BlackRock Sustainable Advantage Global Equity Fund
LOGO    JUNE 7, 2023
 
 
Prospectus
 
BlackRock FundsSM  |  Investor A and Institutional Shares
 
 
BlackRock Sustainable Advantage Global Equity Fund
Investor A: MASCX • Institutional: MDSCX
This Prospectus contains information you should know before investing, including information about risks.
Please read it before you invest and keep it for future reference.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
 
Not FDIC Insured • May Lose Value • No Bank Guarantee

Table of Contents
 
 
 
Fund Overview    Key facts and details about the Fund, including investment objective, principal investment strategies, principal risk factors, fee and expense information and historical performance information  
   Investment Objective     3  
   Fees and Expenses of the Fund     3  
   Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund     4  
   Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund     5  
   Performance Information     8  
   Investment Manager     8  
   Portfolio Managers     8  
   Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares     9  
   Tax Information     10  
   Payments to Broker/Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries     10  
Details About the Fund    Information about how the Fund invests, including investment objective, investment processes, principal strategies and risk factors  
   How the Fund Invests     11  
   Investment Risks     14  
Account Information    Information about account services, sales charges and waivers, shareholder transactions, and distribution and other payments  
   How to Choose the Share Class that Best Suits Your Needs     24  
   Details About the Share Classes     26  
   Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Payments     30  
   How to Buy, Sell, Exchange and Transfer Shares     31  
   Account Services and Privileges     37  
   Fund’s Rights     38  
   Participation in Fee‑Based Programs     38  
   Short-Term Trading Policy     39  
Management of the Fund    Information about BlackRock and the Portfolio Managers  
   BlackRock     41  
   Portfolio Manager Information     42  
   Conflicts of Interest     44  
   Valuation of Fund Investments     44  
   Dividends, Distributions and Taxes     45  
Financial Highlights    Financial Performance of the Fund     47  
General Information    Shareholder Documents     48  
   Certain Fund Policies     48  
   Statement of Additional Information     49  
Glossary    Glossary of Investment Terms     50  
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies    Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies     A‑1  
For More Information    Fund and Service Providers     Inside Back Cover  
   Additional Information     Back Cover  

Fund Overview
 
 
 
Key Facts About BlackRock Sustainable Advantage Global Equity Fund
Investment Objective
 
The investment objective of BlackRock Sustainable Advantage Global Equity Fund (the “Fund”), a series of BlackRock FundsSM (the “Trust”), is to seek to provide long-term capital appreciation while seeking to maintain certain environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics, climate risk exposure and climate opportunities relative to the Fund’s benchmark.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
 
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to your financial professional or your selected securities dealer, broker, investment adviser, service provider or industry professional (including BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”) and its affiliates) (each, a “Financial Intermediary”), which are not reflected in the table and example below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000 in the fund complex advised by BlackRock or its affiliates. More information about these and other discounts is available from your Financial Intermediary and in the “Details About the Share Classes” and the “Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies” sections on pages 26 and A‑1, respectively, of the Fund’s prospectus and in the “Purchase of Shares” section on page II‑89 of Part II of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.
 
Shareholder Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment)
Investor A
Shares
Institutional
Shares
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)
5.25% None
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering price or redemption proceeds, whichever is lower)
None1 None
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Investor A
Shares
Institutional
Shares
Management Fee2
0.66% 0.66%
Distribution and/or Service (12b‑1) Fees
0.25% None
Other Expenses3
1.09% 1.06%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
2.00% 1.72%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements2,4
(1.04)% (1.01)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements2,4
0.96% 0.71%
 
1. 
A contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) of 1.00% is assessed on certain redemptions of Investor A Shares made within 18 months after purchase where no initial sales charge was paid at time of purchase as part of an investment of $1,000,000 or more.
 
2. 
As described in the “Management of the Fund” section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 41, 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 June 30, 2025. In addition, BlackRock has contractually agreed to waive its management fees by the amount of investment advisory fees the Fund pays to BlackRock indirectly through its investment in money market funds managed by BlackRock or its affiliates, through June 30, 2025. The contractual agreements 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.
 
3. 
Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year.
 
4. 
As described in the “Management of the Fund” section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 41, BlackRock has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse fees 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) as a percentage of average daily net assets to 0.96% (for Investor A Shares) and 0.71% (for Institutional Shares) through June 30, 2025. The Fund may have to repay some of these waivers and/or reimbursements to BlackRock in the two years following such waivers and/or reimbursements. Any such repayment obligation will terminate on June 21, 2030. 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 shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in shares of 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
 
3

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
Investor A Shares
$ 618 $ 923
Institutional Shares
$ 73 $ 338
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. There has been no portfolio turnover because the Fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this prospectus.
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
 
Under normal circumstances, the Fund seeks to invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in equity securities and equity-like instruments of companies that are components of, or have characteristics similar to, the companies included in the MSCI All Country World Index (the “MSCI ACWI Index” or the “Benchmark”) and derivatives that are tied economically to securities of the Benchmark. The Benchmark is a capitalization-weighted index from a broad range of industries chosen for market size, liquidity and industry group representation. As of April 28, 2023, the issuers in the Benchmark have a market capitalization ranging from $113 million to $2.7 trillion.
Equity securities include common stock, preferred stock and convertible securities. The Fund primarily seeks to buy common stock and may also invest in preferred stock and convertible securities.
The Fund seeks to maintain certain ESG characteristics, climate risk exposure and climate opportunities relative to the Benchmark. Specifically, the Fund generally seeks to invest in a portfolio of equity securities that, in BlackRock’s view, (i) has an aggregate ESG assessment that is better than the aggregate ESG assessment of the Benchmark, (ii) has an aggregate carbon emissions assessment that is lower than that of the Benchmark, and (iii) in the aggregate, includes issuers that BlackRock believes are better positioned to capture climate opportunities relative to the issuers in the Benchmark.
BlackRock seeks to utilize exclusionary screens in determining the investment universe and to incorporate investment insights related to ESG characteristics in the portfolio construction process.
To determine the Fund’s investable universe, Fund management will first seek to screen out certain issuers based on ESG criteria determined by BlackRock. Such screening criteria principally includes: (i) issuers that derive more than zero percent of revenue from the production of controversial weapons; (ii) issuers that derive more than zero percent of revenue from the production of civilian firearms; (iii) issuers that derive more than zero percent of revenue from the production of tobacco-related products; (iv) issuers that derive more than five percent of revenue from thermal coal generation, unless such issuers either (a) have made certain commitments to reduce climate impact or (b) derive at least fifty percent of revenue from alternative energy sources; (v) issuers that derive more than five percent of revenue from thermal coal mining; and (vi) issuers that derive more than five percent of revenue from oil sands extraction. The Fund relies on one or more third party ratings agencies to identify issuers for purposes of the above screening criteria.
The Fund’s screening criteria is measured at the time of investment and is dependent upon information and data that may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable. Where the screening criteria looks solely to third-party ratings or data, issuers are only screened to the extent such ratings or data have been assigned or made available by the third parties. This screening criteria is subject to change over time at BlackRock’s discretion.
The Fund then seeks to pursue its investment objective by investing in equity securities in a disciplined manner, by using proprietary return forecast models that incorporate quantitative analysis. These forecast models are designed to identify aspects of mispricing across stocks which the Fund can seek to capture by over- and under-weighting particular equities while seeking to control incremental risk. The investment process is driven with systematic and quantitative implementation based on an issuer’s expected returns, which include measurable ESG characteristics, risk and transaction costs, as determined by BlackRock’s proprietary research. BlackRock then constructs and rebalances the portfolio’s weightings by integrating its investment insights with the model-based optimization process. Certain of the investment insights relate to ESG characteristics in BlackRock-defined categories, including, but not limited to, (i) superior growth characteristics of issuers, (ii) risk mitigation characteristics of issuers, (iii) themes related to social matters and (iv) economic transition, which includes, but is not limited to, environmental considerations. Examples of such ESG characteristics include management quality, governance, controversies at issuers, public health analytics and an issuer’s innovation-oriented research and development. With respect to economic transition, BlackRock researches and develops investment insights that target carbon transition readiness and climate opportunities. The ESG characteristics utilized in the portfolio construction process may change over time and one or more characteristics may not be relevant to all issuers that are eligible for investment.
 
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Under normal circumstances, the Fund anticipates it will allocate a substantial amount (approximately 40% or more — unless market conditions are not deemed favorable by Fund management, in which case the Fund would invest at least 30%) of its total assets in foreign securities, which may include securities (i) of foreign government issuers, (ii) of issuers organized or located outside the United States, (iii) of issuers which primarily trade in a market located outside the United States, or (iv) of issuers doing a substantial amount of business outside the United States, which the Fund considers to be companies that derive at least 50% of their revenue or profits from business outside the United States or have at least 50% of their sales or assets outside the United States. The Fund will allocate its assets among various regions and countries, including the United States (but in no fewer than three different countries). The Fund’s investments in foreign securities may include those in emerging markets.
From time to time, the Fund may invest in shares of companies through “new issues” or initial public offerings (“IPOs”). The Fund will invest in securities of non‑U.S. issuers that can be U.S. dollar based or non‑U.S. dollar based on a hedged or unhedged basis. The Fund may enter into currency transactions on a hedged or unhedged basis in order to seek total return.
The Fund may use derivatives, including options, futures, swaps (including, but not limited to, total return swaps, some of which may be referred to as contracts for difference) and forward contracts, both to seek to increase the return of the Fund and to hedge (or protect) the value of its assets against adverse movements in currency exchange rates, interest rates and movements in the securities markets. In order to manage cash flows into or out of the Fund effectively, the Fund may buy and sell financial futures contracts or options on such contracts. Derivatives are financial instruments whose value is derived from another security, a currency or an index, including but not limited to the Benchmark. The use of options, futures, swaps and forward contracts can be effective in protecting or enhancing the value of the Fund’s assets.
The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its investments.
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 significantly 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 the principal risks of investing in the Fund. The relative significance of each risk factor below may change over time and you should review each risk factor carefully.
 
Equity Securities Risk — Stock markets are volatile. The price of equity securities fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.
 
ESG Investing Risk — The Fund intends to screen out particular issuers pursuant to certain criteria established by BlackRock, and to measure ESG characteristics, including characteristics related to climate, with respect to certain investments pursuant to a methodology determined by BlackRock. This may affect the Fund’s exposure to certain issuers and the Fund may forego certain investment opportunities. The Fund’s results may be lower than other funds that do not seek to invest in issuers based on ESG criteria, or that use a different methodology to screen out issuers or evaluate ESG criteria. The Fund seeks to identify issuers that it believes are better positioned to manage ESG risks and opportunities related to their businesses and to avoid certain companies and industries with ESG related risks, but investors may differ in their views of what constitutes positive or negative ESG criteria. As a result, the Fund may invest in issuers that do not reflect the beliefs and values of any particular investor. In evaluating a security or issuer based on ESG criteria, BlackRock is dependent upon certain information and data from third party providers of ESG research, which may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable. As a result, there is a risk that BlackRock may incorrectly assess a security or issuer. There is also a risk that BlackRock may not apply the relevant ESG criteria correctly or that the Fund could have indirect exposure to issuers who do not meet the relevant ESG criteria used by the Fund. Neither the Fund nor BlackRock make any representation or warranty, express or implied, with respect to the fairness, correctness, accuracy, reasonableness or completeness of such ESG assessment. There may be limitations with respect to availability of ESG data in certain sectors, as well as limited availability of investments with positive ESG assessments in certain sectors. BlackRock’s evaluation of ESG criteria is subjective and may change over time.
The Fund may not include all instruments in its ESG‑related assessments, and may place weight on other factors when selecting investments. In addition, the Fund may not be successful in its ESG-related objectives. There is no guarantee that these objectives will be achieved, and such assessments are at BlackRock’s discretion.
 
Foreign Securities Risk — Foreign investments often involve special risks not present in U.S. investments that can increase the chances that the Fund will lose money. These risks include:
 
The Fund generally holds its foreign securities and cash in foreign banks and securities depositories, which may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business and may be subject to only limited or no regulatory oversight.
 
5

Changes in foreign currency exchange rates can affect the value of the Fund’s portfolio.
 
The economies of certain foreign markets may not compare favorably with the economy of the United States with respect to such issues as growth of gross national product, reinvestment of capital, resources and balance of payments position.
 
The governments of certain countries, or the U.S. Government with respect to certain countries, may prohibit or impose substantial restrictions through capital controls and/or sanctions on foreign investments in the capital markets or certain industries in those countries, which may prohibit or restrict the ability to own or transfer currency, securities, derivatives or other assets.
 
Many foreign governments do not supervise and regulate stock exchanges, brokers and the sale of securities to the same extent as does the United States and may not have laws to protect investors that are comparable to U.S. securities laws.
 
Settlement and clearance procedures in certain foreign markets may result in delays in payment for or delivery of securities not typically associated with settlement and clearance of U.S. investments.
 
The Fund’s claims to recover foreign withholding taxes may not be successful, and if the likelihood of recovery of foreign withholding taxes materially decreases, due to, for example, a change in tax regulation or approach in the foreign country, accruals in the Fund’s net asset value for such refunds may be written down partially or in full, which will adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value.
 
The European financial markets have recently experienced volatility and adverse trends due to concerns about economic downturns in, or rising government debt levels of, several European countries as well as acts of war in the region. These events may spread to other countries in Europe and may affect the value and liquidity of certain of the Fund’s investments.
 
Model Risk — The Fund seeks to pursue its investment objective by using proprietary models that incorporate quantitative analysis. Investments selected using these models may perform differently than as forecasted due to the factors incorporated into the models and the weighting of each factor, changes from historical trends, and issues in the construction and implementation of the models (including, but not limited to, software issues and other technological issues). There is no guarantee that BlackRock’s use of these models will result in effective investment decisions for the Fund.
The information and data used in the models may be supplied by third parties. Inaccurate or incomplete data may limit the effectiveness of the models. In addition, some of the data that BlackRock uses may be historical data, which may not accurately predict future market movement. There is a risk that the models will not be successful in selecting investments or in determining the weighting of investment positions that will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
 
Convertible Securities Risk — The market value of a convertible security performs like that of a regular debt security; that is, if market interest rates rise, the value of a convertible security usually falls. In addition, convertible securities are subject to the risk that the issuer will not be able to pay interest, principal or dividends when due, and their market value may change based on changes in the issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of the issuer’s creditworthiness. Since it derives a portion of its value from the common stock into which it may be converted, a convertible security is also subject to the same types of market and issuer risks that apply to the underlying common stock, including the potential for increased volatility in the price of the convertible security.
 
