reject any order for Institutional Shares and may suspend and resume the sale of shares of the Portfolio at any time.

Payment for Institutional Shares must normally be made in Federal funds or other funds immediately available to the Fund’s custodian by 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the first business day following receipt of the order. Payment may also, in the discretion of the Fund, be made in the form of securities that are permissible investments for the Portfolio. The Fund does not accept third party checks for initial or subsequent investments. If payment for a purchase order is not received by the prescribed time, an investor may be liable for any resulting losses or expenses incurred by the Company.

Institutional Shares of the Portfolio may be purchased by customers of broker-dealers and agents which have established a servicing relationship with the Fund on behalf of their customers. These broker-dealers and agents may impose additional or different conditions on the purchase or redemption of Portfolio shares by their customers and may charge their customers transaction, account or other fees on the purchase and redemption of Portfolio shares. Each broker-dealer or agent is responsible for transmitting to its customers a schedule of any such fees and information regarding any additional or different conditions regarding purchases and redemptions. Shareholders who are customers of such broker-dealers or agents should consult them for information regarding these fees and conditions.

Redemption of Shares. Payment for redeemed shares for which a redemption order is received by PFPC before 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on a Business Day is normally made in Federal funds wired to the redeeming Institution on the next Business Day, provided that the Fund’s custodian is also open for business. Payment for redemption orders received after 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) or on a day when the Fund’s custodian is closed is normally wired in Federal funds on the next Business Day following redemption on which the Fund’s custodian is open for business. The Fund reserves the right to wire redemption proceeds within seven days after receiving a redemption order if, in the judgment of BlackRock, an earlier payment could adversely affect the Portfolio. No charge for wiring redemption payments is imposed by the Fund.

During periods of substantial economic or market change, telephone redemptions may be difficult to complete. Redemption requests may also be mailed to PFPC at P.O. Box 8907, Wilmington, Delaware 19899-8907.

The Fund may also suspend the right of redemption or postpone the date of payment upon redemption for such periods as are permitted under the 1940 Act, and may redeem shares involuntarily or make payment for redemption in securities or other property when determined appropriate in light of the Fund’s responsibilities under the 1940 Act.

Dividends and Distributions

The Portfolio will distribute substantially all of its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. The net investment income of the Portfolio is declared quarterly as a dividend to investors who are shareholders of the Portfolio at the close of business on the record day. All dividends are paid not later than ten days after the end of each quarter. Any net realized capital gains (including net short-term capital gains) will be distributed by the Portfolio at least annually and will be taxed as ordinary income. The period for which dividends are payable and the time for payment are subject to change by the Fund’s Board of Trustees.

Distributions are reinvested at net asset value in additional full and fractional shares of the same class on which the distributions are paid, unless a shareholder elects to receive distributions in cash. This election, or any revocation thereof, must be made in writing to PFPC, and will become effective with respect to distributions paid after its receipt by PFPC.

VALUATION OF PORTFOLIO SECURITIES

In determining the market value of portfolio investments, the Fund may employ outside organizations, which may use, without limitation, a matrix or formula method that takes into consideration market indexes, matrices, yield curves and other specific adjustments. This may result in the securities being valued at a price different from the price that would have been determined had the matrix or formula method not been used. All cash, receivables and current payables are carried on the Fund’s books at their face value. Other assets, if any, are valued at fair value as determined in good faith under the supervision of the Board of Trustees.

Net asset value is calculated separately for each class of shares of the Portfolio as of the close of regular trading hours on the NYSE (currently 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on each Business Day by dividing the value of all securities, cash and other assets owned by the Portfolio that are allocated to a particular class of shares, less the liabilities charged to that class, by the total number of outstanding shares of the class.

Valuation of securities held by the Portfolio is as follows: securities traded on a national securities exchange or on the NASDAQ National Market System are valued at the last reported sale price that day or the NASDAQ official closing price (“NOCP”), if applicable; securities traded on a national securities exchange for which there were no sales on that day and securities traded on other over-the-counter markets for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the mean of the bid and asked prices; an option or futures contract is valued at the last sales price prior to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), as quoted on the principal exchange or board of trade on which such option or contract is traded, or in the absence of a sale, the mean between the last bid and asked prices prior to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time); and securities for which market quotations are not readily available are valued at fair market value as determined in good faith by or under the direction of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. The amortized cost method of valuation may also be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less remaining to maturity unless the investment adviser under the supervision of the Board of Trustees determines such method does not represent fair value.

Valuation of securities of non-U.S. issuers is as follows: to the extent sale prices are available, securities which are traded on a recognized stock exchange, whether U.S. or non-U.S., are valued at the latest sale price on that exchange prior to the time when assets are valued or prior to the close of regular trading hours on the NYSE. In the event that there are no sales, the mean between the last available bid and asked prices will be used. If a security is traded on more than one exchange, the latest sale price on the exchange where the stock is primarily traded is used. An option or futures contract is valued at the last sales price prior to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), as quoted on the principal exchange or board of trade on which such option or contract is traded, or in the absence of a sale, the mean between the last bid and asked prices prior to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). In the event that application of these methods of valuation results in a price for a security which is deemed not to be representative of the market value of such security, the security will be valued by, under the direction of or in accordance with a method specified by the Board of Trustees as reflecting fair value. The amortized cost method of valuation will be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less remaining to maturity unless the investment adviser under the supervision of the

Board of Trustees determines such method does not represent fair value. All other assets and securities held by the Portfolio (including restricted securities) are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the Board of Trustees or by someone under its direction. Any assets which are denominated in a non-U.S. currency are translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing market rates.

Certain of the securities acquired by the Portfolio may be traded on non-U.S. exchanges or over-the-counter markets on days on which the Portfolio’s net asset value is not calculated. In such cases, the net asset value of the Portfolio’s shares may be significantly affected on days when investors can neither purchase nor redeem shares of the Portfolio.

The Portfolio may use a pricing service, bank or broker/dealer experienced in such matters to value the Portfolio’s securities.

Fair Value. When the exchange or market on which a security or other asset is traded does not open for trading for an entire trading day, and no other market prices are available, market quotations are not readily available. Market quotations may not be reliable when there is a substantial time differential between the close of trading for the asset and the time as of which the Fund values its assets and when significant events have occurred in the markets or in related instruments such as ADRs. When market quotations are not readily available or are believed by BlackRock to be unreliable, the Fund’s investments are valued at fair value (“Fair Value Assets”).

