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Institutional | BlackRock Short Obligations Fund
Fund Overview

Key Facts About BlackRock Short Obligations Fund
Investment Objective
The investment objective of BlackRock Short Obligations Fund (“Short Obligations Fund” or the “Fund”), a series of BlackRock FundsSM (the “Trust”), is to seek current income consistent with preservation of capital.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold Institutional Shares of Short Obligations Fund.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Institutional
BlackRock Short Obligations Fund
Institutional Shares
Management Fee 0.25% [1]
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees none
Other Expenses 0.33%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.58%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements (0.23%) [1],[2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements 0.35% [1],[2]
[1] As described in the “Management of the Fund” section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 24, BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”) has contractually agreed to waive the management fee with respect to any portion of the Fund’s assets estimated to be attributable to investments in other equity and fixed-income mutual funds and exchange-traded funds managed by BlackRock or its affiliates that have a contractual management fee, through November 30, 2017. The contractual agreement may be terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non-interested trustees of the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund.
[2] As described in the “Management of the Fund” section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 24, BlackRock has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse fees and/or expenses in order to limit Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements (excluding Dividend Expense, Interest Expense, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and certain other Fund expenses) to 0.35% of average daily net assets through November 30, 2017. The Fund may have to repay some of these waivers and/or reimbursements to BlackRock in the following two years. The contractual agreement may be terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non-interested trustees of the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund.
Example:
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Institutional | BlackRock Short Obligations Fund | Institutional Shares | USD ($) 36 163 301 704
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 184% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
Under normal market conditions, Short Obligations Fund will invest in U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade and short-term fixed and floating rate debt securities maturing in three years or less (with certain exceptions) and will maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity of 180 days or less and a dollar-weighted average life of 365 days or less.

To achieve its investment objective, the Fund may invest in corporate securities, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, and money market instruments, including government, U.S. and foreign bank and commercial obligations, obligations issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States, the District of Columbia and their respective authorities, agencies, instrumentalities and political subdivisions and derivative securities such as beneficial interests in municipal trust certificates and partnership trusts, and repurchase agreements.

The Fund may invest in variable and floating rate instruments and when-issued and delayed delivery securities.

The Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in securities issued by financial services companies, including banks, broker-dealers and insurance companies, and repurchase agreements secured by such obligations.

Investment grade securities purchased by the Fund (or the issuers of such securities) will carry a rating of BBB-, or equivalent, or higher by at least one nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”) and short-term investments (or the issuers of such securities) will carry a rating in the highest two rating categories of at least one NRSRO (e.g., A-2, P-2 or F2 or better by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., or Fitch Ratings Inc., respectively), or if such investments are unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by BlackRock, at the time of investment.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Risk is inherent in all investing. The value of your investment in the Fund, as well as the amount of return you receive on your investment, may fluctuate from day to day and over time. You may lose part or all of your investment in the Fund or your investment may not perform as well as other similar investments. The following is a summary description of principal risks of investing in the Fund.
  • Credit Risk — Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of a security will not be able to make payments of interest and principal when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer.
  • Extension Risk — When interest rates rise, certain obligations will be paid off by the obligor more slowly than anticipated, causing the value of these obligations to fall.
  • Financial Services Risk — When interest rates go up, the value of securities issued by many types of financial services companies generally goes down. In many countries, financial services and the companies that provide them are regulated by governmental entities, which can increase costs for new services or products and make it difficult to pass increased costs on to consumers. In certain areas, deregulation of financial services companies has resulted in increased competition and reduced profitability for certain companies.

    The profitability of many types of financial services companies may be adversely affected in certain market cycles, including periods of rising interest rates, which may restrict the availability and increase the cost of capital, and declining economic conditions, which may cause credit losses due to financial difficulties of borrowers. Because many types of financial services companies are vulnerable to these economic cycles, the Fund’s investments may lose value during such periods.
  • Foreign Exposure Risk — Securities issued or supported by foreign entities, including foreign banks and corporations, may involve additional risks and considerations. Extensive public information about the foreign issuer may not be available, and unfavorable political, economic or governmental developments in the foreign country involved could affect the payment of principal and interest.
  • Interest Rate Risk — Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of a debt security may fall when interest rates rise. In general, the market price of debt securities with longer maturities will go up or down more in response to changes in interest rates than the market price of shorter-term securities. Due to fluctuations in interest rates, the market value of such securities may vary during the period shareholders own shares of the Fund.
  • Market Risk and Selection Risk — Market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by Fund management will underperform the markets, the relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money.
  • Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities Risks — Mortgage- and asset-backed securities represent interests in “pools” of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. Mortgage- and asset-backed securities are subject to credit, interest rate, prepayment and extension risks. These securities also are subject to risk of default on the underlying mortgage or asset, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain mortgage-backed securities.
  • Municipal Securities Risks — Municipal securities risks include the ability of the issuer to repay the obligation, the relative lack of information about certain issuers of municipal securities, and the possibility of future legislative changes which could affect the market for and value of municipal securities. These risks include:
    General Obligation Bonds Risks — Timely payments depend on the issuer’s credit quality, ability to raise tax revenues and ability to maintain an adequate tax base.