Derivatives Risk — The Fund’s use of derivatives may increase its costs, reduce the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. Derivatives involve significant risks, including:
Leverage Risk — The Fund’s use of derivatives can magnify the Fund’s gains and losses. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a derivatives position and can result in losses that greatly exceed the amount originally invested.
Market Risk — Some derivatives are more sensitive to interest rate changes and market price fluctuations than other securities. The Fund could also suffer losses related to its derivatives positions as a result of unanticipated market movements, which losses are potentially unlimited. Finally, BlackRock may not be able to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates and other economic factors, which could cause the Fund’s derivatives positions to lose value.
Counterparty Risk — Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will be unable or unwilling to fulfill its contractual obligation, and the related risks of having concentrated exposure to such a counterparty.
Illiquidity Risk — The possible lack of a liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting inability of the Fund to sell or otherwise close a derivatives position could expose the Fund to losses and could make derivatives more difficult for the Fund to value accurately.
 
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Operational Risk — The use of derivatives includes the risk of potential operational issues, including documentation issues, settlement issues, systems failures, inadequate controls and human error.
Legal Risk — The risk of insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of counterparty, or legality or enforceability of a contract.
Volatility and Correlation Risk — Volatility is defined as the characteristic of a security, an index or a market to fluctuate significantly in price within a short time period. A risk of the Fund’s use of derivatives is that the fluctuations in their values may not correlate with the overall securities markets.
Valuation Risk — Valuation for derivatives may not be readily available in the market. Valuation may be more difficult in times of market turmoil since many investors and market makers may be reluctant to purchase complex instruments or quote prices for them.
Hedging Risk — Hedges are sometimes subject to imperfect matching between the derivative and the underlying security, and there can be no assurance that the Fund’s hedging transactions will be effective. The use of hedging may result in certain adverse tax consequences.
Tax Risk — Certain aspects of the tax treatment of derivative instruments, including swap agreements and commodity-linked derivative instruments, are currently unclear and may be affected by changes in legislation, regulations or other legally binding authority. Such treatment may be less favorable than that given to a direct investment in an underlying asset and may adversely affect the timing, character and amount of income the Fund realizes from its investments.
 
Emerging Markets Risk — Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging securities markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.
 
Geographic Concentration Risk — From time to time the Fund may invest a substantial amount of its assets in issuers located in a single country or a limited number of countries. If the Fund concentrates its investments in this manner, it assumes the risk that economic, political and social conditions in those countries will have a significant impact on its investment performance. The Fund’s investment performance may also be more volatile if it concentrates its investments in certain countries, especially emerging market countries.
 
High Portfolio Turnover Risk — The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities. High portfolio turnover (more than 100%) may result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, 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 Fund portfolio securities may result in the realization and/or distribution to shareholders of higher capital gains or losses as compared to a fund with less active trading policies. These effects of higher than normal portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund performance.
 
Leverage Risk — Some transactions may give rise to a form of economic leverage. These transactions may include, among others, derivatives, and may expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet the applicable requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules thereunder. Increases and decreases in the value of the Fund’s portfolio will be magnified when the Fund uses leverage.
 
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. The value of a security or other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, exchange, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues like pandemics or epidemics, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments. 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. The Fund seeks to pursue its investment objective by using proprietary models that incorporate quantitative analysis and is subject to “Model Risk” as described above. This means you may lose money.
An outbreak of an infectious coronavirus (COVID‑19) that was first detected in December 2019 developed into a global pandemic that has resulted in numerous disruptions in the market and has had significant economic impact leaving general concern and uncertainty. Although vaccines have been developed and approved for use by various governments, the duration of the pandemic and its effects cannot be predicted with certainty. The impact of this coronavirus, and other epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future, could affect the economies of many nations, individual companies and the market in general ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time.
 
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Mid Cap Securities Risk — The securities of mid cap companies generally trade in lower volumes and are generally subject to greater and less predictable price changes than the securities of larger capitalization companies.
 
“New Issues” Risk “New issues” are IPOs of equity securities. 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 IPO.
 
Preferred Securities Risk — Preferred securities may pay fixed or adjustable rates of return. Preferred securities are subject to issuer-specific and market risks applicable generally to equity securities. In addition, a company’s preferred securities generally pay dividends only after the company makes required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt. For this reason, the value of preferred securities will usually react more strongly than bonds and other debt to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects. Preferred securities of smaller companies may be more vulnerable to adverse developments than preferred securities of larger companies.
 
Risk of Investing in the United States — Certain changes in the U.S. economy, such as when the U.S. economy weakens or when its financial markets decline, may have an adverse effect on the securities to which the Fund has exposure.
 
Small Cap and Emerging Growth Securities Risk — Small cap or emerging growth companies may have limited product lines or markets. They may be less financially secure than larger, more established companies. They may depend on a more limited management group than larger capitalized companies.
Performance Information
 
Because the Fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this prospectus, it does not have performance information an investor would find useful in evaluating the risks of investing in the Fund. The Fund’s benchmark is the MSCI All Country World Index.
Investment Manager
 
The Fund’s investment manager is BlackRock Advisors, LLC (previously defined as “BlackRock”).
Portfolio Managers
 
 
Name
   Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since    Title
Raffaele Savi
   2023    Senior Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc.
Kevin Franklin
   2023    Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc.
Richard Mathieson, CA
   2023    Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc.
Anna Hawley, CFA
   2023    Director and Senior Portfolio Manager of BlackRock, Inc.
 
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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
 
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund each day the New York Stock Exchange is open. To purchase or sell shares, you should contact your Financial Intermediary, or, if you hold your shares through the Fund, you should contact the Fund by phone at (800) 441‑7762, by mail (c/o BlackRock Funds, P.O. Box 534429, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15253-4429), or by the Internet at www.blackrock.com. The Fund’s initial and subsequent investment minimums generally are as follows, although the Fund may reduce or waive the minimums in some cases:
 
     Investor A Shares   Institutional Shares
Minimum Initial Investment  
$1,000 for all accounts except:
•  $50, if establishing an Automatic Investment Plan.
•  There is no investment minimum for employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs).
•  There is no investment minimum for certain fee‑based programs.
 
There is no minimum initial investment for:
•  Employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs), state sponsored 529 college savings plans, collective trust funds, investment companies or other pooled investment vehicles, unaffiliated thrifts and unaffiliated banks and trust companies, each of which may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Fund’s distributor to purchase such shares.
•  Clients of Financial Intermediaries that: (i) charge such clients a fee for advisory, investment consulting, or similar services or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the Fund’s distributor to offer Institutional Shares through a no‑load program or investment platform.
•  Clients investing through a self-directed IRA brokerage account program sponsored by a retirement plan record-keeper, provided that such program offers only mutual fund options and that the program maintains an account with the Fund on an omnibus basis.
 
$2 million for individuals and “Institutional Investors,” which include, but are not limited to, endowments, foundations, family offices, local, city, and state governmental institutions, corporations and insurance company separate accounts who may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Fund’s distributor to purchase such shares.
 
$1,000 for:
•  Clients investing through Financial Intermediaries that offer such shares on a platform that charges a transaction based sales commission outside of the Fund.
•  Tax‑qualified accounts for insurance agents that are registered representatives of an insurance company’s broker-dealer that has entered into an agreement with the Fund’s distributor to offer Institutional Shares, and the family members of such persons.
Minimum Additional Investment   $50 for all accounts (with the exception of certain employer-sponsored retirement plans which may have a lower minimum).   No subsequent minimum.
 
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Tax Information
 
The Fund’s dividends and distributions may be subject to U.S. federal income taxes and may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are a tax‑exempt investor or are investing through a qualified tax‑exempt plan described in section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, in which case you may be subject to U.S. federal income tax when distributions are received from such tax‑deferred arrangements.
Payments to Broker/Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
 
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary, the Fund and BlackRock Investments, LLC, the Fund’s distributor, or its affiliates may pay the Financial Intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services.
These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the Financial Intermediary and your individual financial professional to recommend the Fund over another investment.
Ask your individual financial professional or visit your Financial Intermediary’s website for more information.
 
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Details About the Fund
 
 
 
Included in this prospectus are sections that tell you about buying and selling shares, management information, shareholder features of BlackRock Sustainable Advantage Global Equity Fund (the “Fund”), a series of BlackRock FundsSM (the “Trust”), and your rights as a shareholder.
How the Fund Invests
 
Investment Objective
The investment objective of the Fund is to seek to provide long-term capital appreciation while seeking to maintain certain environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics, climate risk exposure and climate opportunities relative to the Fund’s benchmark.
If the Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) determines that the investment objective of the Fund should be changed, shareholders will be given at least 30 days’ notice before any such change is made. However, such change can be effected without shareholder approval.
Investment Process
BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”) seeks to utilize exclusionary screens in determining the investment universe and to incorporate investment insights related to ESG characteristics in the portfolio construction process.
To determine the Fund’s investable universe, Fund management will first seek to screen out certain issuers based on ESG criteria determined by BlackRock.
Such screening criteria principally includes:
 
  (i)
issuers that derive more than zero percent of revenue from the production of controversial weapons;
 
  (ii)
issuers that derive more than zero percent of revenue from the production of civilian firearms;
 
  (iii)
issuers that derive more than zero percent of revenue from the production of tobacco-related products;
 
  (iv)
issuers that derive more than five percent of revenue from thermal coal generation, unless such issuers either (a) have made certain commitments to reduce climate impact or (b) derive at least fifty percent of revenue from alternative energy sources;
 
  (v)
issuers that derive more than five percent of revenue from thermal coal mining; and
 
  (vi)
issuers that derive more than five percent of revenue from oil sands extraction.
The Fund relies on one or more third party ratings agencies to identify issuers for purposes of the above screening criteria. The Fund’s screening criteria is measured at the time of investment and is dependent upon information and data that may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable. Where the screening criteria looks solely to third-party ratings or data, issuers are only screened to the extent such ratings or data have been assigned or made available by the third parties. This screening criteria is subject to change over time at BlackRock’s discretion.
The Fund then seeks to pursue its investment objective by investing in equity securities in a disciplined manner, by using proprietary return forecast models that incorporate quantitative analysis. These forecast models are designed to identify aspects of mispricing across stocks which the Fund can seek to capture by over- and under-weighting particular equities while seeking to control incremental risk. The investment process is driven with systematic and quantitative implementation based on an issuer’s expected returns, which include measurable ESG characteristics, risk and transaction costs, as determined by BlackRock’s proprietary research.
BlackRock then constructs and rebalances the portfolio’s weightings by integrating its investment insights with the model-based optimization process. Certain of the investment insights relate to ESG characteristics in BlackRock-defined categories, including, but not limited to, (i) superior growth characteristics of issuers, (ii) risk mitigation characteristics of issuers, (iii) themes related to social matters and (iv) economic transition, which includes, but is not limited to, environmental considerations. Examples of such ESG characteristics include management quality, governance, controversies at issuers, public health analytics and an issuer’s innovation-oriented research and development. With respect to economic transition, BlackRock researches and develops investment insights that target carbon transition readiness and climate opportunities. The ESG characteristics utilized in the portfolio construction process may change over time and one or more characteristics may not be relevant to all issuers that are eligible for investment.
 
 
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BlackRock’s ESG research does not attempt to capture all possible ESG characteristics, rather those that in BlackRock’s opinion, can be measured and have an associated investment thesis. Fund management may consider both positive and negative ESG characteristics of an issuer when developing such investment theses. BlackRock determines which ESG characteristics to include in the model and what changes are made in the model over time. ESG‑related characteristics are not the sole considerations in the portfolio construction process and BlackRock’s evaluation of ESG characteristics may change over time. In addition, the Fund may gain indirect exposure (through, including but not limited to, derivatives and investments in other investment companies) to issuers with exposures that are inconsistent with the ESG‑related criteria used by Fund management.
The Fund does not have a stated minimum holding period for investments and may buy or sell securities whenever Fund management sees an appropriate opportunity.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund seeks to invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in equity securities and equity-like instruments of companies that are components of, or have characteristics similar to, the companies included in the MSCI All Country World Index (the “MSCI ACWI Index” or the “Benchmark”) and derivatives that are tied economically to securities of the Benchmark. The Benchmark is a capitalization-weighted index from a broad range of industries chosen for market size, liquidity and industry group representation. As of April 28, 2023, the issuers in the Benchmark have a market capitalization ranging from $113 million to $2.7 trillion.
Equity securities include common stock, preferred stock and convertible securities. The Fund primarily seeks to buy common stock and may also invest in preferred stock and convertible securities.
The Fund seeks to maintain certain ESG characteristics, climate risk exposure and climate opportunities relative to the Benchmark. Specifically, the Fund generally seeks to invest in a portfolio of equity securities that, in BlackRock’s view, (i) has an aggregate ESG assessment that is better than the aggregate ESG assessment of the Benchmark, (ii) has an aggregate carbon emissions assessment that is lower than that of the Benchmark, and (iii) in the aggregate, includes issuers that BlackRock believes are better positioned to capture climate opportunities relative to the issuers in the Benchmark.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund anticipates it will allocate a substantial amount (approximately 40% or more — unless market conditions are not deemed favorable by Fund management, in which case the Fund would invest at least 30%) of its total assets in foreign securities, which may include securities (i) of foreign government issuers, (ii) of issuers organized or located outside the United States, (iii) of issuers which primarily trade in a market located outside the United States, or (iv) of issuers doing a substantial amount of business outside the United States, which the Fund considers to be companies that derive at least 50% of their revenue or profits from business outside the United States or have at least 50% of their sales or assets outside the United States. The Fund will allocate its assets among various regions and countries, including the United States (but in no fewer than three different countries). The Fund’s investments in foreign securities may include those in emerging markets.
From time to time, the Fund may invest in shares of companies through “new issues” or initial public offerings (“IPOs”). The Fund will invest in securities of non‑U.S. issuers that can be U.S. dollar based or non‑U.S. dollar based on a hedged or unhedged basis. The Fund may enter into currency transactions on a hedged or unhedged basis in order to seek total return.
The Fund may use derivatives, including options, futures, swaps (including, but not limited to, total return swaps, some of which may be referred to as contracts for difference) and forward contracts, both to seek to increase the return of the Fund and to hedge (or protect) the value of its assets against adverse movements in currency exchange rates, interest rates and movements in the securities markets. In order to manage cash flows into or out of the Fund effectively, the Fund may buy and sell financial futures contracts or options on such contracts. Derivatives are financial instruments whose value is derived from another security, a currency or an index, including but not limited to the Benchmark. The use of options, futures, swaps and forward contracts can be effective in protecting or enhancing the value of the Fund’s assets.
The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its investments.
 