Fair Value Assets generally are valued by BlackRock in accordance with procedures approved by the Board of Trustees. BlackRock may conclude that a market quotation is not readily available or is unreliable if a security or other asset does not have a price source due to its lack of liquidity, if BlackRock believes a market quotation from a broker-dealer is unreliable (e.g., where it varies significantly from a recent trade), where the security or other asset is thinly traded or where there is a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation. For these purpose, a “significant event” is deemed to occur if the BlackRock Portfolio Management Group and/or the Pricing Group determines, in its business judgment prior to or at the time of pricing the Fund’s assets, that it is highly likely that the event will cause a material change to the last closing market price of one or more assets held by the Fund.

BlackRock’s Pricing Group will submit its recommendations regarding the valuation and/or valuation methodologies for Fair Value Assets to BlackRock’s Valuation Committee. The Valuation Committee may accept, modify or reject any recommendations. The pricing of all Fair Value Assets shall be subsequently reported to and ratified by the Board or a Committee thereof.

When determining the price for a Fair Value Asset, the Valuation Committee (or the Pricing Group) shall seek to determine the price that the 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 the Fund might reasonably expect to receive for selling an asset at a later time or if it holds the asset to maturity. Fair value determinations shall be based upon all available factors that the Valuation Committee (or Pricing Group) deems relevant.

Fair value represents a good faith approximation of the value of a security. The fair value of one or more securities may not, in retrospect, be the prices at which those assets could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used in determining the Portfolio’s net asset value. As a result, the Portfolio’s sale or redemption of its shares at net asset value, at a time when a holding or holdings are valued at fair value, may have the effect of diluting or increasing the economic interest of existing shareholders.

TAXES

The following is only a summary of certain additional tax considerations generally affecting the Portfolio and its shareholders that are not described in the Prospectus. No attempt is made to present a detailed explanation of the tax treatment of the Portfolio or its shareholders, and the discussion here and in the Prospectuses is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Investors may wish to consult their tax advisers with specific reference to their own tax situation.

The Portfolio has elected to be taxed, and intends to qualify each year, as a regulated investment company under Part I of Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). As a regulated investment company, the Portfolio generally is exempt from Federal income tax on its investment company taxable income as that term is defined in the Code without regard to the deduction for dividends paid, and net capital gain (i.e., the excess of its net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) that it distributes to shareholders, provided that it distributes an amount equal to at least the sum of (a) 90% of its investment company taxable income and (b) 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income, if any (the “Distribution Requirement”) and satisfies certain other requirements of the Code that are described below. Distributions of investment company taxable income and net tax-exempt interest income made during the taxable year or, under specified circumstances, within twelve months after the close of the taxable year will satisfy the Distribution Requirement.

In addition to satisfaction of the Distribution Requirement, the Portfolio must derive at least 90% of its gross income (the “Income Requirement”) from (a) dividends, interest, certain payments with respect to securities loans and gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or non-U.S. currencies, or from other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investment in such stock, securities, or currencies and (b) net income derived from interests in certain publicly traded partnerships that are treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes and that derive less than 90% of their gross income from the items described in (a) above (each a “Qualified Publicly Traded Partnership”).

In addition to the foregoing requirements, at the close of each quarter of its taxable year, at least 50% of the value of the Portfolio’s assets must consist of cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other regulated investment companies, and securities of other issuers (as to which the Portfolio generally has not invested more than 5% of the value of its total assets in securities of such issuer and as to which the Portfolio does not hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer), and no more than 25% of the value of the Portfolio’s total assets may be invested in the securities of any one issuer (other than U.S. Government securities and securities of other regulated investment companies), in two or more issuers which the Portfolio controls and which are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses, or in any one or more Qualified Publicly Traded Partnerships.

Distributions of investment company taxable income from the Portfolio will generally be taxable (other than qualified dividend income and the possible allowance of the dividends received deduction described below) to shareholders as ordinary income to the extent of the Portfolio’s earnings and profits, regardless of whether such distributions are paid in cash or are reinvested in shares. However, for taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2008, distributions of investment company taxable income that are designated by the Portfolio as derived from qualified dividend income are taxed to individuals at the rates applicable to long-term capital gains. The Portfolio will notify shareholders of the amount of any distribution that may constitute qualified dividend income not later than 60 days after the close of its taxable year. If the Portfolio receives 95% or more of its gross income (as defined for that purpose) from qualified dividend income, all the Portfolio’s distributions may be classified as qualified dividend income, provided holding period and other requirements are met by both the shareholders and the Portfolio. Otherwise, only a portion of the Portfolio’s distributions may be eligible for

classification as qualified dividend income. The Portfolio may designate such distributions as qualified dividend income only to the extent the Portfolio has qualified dividend income for the taxable year in which such distributions are made. Qualified dividend income is generally dividend income from taxable domestic corporations and certain non-U.S. corporations. Shareholders receiving any distribution from the Portfolio in the form of additional shares will be treated as receiving a taxable distribution in an amount equal to the fair market value of the shares received, determined as of the reinvestment date.

The Portfolio intends to distribute to shareholders all of its net capital gain for each taxable year. Such gain is distributed as a capital gain dividend and is taxable to shareholders as long-term capital gain, regardless of the length of time the shareholder has held his or her shares, whether such gain was recognized by the Portfolio prior to the date on which a shareholder acquired shares of the Portfolio and whether the distribution was paid in cash or reinvested in shares.

Distributions by the Portfolio that do not constitute ordinary income dividends, qualified dividend income, exempt-interest dividends, interest-related dividends, short-term capital gain dividends or capital gain dividends will be treated as a return of capital to the extent of (and in reduction of) a shareholder’s tax basis in his shares; any excess will be treated as gain from the sale of his shares, as discussed below.

Under current law, ordinary income of individuals will be taxable at a maximum marginal rate of 35%, but because of limitations on itemized deductions otherwise allowable and the phase-out of personal exemptions, the maximum effective marginal rate of tax for some taxpayers may be higher. Long-term capital gains for individuals have been temporarily reduced to 15% (with lower rates for individuals in the 10% to 15% rate brackets) for taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2008. Capital gains and ordinary income of corporate taxpayers are both taxed at a maximum marginal rate of 35%.

