December 30, 2024

 

  Summary Prospectus

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iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | FM |  NYSE Arca

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus (including amendments and supplements) and other information about the Fund, including the Fund’s statement of additional information and shareholder reports, online at https://www.blackrock.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or by sending an e-mail request to iSharesETFs@blackrock.com, or from your financial professional. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated December 30, 2024, as amended and supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into (legally made a part of) this Summary Prospectus. Information on the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads can be found at https://www.iShares.com.

  

 

 

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

iSHARES® FRONTIER AND SELECT EM ETF

Ticker: FMStock Exchange: NYSE Arca

Investment Objective

The iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide exposure to frontier market equities along with select emerging market equities.

Fees and Expenses

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. The investment advisory agreement between iShares, Inc. (the “Company”) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”) (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.

The Fund may incur “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.” Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflect the Fund's pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of investing in other investment companies. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the Fund's total return but is not included in the Fund's ratio of expenses to average net assets. Both figures are shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund's prospectus (the “Prospectus”). BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee so that the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after the fee waiver will not exceed 0.20% until the Fund's termination. The contractual waiver may be terminated only upon written agreement of the Company and BFA.

You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (ongoing expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investments)1,2
Management Fees	Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees	Other Expenses	Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses	Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement	Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
0.79%	None	0.01%	0.09%	0.89%	(0.69)%	0.20%

1The Fee Waiver and Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver have been restated to reflect current fees.

2Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any.

Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
$47	$240	$450	$1,056

Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 29% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in equity securities of issuers economically tied to frontier markets and issuers economically tied to emerging markets, or in depositary receipts representing such securities.

Frontier markets are those markets that are considered to be among the smallest, least mature and least liquid investable equity markets. Additionally, the emerging markets in which the Fund seeks to invest are those markets selected from the lower size spectrum of emerging markets (i.e., emerging market

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countries with lower gross national income per capita and total stock market capitalizations relative to those of the full spectrum of emerging market countries). For this purpose, frontier markets and select emerging markets include, but are not limited to, the markets included in the MSCI Frontier and Emerging Markets Select Index (the “Benchmark”). As of August 31, 2024, the Benchmark consisted of large-, mid- and small-capitalization securities in the following countries or regions: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Estonia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lithuania, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, Slovenia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. BFA determines that an issuer is economically tied to a frontier market or an emerging market if such investment satisfies one or more of the following conditions: (1) the issuer's primary trading market is in such market; (2) the issuer is organized under the laws of, derives at least 50% of its revenue from, or has at least 50% of its assets in such market; and (3) the issuer has been classified as being in such market by MSCI Inc., the Benchmark provider. To the extent that markets restrict or delay repatriation of the applicable local currency, the Fund may choose not to invest in, or limit their investments in, such markets. The holdings of the Fund are likely to change over time.

The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. In selecting investments for the Fund, BFA uses optimization techniques relative to the Benchmark in order to provide exposure to frontier markets and select emerging markets while taking into account, among other things, regulatory requirements, market limitations, and repatriation restrictions as determined by BFA. As a result of the optimization techniques, the performance of the Fund may materially differ from that of the Benchmark.

The Fund may also invest in other securities and instruments, including but not limited to, certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates. In certain situations or market conditions, the Fund may temporarily depart from its normal investment process, provided that the alternative, in the opinion of BFA, is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and is in the best interest of the Fund.

The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including the value of any collateral received).

Summary of Principal Risks

As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.

Risk of Investing in Frontier Markets. Frontier markets are those emerging markets that are considered to be among the smallest, least mature and least liquid, and as a result, may be

more likely to experience inflation, political turmoil and rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed and traditional emerging markets. Investments in frontier markets may be subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in more developed and traditional emerging markets. Frontier markets often have less uniformity in accounting and reporting requirements, unreliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities. Economic, political, illiquidity and currency risks may be more pronounced with respect to investments in frontier markets than in emerging markets.

Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. Investments in emerging market issuers may be subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in issuers located or operating in more developed markets. Emerging markets may be more likely to experience inflation, social instability, political turmoil or rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed markets. Companies in many emerging markets are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries, and as a result, information about the securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Emerging markets often have less reliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities than developed markets. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against companies and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.

Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than those of other asset classes. The value of a security may decline for a number of reasons that may directly relate to the issuer as well as due to general industry or market conditions. Common stock is subordinated to preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital structure. Common stock has the lowest priority, and the greatest risk, with respect to dividends and any liquidation payments in the event of an issuer’s bankruptcy.

Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.

Management Risk. The Fund is subject to management risk, which is the risk that the investment process, techniques, models and/or risk analyses applied by BFA will not produce the desired results. The securities or other assets selected by BFA may result in returns that are inconsistent with the Fund’s investment objective, and the Fund may underperform the market or any relevant benchmark. In addition, legislative, regulatory, or tax developments may affect the investment techniques available to BFA in connection with managing the Fund and may adversely affect the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

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Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, index, or other asset classes.

Authorized Participant Concentration Risk.  An “Authorized Participant” is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (“Creation Units”). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.

Commodity Risk. The Fund invests in companies that are susceptible to fluctuations in certain commodity markets and to price changes due to trade relations. Any negative changes in commodity markets that may be due to changes in supply and demand for commodities, market events, war, regulatory developments, other catastrophic events, or other factors that the Fund cannot control could have an adverse impact on those companies.

Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.

Currency Risk. Because the Fund’s NAV is determined in U.S. dollars, the NAV could decline if the currency of a non-U.S. market in which the Fund invests depreciates against the U.S. dollar or if there are delays or limits on the repatriation of foreign currency. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may change quickly and without warning. In addition, the Fund may incur costs in connection with conversions between U.S. dollars and foreign currencies.

Custody Risk. Less developed securities markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settlement of trades, as well as the custody of securities and other assets by local banks, agents and depositories. These issues may have an adverse impact on the Fund, including losses or delays in payments, delivery or recovery of money or other assets.

Cybersecurity Risk. Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, its adviser, distributor, Index Provider, other service providers, counterparties, or issuers of assets in which the Fund invests may cause disruptions that negatively impact the Fund and its shareholders. While the Fund has established business continuity plans and risk management systems seeking to address system breaches or failures, there are inherent

limitations in such plans and systems. The Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems of its service providers, counterparties, and other third parties whose activities affect the Fund. In addition, cyber incidents may adversely impact the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, which may cause such investments to lose value.

Financial Companies Risk. Financial services companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation and intervention, which may adversely affect their profitability, the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge, the amount of capital and liquid assets they must maintain and their size, among other things. Financial services companies also may be significantly affected by, among other things, interest rates, economic conditions, volatility in financial markets, credit rating downgrades, adverse public perception, exposure concentration and counterparty risk.

Illiquid Investments Risk. An illiquid investment is any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without significantly changing the market value of the investment. To the extent the Fund holds illiquid investments, the illiquid investments may reduce its returns because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices. In addition, if the Fund is limited in its ability to sell illiquid investments during periods when shareholders are redeeming their shares, it will need to sell liquid securities to meet redemption requests and illiquid securities will become a larger portion of the Fund’s holdings. During periods of market volatility, liquidity in the market for Fund shares may be impacted by the liquidity in the market for the underlying securities or other assets held by the Fund, which could lead to Fund shares trading at a premium or discount to the Fund’s NAV.

Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.

Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may be less able than smaller-capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions and competitive challenges. Large-capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller-capitalization companies. The performance of large-capitalization companies could trail the overall performance of the broader securities markets.

Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier

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than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.

Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.

Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Compared to large-capitalization companies, mid-capitalization companies may be less stable and more susceptible to adverse developments. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more volatile and less liquid than those of large-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s share price may be more volatile than that of a fund with a greater investment in large-capitalization stocks.