ABOUT THE PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TEAM OF THE FUND
 
The Fund is managed by a team of financial professionals. Raffaele Savi, Kevin Franklin, Richard Mathieson, CA and Anna Hawley, CFA are the portfolio managers and are jointly and primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the Fund. Please see “Management of the Fund — Portfolio Manager Information” for additional information about the portfolio management team.
 
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Other Strategies Applicable to the Fund
In addition to the principal strategies discussed above, the Fund may also invest or engage in the following investments/strategies:
 
 
Borrowing — The Fund may borrow up to the limits set forth under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief.
 
 
Depositary Receipts — The Fund may invest in securities of foreign issuers in the form of depositary receipts or other securities that are convertible into securities of foreign issuers. American Depositary Receipts are receipts typically issued by an American bank or trust company that evidence underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. European Depositary Receipts (issued in Europe) and Global Depositary Receipts (issued throughout the world) each evidence a similar ownership arrangement. The Fund may invest in unsponsored depositary receipts.
 
 
Illiquid Investments — The Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. 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 the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment.
 
 
Investment Companies — The Fund has the ability to invest in other investment companies, such as exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), unit investment trusts, and open‑end and closed‑end funds, subject to the applicable limits under the Investment Company Act and the rules thereunder. The Fund may invest in affiliated investment companies, including affiliated money market funds and affiliated ETFs.
 
 
Money Market Securities — The Fund may invest in high quality money market securities pending investments or when it expects to need cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund will not be deemed to deviate from its normal strategies if it holds these securities pending investments.
 
 
Real Estate Investment Trusts — The Fund may invest in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). REITs are companies that own interests in real estate or in real estate-related loans or other interests, and have revenue primarily consisting of rent derived from owned, income producing real estate properties and capital gains from the sale of such properties. REITs can generally be classified as equity REITs, mortgage REITs and hybrid REITs. Equity REITs invest the majority of their assets directly in real property and derive their income primarily from rents. Equity REITs can also realize capital gains by selling properties that have appreciated in value. Mortgage REITs invest the majority of their assets in real estate mortgages and derive their income primarily from interest payments. Hybrid REITs combine the characteristics of both equity REITs and mortgage REITs. REITs are not taxed on income distributed to shareholders provided they comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”).
 
 
Repurchase Agreements and Purchase and Sale Contracts — The Fund may enter into certain types of repurchase agreements or purchase and sale contracts. Under a repurchase agreement, the seller agrees to repurchase a security at a mutually agreed-upon time and price. A purchase and sale contract is similar to a repurchase agreement, but purchase and sale contracts also provide that the purchaser receives any interest on the security paid during the period.
 
 
Restricted Securities Restricted securities are securities that cannot be offered for public resale unless registered under the applicable securities laws or that have a contractual restriction that prohibits or limits their resale. They may include Rule 144A securities, which are privately placed securities that can be resold to qualified institutional buyers but not to the general public, and securities of U.S. and non‑U.S. issuers that are offered pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
 
 
Rights — The Fund may purchase securities pursuant to the exercise of subscription rights, which allow an issuer’s existing shareholders to purchase additional common stock at a price substantially below the market price of the shares.
 
 
Securities Lending — The Fund may lend securities with a value up to 3313% of its total assets to financial institutions that provide cash or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government as collateral.
 
 
Temporary Defensive Strategies — For temporary defensive purposes, for example, to respond to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund may depart from its principal investment strategies and may restrict the markets in which it invests and may invest without limitation in cash, cash equivalents, money market securities, such as U.S. Treasury and agency obligations, other U.S. Government securities, short-term debt obligations of corporate issuers, certificates of deposit, bankers acceptances, commercial paper (short-term, unsecured, negotiable promissory notes of a domestic or foreign issuer) or other high quality fixed income securities. Temporary defensive positions may affect the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.
 
 
Warrants — A warrant gives the Fund the right to buy stock. The warrant specifies the amount of underlying stock, the purchase (or “exercise”) price and the date the warrant expires. The Fund has no obligation to exercise the warrant and buy the stock. A warrant has value only if the Fund is able to exercise it or sell it before it expires.
 
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When-Issued and Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments — The purchase or sale of securities on a when-issued basis, on a delayed delivery basis or through a forward commitment involves the purchase or sale of securities by the Fund at an established price with payment and delivery taking place in the future. The Fund enters into these transactions to obtain what is considered an advantageous price to the Fund at the time of entering into the transaction.
Investment Risks
 
This section contains a discussion of the general risks of investing in the Fund. The “Investment Objective and Policies” section in the Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) also includes more information about the Fund, its investments and the related risks. As with any fund, there can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its investment objective or that the Fund’s performance will be positive for any period of time. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in any bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or by any bank or governmental agency. The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
 
 
Convertible Securities Risk — The market value of a convertible security performs like that of a regular debt security; that is, if market interest rates rise, the value of a convertible security usually falls. In addition, convertible securities are subject to the risk that the issuer will not be able to pay interest, principal or dividends when due, and their market value may change based on changes in the issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of the issuer’s creditworthiness. Since it derives a portion of its value from the common stock into which it may be converted, a convertible security is also subject to the same types of market and issuer risks that apply to the underlying common stock, including the potential for increased volatility in the price of the convertible security.
 
 
Derivatives Risk — The Fund’s use of derivatives may increase its costs, reduce the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. Derivatives involve significant risks, including:
Leverage Risk — The Fund’s use of derivatives can magnify the Fund’s gains and losses. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a derivatives position and can result in losses that greatly exceed the amount originally invested.
Market Risk — Some derivatives are more sensitive to interest rate changes and market price fluctuations than other securities. The Fund could also suffer losses related to its derivatives positions as a result of unanticipated market movements, which losses are potentially unlimited. Finally, BlackRock may not be able to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates and other economic factors, which could cause the Fund’s derivatives positions to lose value.
Counterparty Risk — Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will be unable or unwilling to fulfill its contractual obligation, and the related risks of having concentrated exposure to such a counterparty.
Illiquidity Risk — The possible lack of a liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting inability of the Fund to sell or otherwise close a derivatives position could expose the Fund to losses and could make derivatives more difficult for the Fund to value accurately.
Operational Risk — The use of derivatives includes the risk of potential operational issues, including documentation issues, settlement issues, systems failures, inadequate controls and human error.
Legal Risk — The risk of insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of counterparty, or legality or enforceability of a contract.
Volatility and Correlation Risk — The Fund’s use of derivatives may reduce the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. Volatility is defined as the characteristic of a security, an index or a market to fluctuate significantly in price within a short time period. A risk of the Fund’s use of derivatives is that the fluctuations in their values may not correlate with the overall securities markets.
Valuation Risk — Valuation for derivatives may not be readily available in the market. Valuation may be more difficult in times of market turmoil since many investors and market makers may be reluctant to purchase complex instruments or quote prices for them. Derivatives may also expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. Certain transactions in derivatives involve substantial leverage risk and may expose the Fund to potential losses that exceed the amount originally invested by the Fund.
Hedging Risk — When a derivative is used as a hedge against a position that the Fund holds, any loss generated by the derivative generally should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged investment, and vice versa. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains. Hedges are sometimes subject to
 
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imperfect matching between the derivative and the underlying security, and there can be no assurance that the Fund’s hedging transactions will be effective. The use of hedging may result in certain adverse tax consequences noted below.
Tax Risk — The federal income tax treatment of a derivative may not be as favorable as a direct investment in an underlying asset and may adversely affect the timing, character and amount of income the Fund realizes from its investments. As a result, a larger portion of the Fund’s distributions may be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gains. In addition, certain derivatives are subject to mark‑to‑market or straddle provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”). If such provisions are applicable, there could be an increase (or decrease) in the amount of taxable dividends paid by the Fund. In addition, the tax treatment of certain derivatives, such as swaps, is unsettled and may be subject to future legislation, regulation or administrative pronouncements issued by the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”).
Regulatory Risk — Derivative contracts are subject to regulation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) in the United States and under comparable regimes in Europe, Asia and other non‑U.S. jurisdictions. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, with respect to uncleared swaps, swap dealers are required to collect variation margin from the Fund and may be required by applicable regulations to collect initial margin from the Fund. Both initial and variation margin may be comprised of cash and/or securities, subject to applicable regulatory haircuts. Shares of investment companies (other than certain money market funds) may not be posted as collateral under applicable regulations. In addition, regulations adopted by global prudential regulators that are now in effect require certain bank-regulated counterparties and certain of their affiliates to include in certain financial contracts, including many derivatives contracts, terms that delay or restrict the rights of counterparties, such as the Fund, to terminate such contracts, foreclose upon collateral, exercise other default rights or restrict transfers of credit support in the event that the counterparty and/or its affiliates are subject to certain types of resolution or insolvency proceedings. The implementation of these requirements with respect to derivatives, as well as regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act regarding clearing, mandatory trading and margining of other derivatives, may increase the costs and risks to the Fund of trading in these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors in the Fund.
Future regulatory developments may impact the Fund’s ability to invest or remain invested in certain derivatives. Legislation or regulation may also change the way in which the Fund itself is regulated. BlackRock cannot predict the effects of any new governmental regulation that may be implemented on the ability of the Fund to use swaps or any other financial derivative product, and there can be no assurance that any new governmental regulation will not adversely affect the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.
Risks Specific to Certain Derivatives Used by the Fund
Swaps — Swap agreements, including total return swaps that may be referred to as contracts for difference, are two‑party contracts entered into for periods ranging from a few days to more than one year. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the value(s) or cash flow(s) of one asset for another over a certain period of time. Swap agreements involve the risk that the party with whom the Fund has entered into the swap will default on its obligation to pay the Fund and the risk that the Fund will not be able to meet its obligations to pay the other party to the agreement. Swap agreements may also involve the risk that there is an imperfect correlation between the return on the Fund’s obligation to its counterparty and the return on the referenced asset. In addition, swap agreements are subject to market and illiquidity risk, leverage risk and hedging risk.
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts — Forward foreign currency exchange transactions are OTC contracts to purchase or sell a specified amount of a specified currency or multinational currency unit at a price and future date set at the time of the contract. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts do not eliminate fluctuations in the value of non‑U.S. securities but rather allow the Fund to establish a fixed rate of exchange for a future point in time. This strategy can have the effect of reducing returns and minimizing opportunities for gain.
Futures — Futures are standardized, exchange-traded contracts that obligate a purchaser to take delivery, and a seller to make delivery, of a specific amount of an asset at a specified future date at a specified price. 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 Fund and the price of the futures contract or option; (b) the 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 investment 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.
Options — An option is an agreement that, for a premium payment or fee, gives the option holder (the purchaser) the right but not the obligation to buy (a “call option”) or sell (a “put option”) the underlying asset (or settle for cash in an amount based on an underlying asset, rate, or index) at a specified price (the “exercise price”) during a period of time or on a specified date. Investments in options are considered speculative. When the Fund
 
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purchases an option, it may lose the total premium paid for it if the price of the underlying security or other assets decreased, remained the same or failed to increase to a level at or beyond the exercise price (in the case of a call option) or increased, remained the same or failed to decrease to a level at or below the exercise price (in the case of a put option). If a put or call option purchased by the Fund were permitted to expire without being sold or exercised, its premium would represent a loss to the Fund. To the extent that the Fund writes or sells an option, if the decline or increase in the underlying asset is significantly below or above the exercise price of the written option, the Fund could experience a substantial loss.
Commodity-Linked Derivatives — The value of a commodity-linked derivative investment typically is based upon the price movements of a commodity, a commodity futures contract or commodity index, or some other readily measurable economic variable. The value of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, volatility of the underlying benchmark, changes in inflation, interest rates, or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments. The value of commodity-linked derivatives will rise or fall in response to changes in the underlying commodity or related index. Investments in commodity-linked derivatives may be subject to greater volatility than non‑derivative based investments. A highly liquid secondary market may not exist for certain commodity-linked derivatives, and there can be no assurance that one will develop.
Commodity-linked derivatives also may be subject to credit and interest rate risks that in general affect the values of fixed-income securities. Therefore, at maturity, the Fund may receive more or less principal than it originally invested. The Fund might receive interest payments that are more or less than the stated coupon interest payments.
In connection with the Fund’s direct and indirect investments in commodity-linked derivatives, the Fund will attempt to manage its counterparty exposure so as to limit its exposure to any one counterparty. However, due to the limited number of entities that may serve as counterparties (and which the Fund believes are creditworthy) at any one time the Fund may enter into swap agreements with a limited number of counterparties and may invest in commodity-linked notes issued by a limited number of issuers that will act as counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to limit exposure to any one counterparty at all times.
 