A shareholder generally will recognize gain or loss on the sale, exchange or redemption of the Portfolio’s shares in an amount equal to the difference between the proceeds of the sale, exchange or redemption and the shareholder’s adjusted tax basis in the shares. All or a portion of any loss so recognized may be disallowed if the shareholder purchases other shares of the Portfolio within 30 days before or after the sale, exchange or redemption. Any gain or loss arising from the sale, exchange or redemption of shares of the Portfolio held as a capital asset (generally, property held for investment) will be considered capital gain or loss and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares were held for longer than one year. Any loss incurred on the sale or exchange of the Portfolio’s shares, held six months or less, will be disallowed to the extent of exempt-interest dividends received with respect to such shares, and any loss not so disallowed will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of capital gain dividends received with respect to such shares.

Under recently promulgated Treasury regulations, if a shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the Internal Revenue Service a disclosure statement on IRS Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a regulated investment company are not excepted. Future guidance may extend the current exception from this reporting requirement to shareholders of most or all regulated investment companies. The fact 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 advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

The Portfolio may engage in hedging or derivatives transactions involving non-U.S. currencies, forward contracts, options and futures contracts (including options, futures and forward contracts on non-U.S. currencies) and short sales. Such transactions will be subject to special provisions of the Code that, among other things, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Portfolio (that is, may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income of the Portfolio and defer recognition of certain of the Portfolio’s losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. In addition, these provisions (1) will require the Portfolio to “mark-to-market” certain types of positions in its portfolio (that is, treat them as if they were closed out) and (2) may cause the Portfolio to recognize income without receiving cash with which to pay dividends or make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the Distribution Requirement and avoid the 4% excise tax (described below). The Portfolio intends to monitor its

transactions, will make the appropriate tax elections and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records when it acquires any option, futures contract, forward contract or hedged investment in order to mitigate the effect of these rules.

The Portfolio may make investments in zero coupon bonds having original issue discount (i.e., an amount equal to the excess of the stated redemption price of the bond at maturity over its issue price). Zero coupon bonds do not provide for periodic interest payments and therefore produce income that is not matched by a corresponding cash distribution. Any such income would be treated as income earned by the Portfolio and would be subject to the Distribution Requirement and taken into account for purposes of the 4% excise tax (discussed below). As a result, the Portfolio may be required to dispose of portfolio securities under disadvantageous circumstances in order to generate cash to be able to make distributions to its investors.

Under Section 988 of the Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the time the Portfolio accrues income or receivables or expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time the Portfolio actually collects such income or receivables or pays such liabilities are generally treated as ordinary income or loss. Similarly, gains or losses on foreign currency forward contracts and the disposition of debt securities denominated in a foreign currency, to the extent attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the acquisition and disposition dates, are also treated as ordinary income or loss.

If the Portfolio purchases shares in a “passive foreign investment company” (a “PFIC”), the Portfolio may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such shares even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend by the Portfolio to its shareholders. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on the Portfolio in respect of deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains. If the Portfolio were to invest in a PFIC and elected to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code (a “QEF”), in lieu of the foregoing requirements, the Portfolio would be required to include in income each year a portion of the ordinary earnings and net capital gain of the qualified electing fund, even if not distributed to the Portfolio. Alternatively, the Portfolio can elect to mark-to-market at the end of each taxable year its shares in a PFIC; in this case, the Portfolio would recognize as ordinary income any increase in the value of such shares, and as ordinary loss any decrease in such value to the extent it did not exceed prior increases included in income. Under either election, the Portfolio might be required to recognize in a year income in excess of its distributions from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock during that year, and such income would nevertheless be subject to the Distribution Requirement and would be taken into account for purposes of the 4% excise tax (described below).

Investment income that may be received by the Portfolio from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes withheld at the source. The United States has entered into tax treaties with many foreign countries which entitle the Portfolio to a reduced rate of, or exemption from, taxes on such income. If more than 50% of the value of the total assets at the close of the taxable year of the Portfolio consists of stocks or securities of foreign corporations, it may elect to “pass through” to the Portfolio’s shareholders the amount of foreign taxes paid by the Portfolio. If the Portfolio so elects, each shareholder would be required to include in gross income, even though not actually received, his pro rata share of the foreign taxes paid by the Portfolio, but would be treated as having paid his pro rata share of such foreign taxes and would therefore be allowed to either deduct such amount in computing taxable income or use such amount (subject to various Code limitations) as a foreign tax credit against federal income tax (but not both). For purposes of the foreign tax credit limitation rules of the Code, each shareholder would treat as non-U.S. source income his pro rata share of such foreign taxes plus the portion of dividends received from the Portfolio representing income derived from non-U.S. sources. No deduction for foreign taxes could be claimed by an individual shareholder who does not itemize deductions. In certain circumstances, a shareholder that (i) has held shares of the Portfolio for less than a specified minimum period during which it is not protected from risk of loss or (ii) is obligated to make payments related to the dividends, will not be allowed a foreign tax credit for foreign taxes deemed imposed on dividends paid on such shares. Additionally, the Portfolio must also meet this holding period requirement with respect to its non-U.S. stocks and securities in order for “creditable” taxes to flow-through. Each shareholder should consult his own tax adviser regarding the potential application of foreign tax credits.

Ordinary income dividends paid by the Portfolio will qualify for the 70% dividends-received deduction generally available to corporations to the extent of the amount of “qualifying dividends” received by the Portfolio from domestic corporations for the taxable year. A dividend received by the Portfolio will not be treated as a

qualifying dividend (i) if it has been received with respect to any share of stock that the Portfolio has held for less than 46 days (91 days in the case of certain preferred stock) during the 91 day period beginning on the date which is 45 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend (during the 181 day period beginning 90 days before such date in the case of certain preferred stock), (ii) to the extent that the Portfolio is under an obligation to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property or (iii) to the extent the stock on which the dividend is paid is treated as debt-financed. Moreover, the dividends-received deduction for a corporate shareholder may be disallowed if the corporate shareholder fails to satisfy the foregoing requirements with respect to its shares of the Portfolio.