    Revenue Bonds Risks — These payments depend on the money earned by the particular facility or class of facilities, or the amount of revenues derived from another source.

    Private Activity Bonds Risks — Municipalities and other public authorities issue private activity bonds to finance development of industrial facilities for use by a private enterprise. The private enterprise pays the principal and interest on the bond, and the issuer does not pledge its faith, credit and taxing power for repayment.

    Moral Obligation Bonds Risks — Moral obligation bonds are generally issued by special purpose public authorities of a state or municipality. If the issuer is unable to meet its obligations, repayment of these bonds becomes a moral commitment, but not a legal obligation, of the state or municipality.

    Municipal Notes Risks — Municipal notes are shorter term municipal debt obligations. If there is a shortfall in the anticipated proceeds, the notes may not be fully repaid and the Fund may lose money.

    Municipal Lease Obligations Risks — In a municipal lease obligation, the issuer agrees to make payments when due on the lease obligation. Although the issuer does not pledge its unlimited taxing power for payment of the lease obligation, the lease obligation is secured by the leased property.

    Tax-Exempt Status Risk — The Fund and its investment manager will rely on the opinion of issuers’ bond counsel and, in the case of derivative securities, sponsors’ counsel, on the tax-exempt status of interest on municipal bonds and payments under derivative securities. Neither the Fund nor its investment manager will independently review the bases for those tax opinions, which may ultimately be determined to be incorrect and subject the Fund and its shareholders to substantial tax liabilities.
  • Prepayment Risk — When interest rates fall, certain obligations will be paid off by the obligor more quickly than originally anticipated, and the Fund may have to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.
  • Repurchase Agreement Risk — If the other party to a repurchase agreement defaults on its obligation under the agreement, the Fund may suffer delays and incur costs or lose money in exercising its rights under the agreement. If the seller fails to repurchase the security and the market value of the security declines, the Fund may lose money.
  • Treasury Obligations Risk — Treasury obligations may differ in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Obligations of U.S. Government agencies and authorities are supported by varying degrees of credit but generally are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. No assurance can be given that the U.S. Government will provide financial support to its agencies and authorities if it is not obligated by law to do so.
  • U.S. Government Obligations Risk — Certain securities in which the Fund may invest, including securities issued by certain U.S. Government agencies and U.S. Government sponsored enterprises, are not guaranteed by the U.S. Government or supported by the full faith and credit of the United States.
  • Variable and Floating Rate Instrument Risk — The absence of an active market for these instruments could make it difficult for the Fund to dispose of them if the issuer defaults.
  • When-Issued and Delayed Settlement Transactions Risk — When-issued and delayed delivery securities involve the risk that the security the Fund buys will lose value prior to its delivery. There also is the risk that the security will not be issued or that the other party to the transaction will not meet its obligation. If this occurs, the Fund may lose both the investment opportunity for the assets it set aside to pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price.
Performance Information
Institutional Shares of the Fund commenced operations on July 9, 2013. As a result, the returns in the bar chart and table for Institutional Shares, prior to commencement of operations on July 9, 2013, are based on the Fund’s Class K Shares (designated BlackRock Shares prior to September 1, 2015), adjusted to reflect the fees and expenses applicable to Institutional Shares.

The information shows you how the performance for the Fund has varied for the periods since inception and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the returns for Institutional Shares of the Fund for the three complete calendar years since the commencement of the Fund’s operations. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of the BofA Merrill Lynch 6-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index. To the extent that dividends and distributions have been paid by the Fund, the performance for the Fund in the chart and table assumes reinvestment of the dividends and distributions. As with all such investments, past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. The table includes all applicable fees. If BlackRock and its affiliates had not waived or reimbursed certain Fund expenses during these periods, the Fund’s returns would have been lower. Updated information on the Fund’s performance, including its current net asset value, can be obtained by visiting http://www.blackrock.com/cash or can be obtained by phone at (800) 537-4942.
Institutional Shares
ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
BlackRock Short Obligations Fund
As of 12/31
Bar Chart
During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a quarter was 0.23% (quarter ended September 30, 2013) and the lowest return for a quarter was 0.01% (quarter ended June 30, 2013). The year-to-date return as of September 30, 2016 was 0.98%.
As of 12/31/15
Average Annual Total Returns
Average Annual Total Returns - Institutional - BlackRock Short Obligations Fund
1 Year
Since Inception
Inception Date
Institutional Shares 0.50% 0.46% Nov. 15, 2012
Institutional Shares | Return After Taxes on Distributions 0.24% 0.24%  
Institutional Shares | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 0.28% 0.25%  
BofA Merrill Lynch 6-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) 0.22% 0.18%  
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual Federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.