 
Emerging Markets Risk — The risks of foreign investments are usually much greater for emerging markets. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets may include those in countries considered emerging or developing by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation or the United Nations. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. They are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets. Since these markets are often small, they may be more likely to suffer sharp and frequent price changes or long-term price depression because of adverse publicity, investor perceptions or the actions of a few large investors. In addition, traditional measures of investment value used in the United States, such as price to earnings ratios, may not apply to certain small markets. Also, there may be less publicly available information about issuers in emerging markets than would be available about issuers in more developed capital markets, and such issuers may not be subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and requirements comparable to those to which U.S. companies are subject.
Many emerging markets have histories of political instability and abrupt changes in policies. As a result, their governments are more likely to take actions that are hostile or detrimental to private enterprise or foreign investment than those of more developed countries, including expropriation of assets, confiscatory taxation, high rates of inflation or unfavorable diplomatic developments. In the past, governments of such nations have expropriated substantial amounts of private property, and most claims of the property owners have never been fully settled. There is no assurance that such expropriations will not reoccur. In such an event, it is possible that the Fund could lose the entire value of its investments in the affected market. Some countries have pervasive corruption and crime that may hinder investments. Certain emerging markets may also face other significant internal or external risks, including the risk of war, and ethnic, religious and racial conflicts. In addition, governments in many emerging market countries participate to a significant degree in their economies and securities markets, which may impair investment and economic growth. National policies that may limit the Fund’s investment opportunities include restrictions on investment in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to national interests.
Emerging markets may also have differing legal systems and the existence or possible imposition of exchange controls, custodial restrictions or other foreign or U.S. governmental laws or restrictions applicable to such investments. Sometimes, they may lack or be in the relatively early development of legal structures governing private and foreign investments and private property. Many emerging markets do not have income tax treaties with the United States, and as a result, investments by the Fund may be subject to higher withholding taxes in such countries. In addition, some countries with emerging markets may impose differential capital gains taxes on foreign investors. Foreign companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, which may significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities.
 
 
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Practices in relation to settlement of securities transactions in emerging markets involve higher risks than those in developed markets, in part because the Fund will need to use brokers and counterparties that are less well capitalized, and custody and registration of assets in some countries may be unreliable. The possibility of fraud, negligence, undue influence being exerted by the issuer or refusal to recognize ownership exists in some emerging markets, and, along with other factors, could result in ownership registration being completely lost. The Fund would absorb any loss resulting from such registration problems and may have no successful claim for compensation. In addition, communications between the United States and emerging market countries may be unreliable, increasing the risk of delayed settlements or losses of security certificates.
 
 
Equity Securities Risk — Common and preferred stocks represent equity ownership in a company. Stock markets are volatile. The price of equity securities will fluctuate and can decline and reduce the value of a portfolio investing in equities. The value of equity securities purchased by the Fund could decline if the financial condition of the companies the Fund invests in declines or if overall market and economic conditions deteriorate. The value of equity securities may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or an increase in production costs and competitive conditions within an industry. In addition, the value may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a company or industry, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in inflation, interest or currency rates or generally adverse investor sentiment.
 
 
ESG Investing Risk — The Fund intends to screen out particular issuers pursuant to certain criteria established by BlackRock, and to measure ESG characteristics, including characteristics related to climate, with respect to certain investments pursuant to a methodology determined by BlackRock. This may affect the Fund’s exposure to certain issuers and the Fund may forego certain investment opportunities. The Fund’s results may be lower than other funds that do not seek to invest in issuers based on ESG criteria, or that use a different methodology to screen out issuers or evaluate ESG criteria. The Fund seeks to identify issuers that it believes are better positioned to manage ESG risks and opportunities related to their businesses and to avoid certain companies and industries with ESG related risks, but investors may differ in their views of what constitutes positive or negative ESG criteria. As a result, the Fund may invest in issuers that do not reflect the beliefs and values of any particular investor. In evaluating a security or issuer based on ESG criteria, BlackRock is dependent upon certain information and data from third party providers of ESG research, which may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable. As a result, there is a risk that BlackRock may incorrectly assess a security or issuer. There is also a risk that BlackRock may not apply the relevant ESG criteria correctly or that the Fund could have indirect exposure to issuers who do not meet the relevant ESG criteria used by the Fund. Neither the Fund nor BlackRock make any representation or warranty, express or implied, with respect to the fairness, correctness, accuracy, reasonableness or completeness of such ESG assessment. There may be limitations with respect to availability of ESG data in certain sectors, as well as limited availability of investments with positive ESG assessments in certain sectors. BlackRock’s evaluation of ESG criteria is subjective and may change over time.
The Fund may not include all instruments in its ESG‑related assessments, and may place weight on other factors when selecting investments. In addition, the Fund may not be successful in its ESG-related objectives. There is no guarantee that these objectives will be achieved, and such assessments are at BlackRock’s discretion.
 
 
Foreign Securities Risk — Securities traded in foreign markets have often (though not always) performed differently from securities traded in the United States. However, such investments often involve special risks not present in U.S. investments that can increase the chances that the Fund will lose money. In particular, the Fund is subject to the risk that because there may be fewer investors on foreign exchanges and a smaller number of securities traded each day, it may be more difficult for the Fund to buy and sell securities on those exchanges. In addition, prices of foreign securities may go up and down more than prices of securities traded in the United States.
Certain Risks of Holding Fund Assets Outside the United States — The Fund generally holds its foreign securities and cash in foreign banks and securities depositories. Some foreign banks and securities depositories may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business. In addition, there may be limited or no regulatory oversight of their operations. Also, the laws of certain countries limit the Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a foreign bank, depository or issuer of a security, or any of their agents, goes bankrupt. In addition, it is often more expensive for the Fund to buy, sell and hold securities in certain foreign markets than in the United States. The increased expense of investing in foreign markets reduces the amount the Fund can earn on its investments and typically results in a higher operating expense ratio for the Fund than for investment companies invested only in the United States.
Currency Risk — Securities and other instruments in which the Fund invests may be denominated or quoted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. For this reason, changes in foreign currency exchange rates can affect the value of the Fund’s portfolio.
Generally, when the U.S. dollar rises in value against a foreign currency, a security denominated in that currency loses value because the currency is worth fewer U.S. dollars. Conversely, when the U.S. dollar decreases in value against a foreign currency, a security denominated in that currency gains value because the currency is worth
 
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more U.S. dollars. This risk, generally known as “currency risk,” means that a strong U.S. dollar will reduce returns for U.S. investors while a weak U.S. dollar will increase those returns.
Foreign Economy Risk — The economies of certain foreign markets may not compare favorably with the economy of the United States with respect to such issues as growth of gross national product, reinvestment of capital, resources and balance of payments position. Certain foreign economies may rely heavily on particular industries or foreign capital and are more vulnerable to diplomatic developments, the imposition of economic sanctions against a particular country or countries, changes in international trading patterns, trade barriers and other protectionist or retaliatory measures. Investments in foreign markets may also be adversely affected by governmental actions such as the imposition of capital controls, nationalization of companies or industries, expropriation of assets or the imposition of punitive taxes. In addition, economic conditions, such as volatile currency exchange rates and interest rates, political events, military action and other conditions may, without prior warning, lead to the governments of certain countries, or the U.S. Government with respect to certain countries, prohibiting or imposing substantial restrictions through capital controls and/or sanctions on foreign investments in the capital markets or certain industries in those countries. Capital controls and/or sanctions may include the prohibition of, or restrictions on, the ability to own or transfer currency, securities, derivatives or other assets and may also include retaliatory actions of one government against another government, such as seizure of assets. Any of these actions could severely impair the Fund’s ability to purchase, sell, transfer, receive, deliver or otherwise obtain exposure to foreign securities and assets, including the ability to transfer the Fund’s assets or income back into the United States, and could negatively impact the value and/or liquidity of such assets or otherwise adversely affect the Fund’s operations, causing the Fund to decline in value.
Other potential foreign market risks include foreign exchange controls, difficulties in pricing securities, defaults on foreign government securities, difficulties in enforcing legal judgments in foreign courts and political and social instability. Diplomatic and political developments, including rapid and adverse political changes, social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war, could affect the economies, industries and securities and currency markets, and the value of the Fund’s investments, in non‑U.S. countries. These factors are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to predict and take into account with respect to the Fund’s investments.
Governmental Supervision and Regulation/Accounting Standards — Many foreign governments do not supervise and regulate stock exchanges, brokers and the sale of securities to the same extent as such regulations exist in the United States. They also may not have laws to protect investors that are comparable to U.S. securities laws. For example, some foreign countries may have no laws or rules against insider trading. Insider trading occurs when a person buys or sells a company’s securities based on material non‑public information about that company. In addition, some countries may have legal systems that may make it difficult for the Fund to vote proxies, exercise shareholder rights, and pursue legal remedies with respect to its foreign investments. Accounting standards in other countries are not necessarily the same as in the United States. If the accounting standards in another country do not require as much detail as U.S. accounting standards, it may be harder for Fund management to completely and accurately determine a company’s financial condition.
Settlement Risk — Settlement and clearance procedures in certain foreign markets differ significantly from those in the United States. Foreign settlement and clearance procedures and trade regulations also may involve certain risks (such as delays in payment for or delivery of securities) not typically associated with the settlement of U.S. investments.
At times, settlements in certain foreign countries have not kept pace with the number of securities transactions. These problems may make it difficult for the Fund to carry out transactions. If the Fund cannot settle or is delayed in settling a purchase of securities, it may miss attractive investment opportunities and certain of its assets may be uninvested with no return earned thereon for some period. If the Fund cannot settle or is delayed in settling a sale of securities, it may lose money if the value of the security then declines or, if it has contracted to sell the security to another party, the Fund could be liable for any losses incurred.
Withholding Tax Reclaims Risk — The Fund may file claims to recover foreign withholding taxes on dividend and interest income (if any) received from issuers in certain countries and capital gains on the disposition of stocks or securities where such withholding tax reclaim is possible. Whether or when the Fund will receive a withholding tax refund is within the control of the tax authorities in such countries. Where the Fund expects to recover withholding taxes, the net asset value of the Fund generally includes accruals for such tax refunds. The Fund regularly evaluates the probability of recovery. If the likelihood of recovery materially decreases, due to, for example, a change in tax regulation or approach in the foreign country, accruals in the Fund’s net asset value for such refunds may be written down partially or in full, which will adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value. Shareholders in the Fund at the time an accrual is written down will bear the impact of the resulting reduction in net asset value regardless of whether they were shareholders during the accrual period. Conversely, if the Fund receives a tax refund that has not been previously accrued, shareholders in the Fund at the time of the successful recovery will benefit from the resulting increase in the Fund’s net asset value. Shareholders who sold their shares prior to such time will not benefit from such increase in the Fund’s net asset value.
 
 
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European Economic Risk — The European financial markets have recently experienced volatility and adverse trends due to concerns about economic downturns in, or rising government debt levels of, several European countries as well as acts of war in the region. These events may spread to other countries in Europe and may affect the value and liquidity of certain of the Fund’s investments.
Responses to the financial problems by European governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not work, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and others of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world.
The United Kingdom has withdrawn from the European Union, and one or more other countries may withdraw from the European Union and/or abandon the Euro, the common currency of the European Union. These events and actions have adversely affected, and may in the future adversely affect, the value and exchange rate of the Euro and may continue to significantly affect the economies of every country in Europe, including countries that do not use the Euro and non‑European Union member states. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far reaching. In addition, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The extent and duration of the military action, resulting sanctions and resulting future market disruptions in the region are impossible to predict, but could be significant and have a severe adverse effect on the region, including significant negative impacts on the economy and the markets for certain securities and commodities, such as oil and natural gas, as well as other sectors.
 
 
Geographic Concentration Risk — From time to time the Fund may invest a substantial amount of its assets in issuers located in a single country or a limited number of countries. If the Fund concentrates its investments in this manner, it assumes the risk that economic, political and social conditions in those countries will have a significant impact on its investment performance. The Fund’s investment performance may also be more volatile if it concentrates its investments in certain countries, especially emerging market countries.
 
 
High Portfolio Turnover Risk — The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities. High portfolio turnover (more than 100%) may result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, 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 Fund portfolio securities may result in the realization and/or distribution to shareholders of higher capital gains or losses as compared to a fund with less active trading policies. These effects of higher than normal portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund performance.
 
 
Leverage Risk — Some transactions may give rise to a form of economic leverage. These transactions may include, among others, derivatives, and may expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. As an open‑end investment company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the Fund is subject to the federal securities laws, including the Investment Company Act and the rules thereunder. Under Rule 18f‑4 under the Investment Company Act, among other things, the Fund must either use derivatives in a limited manner or comply with an outer limit on fund leverage risk based on value‑at‑risk. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet the applicable requirements of the Investment Company Act and the rules thereunder. Increases and decreases in the value of the Fund’s portfolio will be magnified when the Fund uses leverage.
 
 
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. The value of a security or other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, exchange, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues like pandemics or epidemics, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments. 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. The Fund seeks to pursue its investment objective by using proprietary models that incorporate quantitative analysis and is subject to “Model Risk” as described below. This means you may lose money.
An outbreak of an infectious coronavirus (COVID‑19) that was first detected in December 2019 developed into a global pandemic that has resulted in numerous disruptions in the market and has had significant economic impact leaving general concern and uncertainty. Although vaccines have been developed and approved for use by various governments, the duration of the pandemic and its effects cannot be predicted with certainty. The impact of this coronavirus, and other epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future, could affect the economies of many nations, individual companies and the market in general ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time.
 
 
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Mid Cap Securities Risk — The securities of mid cap companies generally trade in lower volumes and are generally subject to greater and less predictable price changes than the securities of larger capitalization companies.
 
 
Model Risk — The Fund seeks to pursue its investment objective by using proprietary models that incorporate quantitative analysis. Investments selected using these models may perform differently than as forecasted due to the factors incorporated into the models and the weighting of each factor, as well as the level and scope of changes from historical trends. In addition, issues in the construction and implementation of the models, including software or hardware malfunction, power loss, software bugs, malicious code, viruses, system crashes and other technological failures or various other events or circumstances within or beyond the control of BlackRock, may adversely impact the Fund. Please see also “Cyber Security Risk” below. There is no guarantee that BlackRock’s use of these models will result in effective investment decisions for the Fund.
Some of the models used by BlackRock rely on historical data and may not accurately predict future market movements. The Fund bears the risk that the models used by BlackRock will not be successful in forecasting movements in the market or in determining the size, direction, and/or weighting of investment positions that will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective. In addition, the models may not be reliable in the event of unusual or disruptive events that cause market movements, which may be inconsistent with the historical performance of individual markets. In such instances, the models may produce unexpected results, which can result in losses for the Fund. Furthermore, because predictive models may be constructed based on data supplied by third parties, the success of relying on such models may depend heavily on the accuracy and reliability of such data.
 
 
“New Issues” Risk — “New issues” are IPOs of equity securities. Investments in companies that have recently gone public have the potential to produce substantial gains for the Fund. However, there is no assurance that the Fund 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 Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in IPOs may be lower than during periods when the Fund is able to do so. In addition, as the Fund increases in size, the impact of IPOs on the Fund’s 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 IPO. When an IPO is brought to the market, availability may be limited and the Fund may not be able to buy any shares at the offering price, or, if it is able to buy shares, it may not be able to buy as many shares at the offering price as it would like.
 