If for any taxable year the Portfolio does not qualify as a regulated investment company, all of its taxable income will be subject to tax at regular corporate rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and all distributions (including amounts derived from interest on Municipal Obligations) will be taxable as ordinary dividends to the extent of the Portfolio’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. Such distributions will generally be eligible (i) for treatment as qualified dividend income in the case of individual shareholders and (ii) for the dividends-received deduction in the case of corporate shareholders.

A 4% non-deductible excise tax is imposed on regulated investment companies that fail to currently distribute specified percentages of their ordinary taxable income and capital gain net income (excess of capital gains over capital losses). The Portfolio intends to make sufficient distributions or deemed distributions of its ordinary taxable income and any capital gain net income prior to the end of each calendar year to avoid liability for this excise tax.

Ordinarily, shareholders are required to take distributions by the Portfolio into account in the year in which the distributions are made. However, dividends declared in October, November or December of any year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month will be deemed to have been received by the shareholders (and made by the Portfolio) on December 31 of such calendar year if such dividends are actually paid in January of the following year.

The Fund will be required in certain cases to withhold and remit to the United States Treasury a portion of dividends and gross sale proceeds paid to any shareholder (i) who has provided either an incorrect tax identification number or no number at all, (ii) who is subject to backup withholding by the Internal Revenue Service for failure to report the receipt of interest or dividend income properly, or (iii) who has failed to certify to the Fund when required to do so that he is not subject to backup withholding or that he is an “exempt recipient.”

Taxation of a shareholder who, as to the United States, is a nonresident alien individual, non-U.S. trust or estate, non-U.S. corporation, or non-U.S. partnership (“non-U.S. shareholder”), depends on whether the income from the Portfolio is “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by such shareholder. If the income from the Portfolio is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a non-U.S. shareholder, dividends paid to such non-U.S. shareholder from investment company taxable income will be subject to a U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate) upon the gross amount of the dividend. Such a non-U.S. shareholder would generally be exempt from U.S. federal income tax on gains realized on the sale of shares of the Portfolio, exempt-interest dividends and capital gain dividends. In addition, U.S. source withholding taxes are not imposed on dividends paid by regulated investment companies to the extent the dividends are designated as “interest-related dividends” or “short-term capital gain dividends.” Under this exemption, interest-related dividends and short-term capital gain dividends generally represent distributions of interest or short-term capital gains that would not have been subject to U.S. withholding tax at the source if they had been received directly by a foreign person, and that satisfy certain other requirements. The exemption applies to dividends with respect to taxable years of regulated investment companies beginning after December 31, 2004, and before January 1, 2008. If the income from the Portfolio is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a non-U.S. shareholder, then ordinary income dividends, qualified dividend income, interest-related dividends, short-term capital gain dividends, capital gain dividends, and any gains realized upon the sale of shares of the Portfolio will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the rates applicable to U.S. citizens or domestic corporations. In the case of non-U.S. non-corporate shareholders, the Fund may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax on distributions that are otherwise exempt from withholding tax (or taxable at a reduced treaty rate) unless such shareholders furnish the Fund with proper notification of their non-U.S. status. Non-U.S. shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisers with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Portfolio, including the applicability of foreign taxes.

Shareholders will be advised annually as to the Federal income tax consequences of distributions made by the Portfolio each year.

The foregoing general discussion of federal income tax consequences is based on the Code and the regulations issued thereunder as in effect on the date of this Statement of Additional Information. Future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions may significantly change the conclusions expressed herein, and any such changes or decisions may have a retroactive effect with respect to the transactions contemplated herein.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING SHARES

Shares of each class of the Portfolio bear their pro rata portion of all operating expenses paid by the Portfolio, except transfer agency, networking and recordkeeping fees, certain administrative/servicing fees and amounts payable under the Fund’s Amended and Restated Distribution and Service Plan. Each share of the portfolios of the Fund has a par value of $.001, represents an interest in that portfolio and is entitled to the dividends and distributions earned on that portfolio’s assets that are declared in the discretion of the Board of Trustees. The Fund’s shareholders are entitled to one vote for each full share held and proportionate fractional votes for fractional shares held, and will vote in the aggregate and not by class, except where otherwise required by law or as determined by the Board of Trustees.

Shares of the Fund have noncumulative voting rights and, accordingly, the holders of more than 50% of the Fund’s outstanding shares (irrespective of class) may elect all of the trustees. Shares have no preemptive rights and only such conversion and exchange rights as the Board may grant in its discretion. When issued for payment, shares will be fully paid and non-assessable by the Fund.

There will normally be no meetings of shareholders for the purpose of electing trustees unless and until such time as required by law. At that time, the trustees then in office will call a shareholders meeting to elect trustees. Except as set forth above, the trustees shall continue to hold office and may appoint successor trustees. The Fund’s Declaration of Trust provides that meetings of the shareholders of the Fund shall be called by the trustees upon the written request of shareholders owning at least 10% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote.

Rule 18f-2 under the 1940 Act provides that any matter required by the provisions of the 1940 Act or applicable state law, or otherwise, to be submitted to the holders of the outstanding voting securities of an investment company such as the Fund shall not be deemed to have been effectively acted upon unless approved by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of each investment portfolio affected by such matter. Rule 18f-2 further provides that an investment portfolio shall be deemed to be affected by a matter unless the interests of each investment portfolio in the matter are substantially identical or the matter does not affect any interest of the investment portfolio. Under the Rule, the approval of an investment advisory agreement, a distribution plan subject to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act or any change in a fundamental investment policy would be effectively acted upon with respect to an investment portfolio only if approved by a majority of the outstanding shares of such investment portfolio. However, the Rule also provides that the ratification of the appointment of independent accountants, the approval of principal underwriting contracts and the election of Trustees may be effectively acted upon by shareholders of the Fund voting together in the aggregate without regard to a particular investment portfolio.

The proceeds received by the Portfolio for each issue or sale of its shares, and all net investment income, realized and unrealized gain and proceeds thereof, subject only to the rights of creditors, will be specifically allocated to and constitute the underlying assets of that Portfolio. The underlying assets of the Portfolio will be segregated on the books of account, and will be charged with the liabilities in respect to that Portfolio and with a share of the general liabilities of the Fund. As stated herein, certain expenses of the Portfolio may be charged to a specific class of shares representing interests in that Portfolio.