National Closed Market Trading Risk. To the extent that securities or other assets held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges or in foreign markets that may be closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund’s shares trade is open, there are likely to be deviations between such asset’s current price and its last quoted price (i.e., the quote from the closed foreign market to the Fund). The impact of a closed foreign market on the Fund is likely to be greater where a large portion of the Fund’s holdings trade on a closed foreign market or when a foreign market is closed for unscheduled reasons. These deviations could result in premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other funds.

Non-U.S. Securities Risk. Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers (including depositary receipts) are subject to different legal, regulatory, political, economic, and market risks than securities issued by U.S. issuers. These risks include greater market volatility, less market liquidity, higher transaction costs, expropriation, confiscatory taxation, adverse changes in foreign investment or currency control regulations, restrictions on the repatriation of capital, and political instability. Non-U.S. issuers may be subject to different accounting, audit and financial

reporting standards than U.S. issuers, and there may be less publicly available information about non-U.S. issuers. Foreign market trading hours, different clearing and settlement procedures, and holiday schedules may limit the Fund's ability to engage in portfolio transactions. To the extent that investments are made in a limited number of countries, events in those countries will have a more significant impact on the Fund. The Fund is specifically exposed to African Economic Risk and Asian Economic Risk.

Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and BFA seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address significant operational risks.

Reliance on Trading Partners Risk. The Fund invests in countries or regions whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on the Fund's investments. Through its holdings of securities of certain issuers, the Fund is specifically exposed to African Economic Risk, Asian Economic Risk, European Economic Risk and Middle Eastern Economic Risk.

Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.

Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.

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Performance Information

Effective June 1, 2023, the Fund became actively managed. Prior to June 1, 2023, BFA used an indexing approach to try to track the investment results of an underlying index. The performance information below illustrates how the Fund’s performance has varied over different periods and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of an appropriate broad-based securities market index and an additional index that Fund management believes more closely reflects the investment strategy of the Fund. Fund returns assume the reinvestment of any dividends and distributions. The Fund’s returns reflect the impact of any agreements to waive or reimburse expenses, which would reduce performance if not in effect. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).

Calendar Year-by-Year Returns 

 

 

	Return (%)	Period Ended
Calendar Year-to-Date Return	6.57%	September 30, 2024
During the periods shown in the chart:
Best Quarter	12.25%	June 30, 2021
Worst Quarter	-26.85%	March 31, 2020

Average Annual Total Returns
(for the periods ended December 31, 2023) 

	One Year	Five Years	Ten Years
(Inception Date: 9/12/2012)
Return Before Taxes	9.78%	2.94%	1.52%
Return After Taxes on Distributions	8.92%	2.18%	0.51%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	6.50%	2.21%	1.00%
MSCI Emerging Markets Index1 (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	9.83%	3.68%	2.66%
MSCI Frontier and Emerging Markets Select Index2 (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	11.91%	5.37%	3.47%

1The Fund has added this broad-based index in response to new regulatory requirements.

2Index returns through February 28, 2021 reflect the performance of the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index. Index returns beginning on March 1, 2021 reflect the performance of the MSCI Frontier and Emerging Markets Select Index, which, effective as of March 1, 2021, replaced the  MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index as the underlying index of the Fund. Effective June 1, 2023, the Fund became actively managed and compares its performance to the MSCI Frontier and Emerging Markets Select Index.

After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sales of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.

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Management

Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.

Portfolio Managers. Jennifer Hsui, Greg Savage and Paul Whitehead (the “Portfolio Managers”) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each Portfolio Manager supervises a portfolio management team. Ms. Hsui and Mr. Savage have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since 2012. Mr. Whitehead has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”).

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

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For more information visit www.iShares.com or call 1-800-474-2737

Investment Company Act file No.: 811-09102

IS-SP-FM-1224