 
Preferred Securities Risk — Preferred securities may pay fixed or adjustable rates of return. Preferred securities are subject to issuer-specific and market risks applicable generally to equity securities. In addition, a company’s preferred securities generally pay dividends only after the company makes required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt. For this reason, the value of preferred securities will usually react more strongly than bonds and other debt to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects. Preferred securities of smaller companies may be more vulnerable to adverse developments than preferred securities of larger companies.
 
 
Risk of Investing in the United States A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations, inflation and/or an economic recession in the United States may have a material adverse effect on the U.S. economy and the securities listed on U.S. exchanges. Proposed and adopted policy and legislative changes in the United States are changing many aspects of financial, commercial, public health, environmental, and other regulation and may have a significant effect on U.S. markets generally, as well as on the value of certain securities. Governmental agencies project that the United States will continue to maintain elevated public debt levels for the foreseeable future. Although elevated debt levels do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, elevated public debt service costs may constrain future economic growth.
The United States has developed increasingly strained relations with a number of foreign countries. If relations with certain countries deteriorate, it could adversely affect U.S. issuers as well as non‑U.S. issuers that rely on the United States for trade. The United States has also experienced increased internal political discord, as well as significant challenges in managing and containing the outbreak of COVID‑19. If these trends were to continue, it may have an adverse impact on the U.S. economy and the issuers in which the Fund invests.
 
 
Small Cap and Emerging Growth Securities Risk — Small cap or emerging growth companies may have limited product lines or markets. They may be less financially secure than larger, more established companies. They may depend on a small number of key personnel. If a product fails or there are other adverse developments, or if management changes, the Fund’s investment in a small cap or emerging growth company may lose substantial value. 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.
 
 
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The securities of small cap and emerging growth companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than larger cap securities or the market as a whole. In addition, small cap and emerging growth securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, borrowing costs and earnings. Investing in small cap and emerging growth securities requires a longer term view.
Other Risks of Investing in the Fund
The Fund may also be subject to certain other non‑principal risks associated with its investments and investment strategies, including:
 
 
Borrowing Risk — Borrowing may exaggerate changes in the net asset value of Fund shares and in the return on the Fund’s portfolio. Borrowing will cost the Fund interest expense and other fees. The costs of borrowing may reduce the Fund’s return. Borrowing may cause the Fund to liquidate positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations.
 
 
Cyber Security Risk — Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the Fund’s adviser, distributor, and other service providers, or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund’s business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders. While the Fund has established business continuity plans and risk management systems seeking to address system breaches or failures, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cyber security plans and systems of the Fund’s service providers or issuers of securities in which the Fund invests.
 
 
Depositary Receipts Risk — Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition to investment risks associated with the underlying issuer, depositary receipts expose the Fund to additional risks associated with the non‑uniform terms that apply to depositary receipt programs, credit exposure to the depository bank and to the sponsors and other parties with whom the depository bank establishes the programs, currency risk and the risk of an illiquid market for depositary receipts. The issuers of unsponsored depositary receipts are not obligated to disclose information that is, in the United States, considered material. Therefore, there may be less information available regarding these issuers and there may not be a correlation between such information and the market value of the depositary receipts. While depositary receipts provide an alternative to directly purchasing underlying foreign securities in their respective markets and currencies, they continue to be subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities, including political, economic, and currency risk.
 
 
Expense Risk — Fund expenses are subject to a variety of factors, including fluctuations in the Fund’s net assets. Accordingly, actual expenses may be greater or less than those indicated. For example, to the extent that the Fund’s net assets decrease due to market declines or redemptions, the Fund’s expenses will increase as a percentage of Fund net assets. During periods of high market volatility, these increases in the Fund’s expense ratio could be significant.
 
 
Illiquid Investments Risk — The Fund may not acquire any illiquid investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. 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 the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Liquid investments may become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. There can be no assurance that a security or instrument that is deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid for as long as it is held by the Fund, and any security or instrument held by the Fund may be deemed an illiquid investment pursuant to the Fund’s liquidity risk management program. The Fund’s illiquid investments may reduce the returns of the Fund because it may be difficult to sell the illiquid investments at an advantageous time or price. In addition, if the Fund is limited in its ability to sell illiquid investments during periods when shareholders are redeeming their shares, the Fund will need to sell liquid securities to meet redemption requests and illiquid securities will become a larger portion of the Fund’s holdings. An investment may be illiquid due to, among other things, the lack of an active trading market. To the extent that the Fund’s principal investment strategies involve derivatives or securities with substantial market and/or credit risk, the Fund will tend to have the greatest exposure to the risks associated with illiquid investments. Illiquid investments may be harder to value, especially in changing markets, and if the Fund is forced to sell these investments to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the Fund may suffer a loss. In addition, when there is illiquidity in the market for certain securities, the Fund, due to limitations on illiquid investments, may be subject to purchase and sale restrictions.
 
 
Investment in Other Investment Companies Risk — As with other investments, investments in other investment companies, including ETFs, are subject to market and selection risk. In addition, if the Fund acquires shares of investment companies, including ones affiliated with the Fund, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of expenses in the Fund (including management and advisory fees) and, indirectly, the expenses of the investment companies (to the extent not offset by BlackRock through waivers). To the extent the Fund is held by an affiliated fund, the ability of the Fund itself to hold other investment companies may be limited.
 
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Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk — Certain shareholders, including a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser or an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares or may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment or that the size of the Fund would be maintained. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares by these shareholders may adversely affect the Fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may force the Fund to sell portfolio securities to meet redemption requests when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or accelerate the realization of taxable income and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non‑redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such tax year. The Fund also may be required to sell its more liquid Fund investments to meet a large redemption, in which case the Fund’s remaining assets may be less liquid, more volatile, and more difficult to price. In addition, large redemptions can result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, which generally results in an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Because large redemptions can adversely affect a portfolio manager’s ability to implement a fund’s investment strategy, the Fund also reserves the right to redeem in‑kind, subject to certain conditions. In addition, large purchases of Fund shares may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would, diluting its investment returns.
 
 
Money Market Securities Risk — If market conditions improve while the Fund has invested some or all of its assets in high quality money market securities, this strategy could result in reducing the potential gain from the market upswing, thus reducing the Fund’s opportunity to achieve its investment objective.
 
 
REIT Investment Risk — In addition to the risks facing real estate-related securities, such as a decline in property values due to increasing vacancies, a decline in rents resulting from unanticipated economic, legal or technological developments or a decline in the price of securities of real estate companies due to a failure of borrowers to pay their loans or poor management, investments in REITs involve unique risks. REITs may have limited financial resources, may trade less frequently and in limited volume, may engage in dilutive offerings of securities and may be more volatile than other securities. REIT issuers may also fail to maintain their exemptions from investment company registration or fail to qualify for the “dividends paid deduction” under the Internal Revenue Code, which allows REITs to reduce their corporate taxable income for dividends paid to their shareholders. Ordinary REIT dividends received by the Fund and distributed to the Fund’s shareholders will generally be taxable as ordinary income and will not constitute “qualified dividend income.” However, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026, a non-corporate taxpayer who is a direct REIT shareholder may claim a 20% “qualified business income” deduction for ordinary REIT dividends, and a regulated investment company may report dividends as eligible for this deduction to the extent the regulated investment company’s income is derived from ordinary REIT dividends (reduced by allocable regulated investment company expenses). A shareholder may treat the dividends as such provided the regulated investment company and the shareholder satisfy applicable holding period requirements.
 
 
Repurchase Agreements and Purchase and Sale Contracts Risk — If the other party to a repurchase agreement or purchase and sale contract 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 in either situation and the market value of the security declines, the Fund may lose money.
 
 
Restricted Securities Risk Limitations on the resale of restricted securities may have an adverse effect on their marketability, and may prevent the Fund from disposing of them promptly at advantageous prices. Restricted securities may not be listed on an exchange and may have no active trading market. In order to sell such securities, the Fund may have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Other transaction costs may be higher for restricted securities than unrestricted securities. Restricted securities may be difficult to value because market quotations may not be readily available, and the securities may have significant volatility. Also, the Fund may get only limited information about the issuer of a given restricted security, and therefore may be less able to predict a loss. Certain restricted securities may involve a high degree of business and financial risk and may result in substantial losses to the Fund.
 
 
Rights Risk — The failure to exercise subscription rights to purchase common stock would result in the dilution of the Fund’s interest in the issuing company. The market for such rights is not well developed, and, accordingly, the Fund may not always realize full value on the sale of rights.
 
 
Securities Lending Risk — Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, the Fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. These events could trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
 
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Valuation Risk The price the Fund could receive upon the sale of any particular portfolio investment may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair valuation methodology or a price provided by an independent pricing service. As a result, the price received upon the sale of an investment may be less than the value ascribed by the Fund, and the Fund could realize a greater than expected loss or lesser than expected gain upon the sale of the investment. Pricing services that value fixed-income securities generally utilize a range of market-based and security-specific inputs and assumptions, as well as considerations about general market conditions, to establish a price. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but may be held or transactions may be conducted in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots may trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The Fund’s ability to value its investments may also be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
 
 
Warrants Risk — If the price of the underlying stock does not rise above the exercise price before the warrant expires, the warrant generally expires without any value and the Fund will lose any amount it paid for the warrant. Thus, investments in warrants may involve substantially more risk than investments in common stock. Warrants may trade in the same markets as their underlying stock; however, the price of the warrant does not necessarily move with the price of the underlying stock.
 
 
When-Issued and Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments Risk — When-issued and delayed delivery securities and forward commitments involve the risk that the security the Fund buys will lose value prior to its delivery. There also is the risk that the security will not be issued or that the other party to the transaction will not meet its obligation. If this occurs, the Fund 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.
 
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Account Information
 
 
 
How to Choose the Share Class that Best Suits Your Needs
 
The Fund currently offers multiple share classes (Investor A and Institutional Shares in this prospectus), each with its own sales charge and expense structure, allowing you to invest in the way that best suits your needs. Each share class represents an ownership interest in the same investment portfolio of the Fund. When you choose your class of shares, you should consider the size of your investment and how long you plan to hold your shares. Either your financial professional or your selected securities dealer, broker, investment adviser, service provider or industry professional (including BlackRock and its affiliates) (each a “Financial Intermediary”) can help you determine which share class is best suited to your personal financial goals.
For example, if you select Institutional Shares of the Fund, you will not pay any sales charge. However, only certain investors may buy Institutional Shares. If you select Investor A Shares of the Fund, you generally pay a sales charge at the time of purchase and an ongoing service fee of 0.25% per year. You may be eligible for a sales charge reduction or waiver.
The Fund’s shares are distributed by BlackRock Investments, LLC (the “Distributor”), an affiliate of BlackRock.
The table below summarizes key features of each of the share classes offered by this prospectus.
Share Classes at a Glance1
 
     Investor A Shares   Institutional Shares
Availability   Generally available through Financial Intermediaries.  
Limited to certain investors, including:
•  Individuals and “Institutional Investors,” which include, but are not limited to, endowments, foundations, family offices, local, city and state governmental institutions, corporations and insurance company separate accounts, who may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to purchase such shares.
•  Employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs), state sponsored 529 college savings plans, collective trust funds, investment companies or other pooled investment vehicles, unaffiliated thrifts and unaffiliated banks and trust companies, each of which may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to purchase such shares.
•  Employees, officers and directors/trustees of BlackRock or its affiliates and immediate family members of such persons, if they open an account directly with BlackRock.
•  Participants in certain programs sponsored by BlackRock or its affiliates or other Financial Intermediaries.
•  Tax‑qualified accounts for insurance agents that are registered representatives of an insurance company’s broker-dealer that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer Institutional Shares, and the family members of such persons.
 
 
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     Investor A Shares   Institutional Shares
Availability (continued)   Generally available through Financial Intermediaries. (continued)  
•  Clients investing through Financial Intermediaries that have entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer such shares on a platform that charges a transaction based sales commission outside of the Fund.
•  Clients investing through a self-directed IRA brokerage account program sponsored by a retirement plan record-keeper, provided that such program offers only mutual fund options and that the program maintains an account with the Fund on an omnibus basis.
Minimum Investment  
$1,000 for all accounts except:
•  $50, if establishing an Automatic Investment Plan(“AIP”).
•  There is no investment minimum for employer- sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs).
•  There is no investment minimum for certain fee‑based programs.
 
There is no investment minimum for:
•  Employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs), state sponsored 529 college savings plans, collective trust funds, investment companies or other pooled investment vehicles, unaffiliated thrifts and unaffiliated banks and trust companies.
•  Employees, officers and directors/trustees of BlackRock or its affiliates and immediate family members of such persons, if they open an account directly with BlackRock.
•  Clients of Financial Intermediaries that: (i) charge such clients a fee for advisory, investment consulting, or similar services or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer Institutional Shares through a no‑load program or investment platform.
•  Clients investing through a self-directed IRA brokerage account program sponsored by a retirement plan record-keeper, provided that such program offers only mutual fund options and that the program maintains an account with the Fund on an omnibus basis. $2 million for individuals and Institutional Investors. $1,000 investment minimum for:
•  Clients investing through Financial Intermediaries that offer such shares on a platform that charges a transaction based sales commission outside of the Fund.
•  Tax‑qualified accounts for insurance agents that are registered representatives of an insurance company’s broker-dealer that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer Institutional Shares, and the family members of such persons.
Initial Sales Charge?   Yes. Payable at time of purchase. Lower sales charges are available for larger investments.   No. Entire purchase price is invested in shares of the Fund.
Deferred Sales Charge?   No. (May be charged for purchases of $1 million or more that are redeemed within 18 months.)   No.
Distribution and Service (12b‑1) Fees?   No Distribution Fee. 0.25% Annual Service Fee.   No.
Redemption Fees?   No.   No.
Conversion to Investor A Shares?   N/A   No.
 
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     Investor A Shares   Institutional Shares
Advantage   Makes sense for investors who are eligible to have the sales charge reduced or eliminated or who have a long-term investment horizon because there are no ongoing distribution fees.   No up‑front sales charge so you start off owning more shares. No distribution or service fees.
Disadvantage   You pay a sales charge up‑front, and therefore you start off owning fewer shares.   Limited availability.
 