The Funds’ Declaration of Trust authorizes the Board of Trustees, without shareholder approval (unless otherwise required by applicable law), to: (i) sell and convey the assets belonging to a class of shares to another management investment company for consideration which may include securities issued by the purchaser and, in

connection therewith, to cause all outstanding shares of such class to be redeemed at a price which is equal to their net asset value and which may be paid in cash or by distribution of the securities or other consideration received from the sale and conveyance; (ii) sell and convert the assets belonging to one or more classes of shares into money and, in connection therewith, to cause all outstanding shares of such class to be redeemed at their net asset value; or (iii) combine the assets belonging to a class of shares with the assets belonging to one or more other classes of shares if the Board of Trustees reasonably determines that such combination will not have a material adverse effect on the shareholders of any class participating in such combination and, in connection therewith, to cause all outstanding shares of any such class to be redeemed or converted into shares of another class of shares at their net asset value. The Board of Trustees may authorize the liquidation and termination of any Portfolio or class of shares. Upon any liquidation of the Portfolio, Shareholders of each class of the Portfolio are entitled to share pro rata in the net assets belonging to that class available for distribution.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Fund. The Fund was organized as a Massachusetts business trust on December 22, 1988 and is registered under the 1940 Act as an open end, diversified management investment company. Effective January 31, 1998, the Fund changed its name from Compass Capital Funds^SM to BlackRock Funds^SM.

Counsel. The law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, 425 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10017, serves as the Fund’s counsel.

Independent Registered Public Accountant. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, with offices located at Two Commerce Square, Suite 1700, 2001 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served as the Fund’s independent registered public accountant for the periods prior to and including September 30, 2003. Deloitte & Touche LLP, with offices at 1700 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served as the Funds’ independent registered public accountant for the periods after September 30, 2003.

Shareholder Ownership. On December 31, 2005, PNC Bank, which has its principal offices at 1600 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103, held of record approximately 47.090% of the Fund’s outstanding shares, and may be deemed a controlling person of the Fund under the 1940 Act. PNC Bank is a national bank organized under the laws of the United States. All of the capital stock of PNC Bank is owned by PNC Bancorp, Inc. All of the capital stock of PNC Bancorp, Inc. is owned by The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., a publicly-held bank holding company.

Shareholder Approvals. As used in this Statement of Additional Information and in the Prospectus, a “majority of the outstanding shares” of a class, series or Portfolio means, with respect to the approval of an investment advisory agreement, a distribution plan or a change in a fundamental investment policy, the lesser of (1) 67% of the shares of the particular class, series or Portfolio represented at a meeting at which the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares of such class, series or Portfolio are present in person or by proxy, or (2) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of such class, series or Portfolio.

APPENDIX A

Commercial Paper Ratings

A Standard & Poor’s commercial paper rating is a current assessment of the likelihood of timely payment of debt considered short-term in the relevant market. The following summarizes the rating categories used by Standard and Poor’s for commercial paper:

“A-1” - Issue’s degree of safety regarding timely payment is strong. Those issues determined to possess extremely strong safety characteristics are denoted “A-1+.”

“A-2” - Issue’s capacity for timely payment is satisfactory. However, the relative degree of safety is not as high as for issues designated “A-1.”

“A-3” - Issue has an adequate capacity for timely payment. It is, however, somewhat more vulnerable to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances than an obligation carrying a higher designation.

“B” - Issue has only a speculative capacity for timely payment.

“C” - Issue has a doubtful capacity for payment.

“D” - Issue is in payment default.

Moody’s commercial paper ratings are opinions of the ability of issuers to repay punctually promissory obligations not having an original maturity in excess of 9 months. The following summarizes the rating categories used by Moody’s for commercial paper:

“Prime-1” - Issuer or related supporting institutions are considered to have a superior capacity for repayment of short-term promissory obligations. Prime-1 repayment capacity will normally be evidenced by the following characteristics: leading market positions in well established industries; high rates of return on funds employed; conservative capitalization structures with moderate reliance on debt and ample asset protection; broad margins in earning coverage of fixed financial charges and high internal cash generation; and well established access to a range of financial markets and assured sources of alternate liquidity.

“Prime-2” - Issuer or related supporting institutions are considered to have a strong capacity for repayment of short-term promissory obligations. This will normally be evidenced by many of the characteristics cited above but to a lesser degree. Earnings trends and coverage ratios, while sound, will be more subject to variation. Capitalization characteristics, while still appropriate, may be more affected by external conditions. Ample alternative liquidity is maintained.

“Prime-3” - Issuer or related supporting institutions have an acceptable capacity for repayment of short-term promissory obligations. The effects of industry characteristics and market composition may be more pronounced. Variability in earnings and profitability may result in changes in the level of debt protection measurements and the requirement for relatively high financial leverage. Adequate alternate liquidity is maintained.

“Not Prime” - Issuer does not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.

The three rating categories of Duff & Phelps for investment grade commercial paper and short-term debt are “D-1,” “D-2” and “D-3.” Duff & Phelps employs three designations, “D-1+,” “D-1” and “D-1-,” within the highest rating category. The following summarizes the rating categories used by Duff & Phelps for commercial paper:

“D-1+” - Debt possesses highest certainty of timely payment. Short-term liquidity, including internal operating factors and/or access to alternative sources of funds, is outstanding, and safety is just below risk-free U.S. Treasury short-term obligations.

A-1

“D-1” - Debt possesses very high certainty of timely payment. Liquidity factors are excellent and supported by good fundamental protection factors. Risk factors are minor.

“D-1-” - Debt possesses high certainty of timely payment. Liquidity factors are strong and supported by good fundamental protection factors. Risk factors are very small.

“D-2” - Debt possesses good certainty of timely payment. Liquidity factors and company fundamentals are sound. Although ongoing funding needs may enlarge total financing requirements, access to capital markets is good. Risk factors are small.

“D-3” - Debt possesses satisfactory liquidity, and other protection factors qualify issue as investment grade. Risk factors are larger and subject to more variation. Nevertheless, timely payment is expected.

“D-4” - Debt possesses speculative investment characteristics. Liquidity is not sufficient to ensure against disruption in debt service. Operating factors and market access may be subject to a high degree of variation.