1. 
Please see “Details About the Share Classes” for more information about each share class.
The following pages will cover the additional details of each share class, including the Institutional requirements, the sales charge table for Investor A Shares, reduced sales charge information and sales charge waivers.
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and reductions will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund or through a Financial Intermediary. Financial Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front‑end sales charge waivers or deferred sales charge waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify the Fund or your Financial Intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying you for sales charge waivers or reductions. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular Financial Intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another Financial Intermediary to receive these waivers or reductions. Please see the “Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies” section beginning on page A‑1 of the Fund’s prospectus to determine any sales charge waivers and reductions that may be available to you through your Financial Intermediary.
More information about existing sales charge reductions and waivers is available free of charge in a clear and prominent format via hyperlink at www.blackrock.com and in the SAI, which is available on the website or on request.
Details About the Share Classes
 
Investor A Shares — Initial Sales Charge Option
The following table shows the front‑end sales charges that you may pay if you buy Investor A Shares. The offering price for Investor A Shares includes any front‑end sales charge. The front‑end sales charge expressed as a percentage of the offering price may be higher or lower than the charge described below due to rounding. Similarly, any contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) paid upon certain redemptions of Investor A Shares expressed as a percentage of the applicable redemption amount may be higher or lower than the charge described below due to rounding. You may qualify for a reduced front‑end sales charge. Purchases of Investor A Shares at certain fixed dollar levels, known as “breakpoints,” cause a reduction in the front‑end sales charge. Once you achieve a breakpoint, you pay that sales charge on your entire purchase amount (and not just the portion above the breakpoint). If you select Investor A Shares, you will pay a sales charge at the time of purchase as shown in the following table.
 
Your Investment
  
Sales Charge
as a % of
Offering Price
       Sales Charge
as a % of Your
Investment1
       Dealer
Compensation
as a % of
Offering Price
 
Less than $25,000
     5.25%          5.54%          5.00%  
$25,000 but less than $50,000
     4.75%          4.99%          4.50%  
$50,000 but less than $100,000
     4.00%          4.17%          3.75%  
$100,000 but less than $250,000
     3.00%          3.09%          2.75%  
$250,000 but less than $500,000
     2.50%          2.56%          2.25%  
$500,000 but less than $750,000
     2.00%          2.04%          1.75%  
$750,000 but less than $1,000,000
     1.50%          1.52%          1.25%  
$1,000,000 and over2
     0.00%          0.00%          2  
 
1. 
Rounded to the nearest one‑hundredth percent.
 
2. 
If you invest $1,000,000 or more in Investor A Shares, you will not pay an initial sales charge. In that case, BlackRock compensates the Financial Intermediary from its own resources. However, if you redeem your shares within 18 months after purchase, you may be charged a deferred sales charge of 1.00% of the lesser of the original cost of the shares being redeemed or your redemption proceeds. Such deferred sales charge may be waived in connection with certain fee‑based programs.
No initial sales charge applies to Investor A Shares that you buy through reinvestment of Fund dividends or capital gains.
 
26

Sales Charges Reduced or Eliminated for Investor A Shares
There are several ways in which the sales charge can be reduced or eliminated. Purchases of Investor A Shares at certain fixed dollar levels, known as “breakpoints,” cause a reduction in the front‑end sales charge (as described above in the “Investor A Shares — Initial Sales Charge Option” section). Additionally, the front‑end sales charge can be reduced or eliminated through one or a combination of the following: a Letter of Intent, the right of accumulation, the reinstatement privilege (described under “Account Services and Privileges”), or a waiver of the sales charge (described below).
Reductions or eliminations through a Letter of Intent or the right of accumulation will apply to the value of all qualifying holdings in shares of mutual funds sponsored and advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (“BlackRock Funds”) owned by (a) the investor, or (b) the investor’s spouse and any children and a trust, custodial account or fiduciary account for the benefit of any such individuals. For this purpose, the value of an investor’s holdings means the offering price of the newly purchased shares (including any applicable sales charge) plus the current value (including any sales charges paid) of all other shares the investor already holds taken together.
See the “Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies” section beginning on page A‑1 of the Fund’s prospectus for sales charge reductions and waivers that may be available to customers of certain Financial Intermediaries.
Qualifying Holdings — Investor A and A1, Investor C, Investor P, Institutional, Class K and Premier Shares (in most BlackRock Funds), investments in certain unlisted closed‑end management investment companies sponsored and advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (“Eligible Unlisted BlackRock Closed‑End Funds”) and investments in the BlackRock CollegeAdvantage 529 Program.
Qualifying Holdings may include shares held in accounts held at a Financial Intermediary, including personal accounts, certain retirement accounts, UGMA/UTMA accounts, Joint Tenancy accounts, trust accounts and Transfer on Death accounts, as well as shares purchased by a trust of which the investor is a beneficiary. For purposes of the Letter of Intent and right of accumulation, the investor may not combine with the investor’s other holdings shares held in pension, profit sharing or other employer-sponsored retirement plans if those shares are held in the name of a nominee or custodian.
In order to receive a reduced sales charge, at the time an investor purchases shares of the Fund, the investor should inform the Financial Intermediary and/or BlackRock Funds of any other shares of the Fund or any other BlackRock Fund or Eligible Unlisted BlackRock Closed‑End Fund that qualify for a reduced sales charge. Failure by the investor to notify the Financial Intermediary or BlackRock Funds may result in the investor not receiving the sales charge reduction to which the investor is otherwise entitled.
The Financial Intermediary or BlackRock Funds may request documentation — including account statements and records of the original cost of the shares owned by the investor, the investor’s spouse and/or children showing that the investor qualifies for a reduced sales charge. The investor should retain these records because — depending on where an account is held or the type of account — the Fund and/or the Financial Intermediary, BlackRock Funds or Eligible Unlisted BlackRock Closed‑End Funds may not be able to maintain this information.
For more information, see the SAI or contact your Financial Intermediary.
Letter of Intent
An investor may qualify for a reduced front‑end sales charge immediately by signing a “Letter of Intent” stating the investor’s intention to make one or more of the following investments within the next 13 months which would, if bought all at once, qualify the investor for a reduced sales charge:
 
  i.
Buy a specified amount of Investor A, Investor C, Investor P, Institutional, Class K and/or Premier Shares,
 
  ii.
Make an investment in one or more Eligible Unlisted BlackRock Closed‑End Funds and/or
 
  iii.
Make an investment through the BlackRock CollegeAdvantage 529 Program in one or more BlackRock Funds.
The initial investment must meet the minimum initial purchase requirement. The 13‑month Letter of Intent period commences on the day that the Letter of Intent is received by the Fund.
The market value of current holdings in the BlackRock Funds (including Investor A, Investor C, Investor P, Institutional, Class K and Premier Shares, Eligible Unlisted BlackRock Closed‑End Funds and the BlackRock CollegeAdvantage 529 Program Class A and Class C Units) as of the date of commencement that are eligible under the Right of Accumulation may be counted towards the sales charge reduction.
The investor must notify the Fund of (i) any current holdings in the BlackRock Funds, Eligible Unlisted BlackRock Closed‑End Funds and/or the BlackRock CollegeAdvantage 529 Program that should be counted towards the sales charge reduction and (ii) any subsequent purchases that should be counted towards the Letter of Intent.
During the term of the Letter of Intent, the Fund will hold Investor A Shares representing up to 5% of the indicated amount in an escrow account for payment of a higher sales load if the full amount indicated in the Letter of Intent is
 
27

not purchased. If the full amount indicated is not purchased within the 13‑month period, and the investor does not pay the higher sales load within 20 days, the Fund will redeem enough of the Investor A Shares held in escrow to pay the difference.
Right of Accumulation
Investors have a “right of accumulation” under which any of the following may be combined with the amount of the current purchase in determining whether an investor qualifies for a breakpoint and a reduced front‑end sales charge:
 
  i.
The current value of an investor’s existing Investor A and A1, Investor C, Investor P, Institutional, Class K and Premier Shares in most BlackRock Funds,
 
  ii.
The current value of an investor’s existing shares of Eligible Unlisted BlackRock Closed‑End Funds and
 
  iii.
The investment in the BlackRock CollegeAdvantage 529 Program by the investor or by or on behalf of the investor’s spouse and children.
Financial Intermediaries may value current holdings of their customers differently for purposes of determining whether an investor qualifies for a breakpoint and a reduced front‑end sales charge, although customers of the same Financial Intermediary will be treated similarly. In order to use this right, the investor must alert BlackRock to the existence of any previously purchased shares.
Other Front‑End Sales Charge Waivers
The following persons may also buy Investor A Shares without paying a sales charge:
 
 
Certain employer-sponsored retirement plans. For purposes of this waiver, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs;
 
 
Rollovers of current investments through certain employer-sponsored retirement plans, provided the shares are transferred to the same BlackRock Fund as either a direct rollover, or subsequent to distribution, the rolled-over proceeds are contributed to a BlackRock IRA through an account directly with the Fund; or purchases by IRA programs that are sponsored by Financial Intermediary firms provided the Financial Intermediary firm has entered into a Class A Net Asset Value agreement with respect to such program with the Distributor;
 
 
Insurance company separate accounts;
 
 
Registered investment advisers, trust companies and bank trust departments exercising discretionary investment authority with respect to amounts to be invested in the Fund;
 
 
Persons participating in a fee‑based program (such as a wrap account) under which they pay advisory fees to a broker-dealer or other financial institution;
 
 
Financial Intermediaries who have entered into an agreement with the Distributor and have been approved by the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee;
 
 
Persons associated with the Fund, the Fund’s manager, the Fund’s sub‑advisers, transfer agent, Distributor, fund accounting agents, Barclays PLC (“Barclays”) and their respective affiliates (to the extent permitted by these firms) including: (a) officers, directors and partners; (b) employees and retirees; (c) employees of firms who have entered into selling agreements to distribute shares of BlackRock Funds; (d) immediate family members of such persons; and (e) any trust, pension, profit-sharing or other benefit plan for any of the persons set forth in (a) through (d);
 
 
State sponsored 529 college savings plans; and
 
 
Accounts opened directly with the Fund that do not have a Financial Intermediary associated with the account.
In addition, a sales charge waiver may be available for investors exchanging Investor P Shares of another BlackRock Fund for Investor A Shares of the Fund through an intermediary-processed exchange, provided that the investor had previously paid a sales charge with respect to such shares.
In addition, Financial Intermediaries may, in connection with a change in account type or otherwise in accordance with a Financial Intermediary’s policies and procedures, exchange one class of shares for Investor A Shares of the same Fund. In such cases, such exchange would not be subject to an Investor A Shares sales charge. The availability of Investor A Shares sales charge waivers may depend on the policies, procedures and trading platforms of your Financial Intermediary; consult your financial adviser.
See the “Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies” section beginning on page A‑1 of the Fund’s prospectus for sales charge reductions and waivers that may be available to customers of certain Financial Intermediaries.
 
28

Investor A Shares at Net Asset Value
If you invest $1,000,000 or more in Investor A Shares, you will not pay any initial sales charge. However, if you redeem your Investor A Shares within 18 months after purchase, you may be charged a deferred sales charge of 1.00% of the lesser of the original cost of the shares being redeemed or your redemption proceeds. For a discussion on waivers, see “Contingent Deferred Sales Charge Waivers.”
If you are eligible to buy both Investor A and Institutional Shares, you should buy Institutional Shares since Investor A Shares are subject to a front end sales charge and an annual 0.25% service fee, while Institutional Shares are not. The Distributor normally pays the annual Investor A Shares service fee to dealers as a shareholder servicing fee on a monthly basis.
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge Waivers
The deferred sales charge relating to Investor A Shares may be reduced or waived in certain circumstances, such as:
 
 
Redemptions of shares purchased through certain employer-sponsored retirement plans and rollovers of current investments in the Fund through such plans;
 
 
Exchanges pursuant to the exchange privilege, as described in “How to Buy, Sell, Exchange and Transfer Shares — How to Exchange Shares or Transfer Your Account”;
 
 
Redemptions made in connection with minimum required distributions from IRA or 403(b)(7) accounts due to the shareholder reaching the age of 72;
 
 
Certain post-retirement withdrawals from an IRA or other retirement plan if you are over 591/2 years old and you purchased your shares prior to October 2, 2006;
 
 
Redemptions made with respect to certain retirement plans sponsored by the Fund, BlackRock or an affiliate;
 
 
Redemptions resulting from shareholder death as long as the waiver request is made within one year of death or, if later, reasonably promptly following completion of probate (including in connection with the distribution of account assets to a beneficiary of the decedent);
 
 
Withdrawals resulting from shareholder disability (as defined in the Internal Revenue Code) as long as the disability arose subsequent to the purchase of the shares;
 
 
Involuntary redemptions made of shares in accounts with low balances;
 
 
Certain redemptions made through the Systematic Withdrawal Plan (“SWP”) offered by the Fund, BlackRock or an affiliate;
 
 
Redemptions related to the payment of BNY Mellon Investment Servicing Trust Company custodial IRA fees; and
 
 
Redemptions when a shareholder can demonstrate hardship, in the absolute discretion of the Fund.
See the “Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies” section beginning on page A‑1 of the Fund’s prospectus for sales charge reductions and waivers that may be available to customers of certain Financial Intermediaries.
More information about existing sales charge reductions and waivers is available free of charge in a clear and prominent format via hyperlink at www.blackrock.com and in the SAI, which is available on the website or on request.
Institutional Shares
Institutional Shares are not subject to any sales charge. Only certain investors are eligible to buy Institutional Shares. Your Financial Intermediary can help you determine whether you are eligible to buy Institutional Shares. The Fund may permit a lower initial investment for certain investors if their purchase, combined with purchases by other investors received together by the Fund, meets the minimum investment requirement.
Institutional Shares may also be available on certain brokerage platforms. An investor transacting in Institutional Shares on such brokerage platforms through a broker acting as an agent for the investor may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. Shares of the Fund are available in other share classes that have different fees and expenses.
Eligible Institutional Shares investors include the following:
 
 
Individuals and “Institutional Investors” with a minimum initial investment of $2 million who may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to purchase such shares;
 
 
Clients of Financial Intermediaries that: (i) charge such clients a fee for advisory, investment consulting, or similar services or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer Institutional Shares through a no‑load program or investment platform, in each case, with no minimum initial investment;
 
29

 
Clients investing through Financial Intermediaries that have entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer such shares on a platform that charges a transaction based sales commission outside of the Fund, with a minimum initial investment of $1,000;
 
 
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs), state sponsored 529 college savings plans, collective trust funds, investment companies or other pooled investment vehicles, unaffiliated thrifts and unaffiliated banks and trust companies, each of which is not subject to any minimum initial investment and may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to purchase such shares;
 
 
Trust department clients of Bank of America, N.A. and its affiliates for whom they (i) act in a fiduciary capacity (excluding participant directed employee benefit plans); (ii) otherwise have investment discretion; or (iii) act as custodian for at least $2 million in assets, who are not subject to any minimum initial investment;
 
 
Holders of certain Bank of America Corporation (“BofA Corp.”) sponsored unit investment trusts (“UITs”) who reinvest dividends received from such UITs in shares of the Fund, who are not subject to any minimum initial investment;
 
 
Employees, officers and directors/trustees of BlackRock, Inc., mutual funds sponsored and advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (“BlackRock Funds”), BofA Corp., Barclays PLC or their respective affiliates and immediate family members of such persons, if they open an account directly with BlackRock, who are not subject to any minimum initial investment;
 
 
Tax‑qualified accounts for insurance agents that are registered representatives of an insurance company’s broker-dealer that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer Institutional Shares, and the family members of such persons; and
 
 
Clients investing through a self-directed IRA brokerage account program sponsored by a retirement plan record-keeper, provided that such program offers only mutual fund options and that the program maintains an account with the Fund on an omnibus basis.
The Fund reserves the right to modify or waive the above-stated policies at any time.
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Payments
 
Plan Payments
The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has adopted a plan (the “Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b‑1 under the Investment Company Act with respect to the Investor A Shares that allows the Fund to pay distribution fees for the sale of its shares and/or shareholder servicing fees for certain services provided to its shareholders.
Under the Plan, the Fund pays shareholder servicing fees (also referred to as general shareholder liaison services fees) to Financial Intermediaries for providing support services to their customers who own Investor A Shares of the Fund. The shareholder servicing fee payment is calculated as a percentage of the average daily net asset value of Investor A Shares of the Fund. All Investor A Shares pay this shareholder servicing fee. Institutional Shares do not pay a shareholder servicing fee.
In return for the shareholder servicing fee, Financial Intermediaries (including BlackRock) may provide one or more of the following services to their customers who own Investor A, Shares:
 
 
Answering customer inquiries regarding account status and history, the manner in which purchases, exchanges and redemptions or repurchases of shares may be effected and certain other matters pertaining to the customers’ investments;
 
 
Assisting customers in designating and changing dividend options, account designations and addresses; and
 
 
Providing other similar shareholder liaison services.
The shareholder servicing fees payable pursuant to the Plan are paid to compensate Financial Intermediaries for the administration and servicing of shareholder accounts and are not costs which are primarily intended to result in the sale of the Fund’s shares.
Because the fees paid by the Fund under the Plan are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. For more information on the Plan, including a complete list of services provided thereunder, see the SAI.
Other Payments by the Fund
In addition to fees that the Fund may pay to a Financial Intermediary pursuant to the Plan and fees the Fund pays to its transfer agent, BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”), BlackRock, on behalf of the Fund,
 
30

may enter into non‑Plan agreements with affiliated and unaffiliated Financial Intermediaries pursuant to which the Fund will pay a Financial Intermediary for administrative, networking, recordkeeping, sub‑transfer agency, sub‑accounting, and/or 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 Financial Intermediary or (2) a fixed dollar amount for each account serviced by a Financial Intermediary. The aggregate amount of these payments may be substantial.
Other Payments by BlackRock
From time to time, BlackRock, the Distributor or their affiliates also may pay a portion of the fees for administrative, networking, recordkeeping, sub‑transfer agency, sub‑accounting and shareholder services described above at its or their own expense and out of its or their profits. BlackRock, the Distributor and their affiliates may also compensate affiliated and unaffiliated Financial Intermediaries for the sale and distribution of shares of the Fund. These payments would be in addition to the Fund payments described in this prospectus and may be a fixed dollar amount, may be based on the number of customer accounts maintained by the Financial Intermediary, may be based on a percentage of the value of shares sold to, or held by, customers of the Financial Intermediary or may be calculated on another basis. The aggregate amount of these payments by BlackRock, the Distributor and their affiliates may be substantial and, in some circumstances, may create an incentive for a Financial Intermediary, its employees or associated persons to recommend or sell shares of the Fund to you.
Please contact your Financial Intermediary for details about payments it may receive from the Fund or from BlackRock, the Distributor or their affiliates. For more information, see the SAI.
How to Buy, Sell, Exchange and Transfer Shares
 
The chart on the following pages summarizes how to buy, sell, exchange and transfer shares through your Financial Intermediary. You may also buy, sell, exchange and transfer shares through BlackRock if your account is held directly with BlackRock. To learn more about buying, selling, exchanging or transferring shares through BlackRock, call (800) 441‑7762. Because the selection of a mutual fund involves many considerations, your Financial Intermediary may help you with this decision.
With certain limited exceptions, the Fund is generally available only to investors residing in the United States and may not be distributed by a foreign Financial Intermediary. Under this policy, in order to accept new accounts or additional investments (including by way of exchange from another BlackRock Fund) into existing accounts, the Fund generally requires that (i) a shareholder that is a natural person be a U.S. citizen or resident alien, in each case residing within the United States or a U.S. territory (including APO/FPO/DPO addresses), and have a valid U.S. taxpayer identification number, and (ii) a Financial Intermediary or a shareholder that is an entity be domiciled in the United States and have a valid U.S. taxpayer identification number or be domiciled in a U.S. territory and have a valid U.S. taxpayer identification number or IRS Form W‑8. Any existing account that is updated to reflect a non‑U.S. address will also be restricted from making additional investments.
The Fund may reject any purchase order, modify or waive the minimum initial or subsequent investment requirements for any shareholders and suspend and resume the sale of any share class of the Fund at any time, for any reason. In addition, the Fund may waive certain requirements regarding the purchase, sale, exchange or transfer of shares described below.
Under certain circumstances, if no activity occurs in an account within a time period specified by state law, a shareholder’s shares in the Fund may be transferred to that state.
 
How to Buy Shares
     Your Choices        Important Information for You to Know
Initial Purchase   First, select the share class appropriate for you      
Refer to the “Share Classes at a Glance” table in this prospectus (be sure to read this prospectus carefully). When you place your initial order, you must indicate which share class you select (if you do not specify a share class and do not qualify to purchase Institutional Shares, you will receive Investor A Shares).
 
Certain factors, such as the amount of your investment, your time frame for investing, and your financial goals, may affect which share class you choose. Your Financial Intermediary can help you determine which share class is appropriate for you.
    Next, determine the amount of your investment      
Refer to the minimum initial investment in the “Share Classes at a Glance” table of this prospectus.
 
See “Account Information — Details About the Share Classes” for information on a lower initial investment requirement for certain Fund investors if their purchase, combined with purchases by other investors received together by the Fund, meets the minimum investment requirement.
 
31

How to Buy Shares (continued)
     Your Choices        Important Information for You to Know
Initial Purchase (continued)   Have your Financial Intermediary submit your purchase order      
The price of your shares is based on the next calculation of the Fund’s net asset value after your order is placed. Any purchase orders placed prior to the close of business on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) will be priced at the net asset value determined that day. Certain Financial Intermediaries, however, may require submission of orders prior to that time. Purchase orders placed after that time will be priced at the net asset value determined on the next business day. A broker-dealer or financial institution maintaining the account in which you hold shares may charge a separate account, service or transaction fee on the purchase or sale of Fund shares that would be in addition to the fees and expenses shown in the Fund’s “Fees and Expenses” table.
 
The Fund may reject any order to buy shares and may suspend the sale of shares at any time. Certain Financial Intermediaries may charge a processing fee to confirm a purchase.
    Or contact BlackRock (for accounts held directly with BlackRock)       To purchase shares directly from BlackRock, call (800) 441‑7762 and request a new account application. Mail the completed application along with a check payable to “BlackRock Funds” to the Transfer Agent at the address on the application. The Fund limits purchases by personal check to $500,000 per trade.
Add to Your Investment   Purchase additional shares       For Investor A Shares, the minimum investment for additional purchases is generally $50 for all accounts (with the exception of certain employer-sponsored retirement plans which may have a lower minimum for additional purchases). The minimums for additional purchases may be waived under certain circumstances. Institutional Shares have no minimum for additional purchases.
  Have your Financial Intermediary submit your purchase order for additional shares       To purchase additional shares you may contact your Financial Intermediary.
    Or contact BlackRock (for accounts held directly with BlackRock)      
Purchase by Telephone: Call (800) 441‑7762 and speak with one of our representatives. The Fund has the right to reject any telephone request for any reason.
 
Purchase in Writing: You may send a written request to BlackRock at the address on the back cover of this prospectus.
 
Purchase by VRU: Investor A Shares may also be purchased by use of the Fund’s automated voice response unit (“VRU”) service at (800) 441‑7762.
 
Purchase by Internet: You may purchase your shares, and view activity in your account, by logging onto the BlackRock website at www.blackrock.com. Purchases made on the Internet using the Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) will have a trade date that is the day after the purchase is made.
 
Certain institutional clients’ purchase orders of Institutional Shares placed by wire prior to the close of business on the NYSE will be priced at the net asset value determined that day. Contact your Financial Intermediary or BlackRock for further information. The Fund limits Internet purchases in Investor A Shares of the Fund to $25,000 per trade. Different maximums may apply to certain institutional investors.
 
Please read the On‑Line Services Disclosure Statement and User Agreement, the Terms and Conditions page and the Consent to Electronic Delivery Agreement (if you consent to electronic delivery), before attempting to transact online.
 
The Fund employs reasonable procedures to confirm that transactions entered over the Internet are genuine. By entering into the User Agreement with the Fund in order to open an account through the website, the shareholder waives any right to reclaim any losses from the Fund or any of its affiliates incurred through fraudulent activity.
 
32

How to Buy Shares (continued)
     Your Choices        Important Information for You to Know
Add to Your Investment (continued)   Acquire additional shares by reinvesting dividends and capital gains       All dividends and capital gains distributions are automatically reinvested in shares of the Fund at net asset value. To make any changes to your dividend and/or capital gains distributions options, please call (800) 441‑7762 or contact your Financial Intermediary (if your account is not held directly with BlackRock).
    Participate in the AIP       BlackRock’s AIP allows you to invest a specific amount on a periodic basis from your checking or savings account into your investment account. Refer to the “Account Services and Privileges” section of this prospectus for additional information.
How to Pay for Shares   Making payment for purchases      
Payment for an order must be made in Federal funds or other immediately available funds by the time specified by your Financial Intermediary, but in no event later than 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on the second business day (in the case of Investor A Shares) or the first business day (in the case of Institutional Shares) following BlackRock’s receipt of the order. If payment is not received by this time, the order will be canceled, and you and your Financial Intermediary will be responsible for any loss to the Fund.
 
For shares purchased directly from the Fund, a check payable to BlackRock Funds which bears the name of the Fund must accompany a completed purchase application. The Fund limits purchases by personal check to $500,000 per trade. There is a $20 fee for each purchase check that is returned due to insufficient funds. The Fund does not accept third-party checks. You may also wire Federal funds to the Fund to purchase shares, but you must call (800) 441‑7762 before doing so to confirm the wiring instructions.
How to Sell Shares
     Your Choices        Important Information for You to Know
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares   Have your Financial Intermediary submit your sales order      
You can make redemption requests through your Financial Intermediary. Shareholders should indicate whether they are redeeming Investor A or Institutional Shares. The price of your shares is based on the next calculation of the Fund’s net asset value after your order is placed. For your redemption request to be priced at the net asset value on the day of your request, you must submit your request to your Financial Intermediary prior to that day’s close of business on the NYSE (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time).
 
Certain Financial Intermediaries, however, may require submission of orders prior to that time. Any redemption request placed after that time will be priced at the net asset value at the close of business on the next business day.
 
Regardless of the method the Fund uses to make payment of your redemption proceeds (check, wire or ACH), your redemption proceeds typically will be sent one to two business days after your request is submitted, but in any event, within seven days. Certain Financial Intermediaries may charge a fee to process a redemption of shares.
 
The Fund may reject an order to sell shares under certain circumstances.
 
33

How to Sell Shares (continued)
     Your Choices        Important Information for You to Know
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares (continued)   Selling shares held directly with BlackRock    
Methods of Redeeming
Redeem by Telephone: You may sell Investor A Shares held directly with BlackRock by telephone request if certain conditions are met and if the amount being sold is less than (i) $100,000 for payments by check or (ii) $250,000 for payments through ACH or wire transfer. Certain redemption requests, such as those in excess of these amounts, must be in writing with a medallion signature guarantee. For Institutional Shares, certain redemption requests may require written instructions with a medallion signature guarantee. Call (800) 441‑7762 for details.
 
You can obtain a medallion signature guarantee stamp from a bank, securities dealer, securities broker, credit union, savings and loan association, national securities exchange or registered securities association. A notary public seal will not be acceptable.
           
The Fund, its administrator and the Distributor will employ reasonable procedures to confirm that instructions communicated by telephone are genuine. The Fund and its service providers will not be liable for any loss, liability, cost or expense for acting upon telephone instructions that are reasonably believed to be genuine in accordance with such procedures. The Fund may refuse a telephone redemption request if it believes it is advisable to do so.
 
During periods of substantial economic or market change, telephone redemptions may be difficult to complete. Please find alternative redemption methods below.
 
Redeem by VRU: Investor A Shares may also be redeemed by use of the Fund’s automated VRU service. Payment for Investor A Shares redeemed by the VRU service may be made for non‑retirement accounts in amounts up to $25,000, either through check, ACH or wire.
 
Redeem by Internet: You may redeem in your account, by logging onto the BlackRock website at www.blackrock.com. Proceeds from Internet redemptions may be sent via check, ACH or wire to the bank account of record. Payment for Investor A Shares redeemed by Internet may be made for non‑retirement accounts in amounts up to $25,000, either through check, ACH or wire. Different maximums may apply to investors in Institutional Shares.
 