“D-5” - Issuer has failed to meet scheduled principal and/or interest payments.

Fitch short-term ratings apply to debt obligations that are payable on demand or have original maturities of generally up to three years. The following summarizes the rating categories used by Fitch for short-term obligations:

“F-1+” - Securities possess exceptionally strong credit quality. Issues assigned this rating are regarded as having the strongest degree of assurance for timely payment.

“F-1” - Securities possess very strong credit quality. Issues assigned this rating reflect an assurance of timely payment only slightly less in degree than issues rated “F-1+.”

“F-2” - Securities possess good credit quality. Issues assigned this rating have a satisfactory degree of assurance for timely payment, but the margin of safety is not as great as the “F-1+” and “F-1” categories.

“F-3” - Securities possess fair credit quality. Issues assigned this rating have characteristics suggesting that the degree of assurance for timely payment is adequate; however, near-term adverse changes could cause these securities to be rated below investment grade.

“F-S” - Securities possess weak credit quality. Issues assigned this rating have characteristics suggesting a minimal degree of assurance for timely payment and are vulnerable to near-term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.

“D” - Securities are in actual or imminent payment default.

Fitch may also use the symbol “LOC” with its short-term ratings to indicate that the rating is based upon a letter of credit issued by a commercial bank.

Corporate and Municipal Long-Term Debt Ratings

The following summarizes the ratings used by Standard & Poor’s for corporate and municipal debt:

“AAA” - This designation represents the highest rating assigned by Standard & Poor’s to a debt obligation and indicates an extremely strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal.

A-2

“AA” - Debt is considered to have a very strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal and differs from AAA issues only in small degree.

“A” - Debt is considered to have a strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal although such issues are somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than debt in higher-rated categories.

“BBB” - Debt is regarded as having an adequate capacity to pay interest and repay principal. Whereas such issues normally exhibit adequate protection parameters, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity to pay interest and repay principal for debt in this category than in higher-rated categories.

“BB,” “B,” “CCC,” “CC” and “C” - Debt is regarded, on balance, as predominantly speculative with respect to capacity to pay interest and repay principal in accordance with the terms of the obligation. “BB” indicates the lowest degree of speculation and “C” the highest degree of speculation. While such debt will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these are outweighed by large uncertainties or major risk exposures to adverse conditions.

“BB” - Debt has less near-term vulnerability to default than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial or economic conditions which could lead to inadequate capacity to meet timely interest and principal payments. The “BB” rating category is also used for debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied “BBB-” rating.

“B” - Debt has a greater vulnerability to default but currently has the capacity to meet interest payments and principal repayments. Adverse business, financial or economic conditions will likely impair capacity or willingness to pay interest and repay principal. The “B” rating category is also used for debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied “BB” or “BB-” rating.

“CCC” - Debt has a currently identifiable vulnerability to default, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial and economic conditions to meet timely payment of interest and repayment of principal. In the event of adverse business, financial or economic conditions, it is not likely to have the capacity to pay interest and repay principal. The “CCC” rating category is also used for debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied “B” or “B-” rating.

“CC” - This rating is typically applied to debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied “CCC” rating.

“C” - This rating is typically applied to debt subordinated to senior debt which is assigned an actual or implied “CCC-” debt rating. The “C” rating may be used to cover a situation where a bankruptcy petition has been filed, but debt service payments are continued.

“CI” - This rating is reserved for income bonds on which no interest is being paid.

“D” - Debt is in payment default. This rating is used when interest payments or principal payments are not made on the date due, even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless S & P believes that such payments will be made during such grace period. “D” rating is also used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition if debt service payments are jeopardized.

PLUS (+) OR MINUS (-) - The ratings from “AA” through “CCC” may be modified by the addition of a plus or minus sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.

“r” - This rating is attached to highlight derivative, hybrid, and certain other obligations that S & P believes may experience high volatility or high variability in expected returns due to non-credit risks. Examples of such obligations are: securities whose principal or interest return is indexed to equities, commodities, or currencies; certain swaps and options; and interest only and principal only mortgage securities. The absence of an “r” symbol should not be taken as an indication that an obligation will exhibit no volatility or variability in total return.

A-3

The following summarizes the ratings used by Moody’s for corporate and municipal long-term debt:

“Aaa” - Bonds are judged to be of the best quality. They carry the smallest degree of investment risk and are generally referred to as “gilt edged.” Interest payments are protected by a large or by an exceptionally stable margin and principal is secure. While the various protective elements are likely to change, such changes as can be visualized are most unlikely to impair the fundamentally strong position of such issues.

“Aa” - Bonds are judged to be of high quality by all standards. Together with the “Aaa” group they comprise what are generally known as high-grade bonds. They are rated lower than the best bonds because margins of protection may not be as large as in “Aaa” securities 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.

“A” - Bonds possess many favorable investment attributes and are to be considered as upper medium-grade obligations. Factors giving security to principal and interest are considered adequate but elements may be present which suggest a susceptibility to impairment sometime in the future.

“Baa” - Bonds considered medium-grade obligations, i.e., they are neither highly protected nor poorly secured. Interest payments and principal security appear adequate for the present but certain protective elements may be lacking or may be characteristically unreliable over any great length of time. Such bonds lack outstanding investment characteristics and in fact have speculative characteristics as well.

“Ba,” “B,” “Caa,” “Ca,” and “C” - Bonds that possess one of these ratings provide questionable protection of interest and principal (“Ba” indicates some speculative elements; “B” indicates a general lack of characteristics of desirable investment; “Caa” represents a poor standing; “Ca” represents obligations which are speculative in a high degree; and “C” represents the lowest rated class of bonds). “Caa,” “Ca” and “C” bonds may be in default.

Con. (—) - Bonds for which the security depends upon the completion of some act or the fulfillment of some condition are rated conditionally. These are bonds secured by (a) earnings of projects under construction, (b) earnings of projects unseasoned in operation experience, (c) rentals which begin when facilities are completed, or (d) payments to which some other limiting condition attaches. Parenthetical rating denotes probable credit stature upon completion of construction or elimination of basis of condition.

(P) - When applied to forward delivery bonds, indicates that the rating is provisional pending delivery of the bonds. The rating may be revised prior to delivery if changes occur in the legal documents or the underlying credit quality of the bonds.

Note: Those bonds in the Aa, A, Baa, Ba and B groups which Moody’s believes possess the strongest investment attributes are designated by the symbols, Aa1, A1, Ba1 and B1.

The following summarizes the highest four ratings used by Fitch for corporate and municipal bonds:

“AAA” - Bonds 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.

“AA” - Bonds 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.” Because bonds rated in the “AAA” and “AA” categories are not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable future developments, short-term debt of these issuers is generally rated “F-1+.”

A-4

“A” - Bonds considered to be investment grade and of high credit quality. The obligor’s ability to pay interest and repay principal is considered to be strong, but may be more vulnerable to adverse changes in economic conditions and circumstances than bonds with higher ratings.

“BBB” - Bonds considered to be investment grade and of satisfactory credit quality. The obligor’s ability to pay interest and repay principal is considered to be adequate. Adverse changes in economic conditions and circumstances, however, are more likely to have an adverse impact on these bonds, and therefore, impair timely payment. The likelihood that the ratings of these bonds will fall below investment grade is higher than for bonds with higher ratings.

“BB,” “B,” “CCC,” “CC,” “C,” “DDD,” “DD,” and “D” - Bonds that possess one of these ratings are considered by Fitch to be speculative investments. The ratings “BB” to “C” represent Fitch’s assessment of the likelihood of timely payment of principal and interest in accordance with the terms of obligation for bond issues not in default. For defaulted bonds, the rating “DDD” to “D” is an assessment of the ultimate recovery value through reorganization or liquidation.

To provide more detailed indications of credit quality, the Fitch ratings from and including “AA” to “BBB” may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within these major rating categories.

Municipal Note Ratings

A Standard and Poor’s rating reflects the liquidity concerns and market access risks unique to notes due in three years or less. The following summarizes the ratings used by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group for municipal notes:

“SP-1” - The issuers of these municipal notes exhibit very strong or strong capacity to pay principal and interest. Those issues determined to possess overwhelming safety characteristics are given a plus (+) designation.

“SP-2” - The issuers of these municipal notes exhibit satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest.

“SP-3” - The issuers of these municipal notes exhibit speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.

Moody’s ratings for state and municipal notes and other short-term loans are designated Moody’s Investment Grade (“MIG”) and variable rate demand obligations are designated Variable Moody’s Investment Grade (“VMIG”). Such ratings recognize the differences between short-term credit risk and long-term risk. The following summarizes the ratings by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. for short-term notes:

“MIG-1”/”VMIG-1” - Loans bearing this designation are of the best quality, enjoying strong protection by established cash flows, superior liquidity support or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.

“MIG-2”/”VMIG-2” - Loans bearing this designation are of high quality, with margins of protection ample although not so large as in the preceding group.

“MIG-3”/”VMIG-3” - Loans bearing this designation are of favorable quality, with all security elements accounted for but lacking the undeniable strength of the preceding grades. Liquidity and cash flow protection may be narrow and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well established.

“MIG-4”/”VMIG-4” - Loans bearing this designation are of adequate quality, carrying specific risk but having protection commonly regarded as required of an investment security and not distinctly or predominantly speculative.

“SG” - Loans bearing this designation are of speculative quality and lack margins of protection.

Fitch uses the short-term ratings described under Commercial Paper Ratings for municipal notes.

A-5

APPENDIX B

The Portfolio may enter into futures transactions. These transactions are described in this Appendix.

Futures Contracts

If so provided in the Prospectus relating to a particular Portfolio, the Portfolio may purchase and sell interest rate, currency and index futures contracts that are traded on U.S. and non-U.S. commodity exchanges on such underlying securities as U.S. Treasury bonds, notes, bills, GNMA Certificates and/or on any non-U.S. government fixed-income security, on various currencies and on such indices of U.S. and non-U.S. securities as may exist or come into existence.

A futures contract purchaser generally incurs an obligation to take delivery of a specified amount of the instrument (that is, the security or securities or the non-U.S. currency) underlying the contract at a specified time in the future for a specified price. A seller of a futures contract incurs an obligation to deliver the specified amount of the underlying instrument at a specified time in return for an agreed upon price. The purchase of a futures contract enables the Portfolio, during the term of the contract, to lock in a price at which it may purchase a security or currency and protect against a rise in prices pending purchase of portfolio securities. The sale of a future contract enables the Portfolio to lock in a price at which it may sell a security or currency and protect against declines in the value of portfolio securities.

Although most futures contracts call for actual delivery or acceptance of the underlying instrument, the contracts usually are closed out before the settlement date without the making or taking of delivery. Index futures contracts provide for the delivery of an amount of cash equal to a specified dollar amount times the difference between the index value at the open or close of the last trading day of the contract and the futures contract price. A futures contract sale is closed out by effecting a futures contract purchase for the same aggregate amount of the specific type of the underlying instrument and the same delivery date. If the sale price exceeds the offsetting purchase price, the seller would be paid the difference and would realize a gain. If the offsetting purchase price exceeds the sale price, the seller would pay the difference and would realize a loss. Similarly, a futures contract purchase is closed out by effecting a future contract sale for the same aggregate amount of the specific type of the underlying instrument and the same delivery date. If the offsetting sale price exceeds the purchase price, the purchaser would realize a gain, whereas if the purchase price exceeds the offsetting sale price, the purchaser would realize a loss. There is no assurance that the Portfolio will be able to enter into a closing transaction.

Margin

If the Portfolio enters into a futures contract, it is initially required to deposit an “initial margin” of cash, U.S. government securities or other liquid portfolio securities ranging from approximately 2% to 5% of the contract amount. Initial margin requirements are established by the exchanges on which futures contracts trade and may, from time to time, change. In addition, brokers may establish margin deposit requirements in excess of those required by the exchanges.

Initial margin in futures transactions is different from margin in securities transactions in that initial margin does not involve the borrowing of funds by a broker’s client but is, rather, a good faith deposit on the futures contract which will be returned to the Portfolio upon the proper termination of the futures contract.

The margin deposits made are marked to market daily and the Portfolio may be required to make subsequent deposits of cash, U.S. government securities or other liquid portfolio securities, called “variation margin,” which are reflective of price fluctuations in the futures contract. For example, when the Portfolio has purchased a futures contract and the price of the contract has risen in response to a rise in the underlying instrument, that position will have increased in value and the Portfolio will be entitled to receive from the broker a variation margin payment equal to that increase in value. Conversely, where the Portfolio has purchased a futures contract and the price of the future contract has declined in response to a decrease in the underlying instrument, the position would be less valuable and the Portfolio would be required to make a variation margin payment to the broker. Prior to expiration of the futures contract, the Adviser to the Portfolio may elect to close the position by taking an opposite

B-1

position, subject to the availability of a secondary market, which will operate to terminate the Portfolio’s position in the futures contract. A final determination of variation margin is then made, additional cash is required to be paid by or released to the Portfolio, and the Portfolio realizes a loss or a gain.

Options on Futures Contracts

The Portfolio may purchase and write call and put options on futures contracts and enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate an existing position. An option on the futures contract gives the purchaser the right (in return for the premium paid), and the writer the obligation, to assume a position in a futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a put) at a specified exercise price at any time during the term of the option. Upon exercise of the option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option is accompanied by delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures margin account, which represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract at the time of exercise exceeds, in the case of a call, or is less than, in the case of a put, the exercise price of the option on the futures contract.

The writer of an option on a futures contract is required to deposit initial and variation margin pursuant to requirements similar to those applicable to futures contracts. Premiums received from the writing of an option on a futures contract are included in initial margin deposits.

Risks of Transactions in Futures Contracts and Options on Futures Contracts

The prices of securities, currencies and indices subject to futures contracts (and thereby the futures contract prices) may correlate imperfectly with the behavior of the cash price of the Portfolio’s securities (and the currencies in which they are denominated). Also, prices of futures contracts may not move in tandem with the changes in prevailing interest rates, market movements and/or currency exchange rates against which the Portfolio seeks a hedge. A correlation may also be distorted (a) temporarily, by short-term traders seeking to profit from the difference between a contract or security price objective and their cost of borrowed funds; (b) by investors in futures contracts electing to close out their contracts through offsetting transactions rather than meet margin deposit requirements; (c) by investors in futures contracts opting to make or take delivery of underlying securities rather than engage in closing transactions, thereby reducing liquidity of the futures market; and (d) temporarily, by speculators who view the deposit requirements in the futures markets as less onerous than margin requirements in the cash market. Due to the possibility of price distortion in the futures market and because of the possible imperfect correlation between movements in the prices of securities, currencies and indices and movements in the price of futures contracts, a correct forecast of interest rate, currency exchange rate and/or market movement trends by the Portfolio’s Advisor may still not result in a successful hedging transaction.

There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for futures contracts and related options in which the Portfolio may invest. In the event a liquid market does not exist, it may not be possible to close out a future position and, in the event of adverse price movements, the Portfolio would continue to be required to make daily case payments of variation margin. The absence of a liquid market in futures contracts might cause the Portfolio to make or take delivery of the instruments underlying futures contracts at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

Exchanges also limit the amount by which the price of a futures contract may move on any day. If the price moves equal the daily limit on successive days, then it may prove impossible to liquidate a futures position until the daily limit moves have ceased. In the event of adverse price movements, the Portfolio would continue to be required to make daily cash payments of variation margin on open futures positions. In these situations, if the Portfolio has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily variation margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. In addition, the Portfolio may be required to take or make delivery of the instruments underlying futures contracts it holds at a time when it is disadvantageous to do so. The inability to close out options and futures positions could also have an adverse impact on the Portfolio’s ability to effectively hedge its portfolio.

The risk of loss in trading futures contracts in some strategies can be substantial, due both to the relatively low margin deposits required, and the extremely high degree of leverage involved in futures pricing. As a result, a

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relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss (as well as gain) to the investor. For example, if at the time of purchase, 10% of the value of the futures contract is deposited as margin, a subsequent 10% decrease in the value of the futures contract would result in a total loss of the margin deposit, before any deduction for the transaction costs, if the account were then closed out. A 15% decrease would result in a loss equal to 150% of the original margin deposit, before any deduction for the transaction costs, if the contract were closed out. Thus, a purchase or sale of a futures contract may result in losses in excess of the amount invested in the contract.

Futures contracts and options thereon which are purchased or sold on non-U.S. commodities exchanges may have greater price volatility than their U.S. counterparts. Furthermore, non-U.S. commodities exchanges may be less regulated and under less governmental scrutiny than U.S. exchanges. Brokerage commissions, clearing costs and other transaction costs may be higher on non-U.S. exchanges. Greater margin requirements may limit the Portfolio’s ability to enter into certain commodity transactions on non-U.S. exchanges. Moreover, differences in clearance and delivery requirements on non-U.S. exchanges may occasion delays in the settlement of the Portfolio’s transactions effected on non-U.S. exchanges.

In the event of the bankruptcy of a broker through which the Portfolio engages in transactions in futures or options thereon, the Portfolio could experience delays and/or losses in liquidating open positions purchased or sold through the broker and/or incur a loss on all or part of its margin deposits with the broker.

If the Portfolio maintains a short position in a futures contract or has sold a call option on a futures contract, it will cover this position by holding, in a segregated account maintained on the books of the Portfolio, cash, U.S. government securities or other government securities or other liquid portfolio securities equal in value (when added to any initial or variation margin on deposit) to the market value of the instrument underlying the futures contract or the exercise price of the option. Such a position may also be covered by owning the instrument underlying the futures contract (in the case of a stock index futures contract the Portfolio of securities substantially replicating the relevant index), or by holding a call option permitting the Portfolio to purchase the same contract at a price no higher than the price at which the short position was established.

In addition, if the Portfolio holds a long position in a futures contract or has sold a put option on a futures contract, it will hold cash, U.S. government securities or other liquid portfolio securities equal to the purchase price of the contract or the exercise price of the put option (less the amount of initial or variation margin on deposit) in a segregated account maintained on the books of the Portfolio. Alternatively, the Portfolio could cover its long position by purchasing a put option on the same futures contract with an exercise price as high or higher than the price of the contract held by the Portfolio.

Accounting Treatment

Any Portfolio trading in futures contracts and options thereon will account for such instruments in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

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