Redeem in Writing: You may sell shares held with BlackRock by writing to BlackRock, P.O. Box 534429, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15253-4429 or for overnight delivery, Attention: 534429, 500 Ross Street 154-0520, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15262. All shareholders on the account must sign the letter. A medallion signature guarantee will generally be required but may be waived in certain limited circumstances. You can obtain a medallion signature guarantee stamp from a bank, securities dealer, securities broker, credit union, savings and loan association, national securities exchange or registered securities association. A notary public seal will not be acceptable. If you hold stock certificates, return the certificates with the letter. Proceeds from redemptions may be sent via check, ACH or wire to the bank account of record.
 
Payment of Redemption Proceeds
Redemption proceeds may be paid by check or, if the Fund has verified banking information on file, through ACH or by wire transfer.
 
Payment by Check: BlackRock will normally mail redemption proceeds within three business days following receipt of a properly completed request, but in any event, within seven days. Shares can be redeemed by telephone and the proceeds sent by check to the shareholder at the address on record. Shareholders will pay $15 for redemption proceeds sent by check via overnight mail. You are responsible for any additional charges imposed by your bank for this service.
 
The Fund reserves the right to reinvest any dividend or distribution amounts (e.g., income dividends or capital gains) which you have elected to receive by check should your check be returned as undeliverable or remain uncashed for more than 6 months. No interest
 
 
34

How to Sell Shares (continued)
     Your Choices        Important Information for You to Know
 
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares (continued)
 
 
Selling shares held directly with BlackRock (continued)
   
 
will accrue on amounts represented by uncashed checks. Your check will be reinvested in your account at the net asset value next calculated, on the day of the investment. When reinvested, those amounts are subject to the risk of loss like any fund investment. If you elect to receive distributions in cash and a check remains undeliverable or uncashed for more than 6 months, your cash election may also be changed automatically to reinvest and your future dividend and capital gains distributions will be reinvested in the Fund at the net asset value as of the date of payment of the distribution.
 
Payment by Wire Transfer: Payment for redeemed shares for which a redemption order is received before 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on a business day is normally made in Federal funds wired to the redeeming shareholder 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 the Fund, an earlier payment could adversely affect the Fund.
 
If a shareholder has given authorization for expedited redemption, shares can be redeemed by Federal wire transfer to a single previously designated bank account. Shareholders will pay $7.50 for redemption proceeds sent by Federal wire transfer. You are responsible for any additional charges imposed by your bank for this service. No charge for wiring redemption payments with respect to Institutional Shares is imposed by the Fund.
 
The Fund is not responsible for the efficiency of the Federal wire system or the shareholder’s firm or bank. To change the name of the single, designated bank account to receive wire redemption proceeds, it is necessary to send a written request to the Fund at the address on the back cover of this prospectus.
 
Payment by ACH: Redemption proceeds may be sent to the shareholder’s bank account (checking or savings) via ACH. Payment for redeemed shares for which a redemption order is received before 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on a business day is normally sent to the redeeming shareholder the next business day, with receipt at the receiving bank within the next two business days (48‑72 hours), 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 sent on the next business day following redemption on which the Fund’s custodian is open for business.
 
The Fund reserves the right to send redemption proceeds within seven days after receiving a redemption order if, in the judgment of the Fund, an earlier payment could adversely affect the Fund. No charge for sending redemption payments via ACH is imposed by the Fund.
 
* * *
 
If you make a redemption request before the Fund has collected payment for the purchase of shares, the Fund may delay mailing your proceeds. This delay will usually not exceed ten days.
 
35

How to Sell Shares (continued)
     Your Choices        Important Information for You to Know
Redemption Proceeds          
Under normal circumstances, the Fund expects to meet redemption requests by using cash or cash equivalents in its portfolio or by selling portfolio assets to generate cash. During periods of stressed market conditions, when a significant portion of the Fund’s portfolio may be comprised of less-liquid investments, the Fund may be more likely to limit cash redemptions and may determine to pay redemption proceeds by (i) borrowing under a line of credit it has entered into with a group of lenders, (ii) borrowing from another BlackRock Fund pursuant to an interfund lending program, to the extent permitted by the Fund’s investment policies and restrictions as set forth in the SAI, and/or (iii) transferring portfolio securities in‑kind to you. The SAI includes more information about the Fund’s line of credit and interfund lending program, to the extent applicable.
 
If the Fund pays redemption proceeds by transferring portfolio securities in‑kind to you, you may pay transaction costs to dispose of the securities, and you may receive less for them than the price at which they were valued for purposes of redemption.
 
How to Exchange Shares or Transfer Your Account
     Your Choices        Important Information for You to Know
Exchange Privilege   Selling shares of one BlackRock Fund to purchase shares of another BlackRock Fund (“exchanging”)      
Investor A or Institutional Shares of the Fund are generally exchangeable for shares of the same class of another BlackRock Fund, to the extent such shares are offered by your Financial Intermediary.
 
You can exchange $1,000 or more of Investor A Shares from one fund into the same class of another fund which offers that class of shares (you can exchange less than $1,000 of Investor A Shares if you already have an account in the fund into which you are exchanging).
 
Investors who currently own Institutional Shares of the Fund may make exchanges into Institutional Shares of other BlackRock Funds except for investors holding shares through certain client accounts at Financial Intermediaries that are omnibus with the Fund and do not meet applicable minimums. There is no required minimum amount with respect to exchanges of Institutional Shares.
 
You may only exchange into a share class and fund that are open to new investors or in which you have a current account if the fund is closed to new investors.
 
Some of the BlackRock Funds impose a different initial or deferred sales charge schedule. The CDSC will continue to be measured from the date of the original purchase. The CDSC schedule applicable to your original purchase will apply to the shares you receive in the exchange and any subsequent exchange.
 
To exercise the exchange privilege, you may contact your Financial Intermediary. Alternatively, if your account is held directly with BlackRock, you may: (i) call (800) 441‑7762 and speak with one of our representatives, (ii) make the exchange via the Internet by accessing your account online at www.blackrock.com, or (iii) send a written request to the Fund at the address on the back cover of this prospectus. Please note, if you indicated on your new account application that you did not want the Telephone Exchange Privilege, you will not be able to place exchanges via the telephone until you update this option either in writing or by calling (800) 441‑7762. The Fund has the right to reject any telephone request for any reason.
 
Although there is currently no limit on the number of exchanges that you can make, the exchange privilege may be modified or terminated at any time in the future. The Fund may suspend or terminate your exchange privilege at any time for any reason, including if the Fund believes, in its sole discretion, that you are engaging in market timing activities. See “Short-Term Trading Policy” below. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, a share exchange is a taxable event and a capital gain or loss may be realized. Please consult your tax adviser or other Financial Intermediary before making an exchange request.
 
 
36

How to Exchange Shares or Transfer Your Account (continued)
     Your Choices        Important Information for You to Know
Transfer Shares to Another Financial Intermediary   Transfer to a participating Financial Intermediary      
You may transfer your shares of the Fund only to another Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor. Certain shareholder services may not be available for the transferred shares. All future trading of these assets must be coordinated by the receiving firm.
 
If your account is held directly with BlackRock, you may call (800) 441‑7762 with any questions; otherwise please contact your Financial Intermediary to accomplish the transfer of shares.
    Transfer to a non‑participating Financial Intermediary      
You must either:
•  Transfer your shares to an account with the Fund; or
•  Sell your shares, paying any applicable deferred sales charge.
 
If your account is held directly with BlackRock, you may call (800) 441‑7762 with any questions; otherwise please contact your Financial Intermediary to accomplish the transfer of shares.
Account Services and Privileges
 
The following table provides examples of account services and privileges available in your BlackRock account. Certain of these account services and privileges are only available to shareholders of Investor A Shares whose accounts are held directly with BlackRock. If your account is held directly with BlackRock, please call (800) 441‑7762 or visit www.blackrock.com for additional information as well as forms and applications. Otherwise, please contact your Financial Intermediary for assistance in requesting one or more of the following services and privileges.
 
Automatic Investment Plan   Allows systematic investments on a periodic basis from your checking or savings account.       BlackRock’s AIP allows you to invest a specific amount on a periodic basis from your checking or savings account into your investment account. You may apply for this option upon account opening or by completing the AIP application. The minimum investment amount for an automatic investment is $50 per portfolio.
Dividend Allocation Plan   Automatically invests your distributions into another BlackRock Fund of your choice pursuant to your instructions, without any fees or sales charges.       Dividend and capital gains distributions may be reinvested in your account to purchase additional shares or paid in cash. Using the Dividend Allocation Plan, you can direct your distributions to your bank account (checking or savings), to purchase shares of another fund at BlackRock without any fees or sales charges, or by check to a special payee. Please call (800) 441‑7762 for details. If investing in another BlackRock Fund, the receiving fund must be open to new purchases.
EZ Trader   Allows an investor to purchase or sell Investor A Shares by telephone or over the Internet through ACH.      
(NOTE: This option is offered to shareholders whose accounts are held directly with BlackRock. Please speak with your Financial Intermediary if your account is held elsewhere.)
 
Prior to establishing an EZ Trader account, please contact your bank to confirm that it is a member of the ACH system. Once confirmed, complete an application, making sure to include the appropriate bank information, and return the application to the address listed on the form.
 
Prior to placing a telephone or Internet purchase or sale order, please call (800) 441‑7762 to confirm that your bank information has been updated on your account. Once this is established, you may place your request to sell shares with the Fund by telephone or Internet. Proceeds will be sent to your pre‑designated bank account.
Systematic Exchange Plan   This feature can be used by investors to systematically exchange money from one fund to up to four other funds.       A minimum of $10,000 in the initial BlackRock Fund is required, and investments in any additional funds must meet minimum initial investment requirements.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan   This feature can be used by investors who want to receive regular distributions from their accounts.      
To start a Systematic Withdrawal Plan (“SWP”), a shareholder must have a current investment of $10,000 or more in a BlackRock Fund.
 
Shareholders can elect to receive cash payments of $50 or more at any interval they choose. Shareholders may sign up by completing the SWP Application Form, which may be obtained from BlackRock. Shareholders should realize that if withdrawals exceed income the invested principal in their account will be depleted.
 
 
37

Systematic Withdrawal Plan (continued)   This feature can be used by investors who want to receive regular distributions from their accounts. (continued)      
To participate in the SWP, shareholders must have their dividends reinvested. Shareholders may change or cancel the SWP at any time, with a minimum of 24 hours’ notice. If a shareholder purchases additional Investor A Shares of a fund at the same time he or she redeems shares through the SWP, that investor may lose money because of the sales charge involved. No CDSC will be assessed on redemptions of Investor A Shares made through the SWP that do not exceed 12% of the account’s net asset value on an annualized basis. For example, monthly, quarterly, and semiannual SWP redemptions of Investor A Shares will not be subject to the CDSC if they do not exceed 1%, 3% and 6%, respectively, of an account’s net asset value on the redemption date. SWP redemptions of Investor A Shares in excess of this limit will still pay any applicable CDSC.
 
Ask your Financial Intermediary for details.
Reinstatement Privilege           If you redeem Investor A or Institutional Shares and buy new Investor A Shares of the same or another BlackRock Fund (equal to all or a portion of the redemption amount) within 90 days of such redemption, you will not pay a sales charge on the new purchase amount. This right may be exercised within 90 days of the redemption, provided that the Investor A Share class of that fund is currently open to new investors or the shareholder has a current account in that closed fund. Shares will be purchased at the net asset value calculated at the close of trading on the day the request is received. To exercise this privilege, the Fund must receive written notification from the shareholder of record or the Financial Intermediary of record, at the time of purchase. Investors should consult a tax adviser concerning the tax consequences of exercising this reinstatement privilege.
Fund’s Rights
 
The Fund may:
 
 
Suspend the right of redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the NYSE or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act;
 
 
Postpone the date of payment upon redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the NYSE or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act or if a redemption request is made before the Fund has collected payment for the purchase of shares;
 
 
Redeem shares for property other than cash as may be permitted under the Investment Company Act; and
 
 
Redeem shares involuntarily in certain cases, such as when the value of a shareholder account falls below a specified level.
Note on Low Balance Accounts. Because of the high cost of maintaining smaller shareholder accounts, BlackRock has set a minimum balance of $500 in each Fund position you hold within your account (the “Fund Minimum”) and may redeem the shares in your account if the net asset value of those shares in your account falls below $500 for any reason, including market fluctuation.
You will be notified that the value of your account is less than the Fund Minimum before the Fund makes any involuntary redemption. This notification will provide you with a 90 calendar day period to make an additional investment in order to bring the value of your account to at least $500 before the Fund makes an involuntary redemption. This involuntary redemption will not charge any deferred sales charge, and may not apply to accounts of certain employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including IRAs), qualified state tuition plan (529 Plan) accounts, and select fee‑based programs at your Financial Intermediary.
Participation in Fee‑Based Programs
 
If you participate in certain fee‑based programs offered by BlackRock or an affiliate of BlackRock, or by Financial Intermediaries that have agreements with the Distributor or in certain fee‑based programs in which BlackRock participates, you may be able to buy Institutional Shares, including by exchanges from other share classes. Sales charges on the shares being exchanged may be reduced or waived under certain circumstances. You generally cannot transfer shares held through a fee‑based program into another account. Instead, if you choose to leave the fee‑based program, you may have to redeem your shares held through the program and purchase shares of another class, which may be subject to distribution and service fees. This may be a taxable event and you may pay any applicable sales charges or redemption fee. Please speak to your Financial Intermediary for information about specific policies and procedures applicable to your account.
 
38

Generally, upon termination of a fee‑based program, the shares may be liquidated, or the shares can be held in an account. In certain instances, when a shareholder chooses to continue to hold the shares, whatever share class was held in the program can be held after termination. Shares that have been held for less than specified periods within the program may be subject to a fee upon redemption. Shareholders that held Investor A or Institutional Shares in the program may be eligible to purchase additional shares of the respective share class of the Fund, but may be subject to upfront sales charges with respect to Investor A Shares. Additional purchases of Institutional Shares are permitted only if you have an existing position at the time of purchase or are otherwise eligible to purchase Institutional Shares. Please speak to your Financial Intermediary for more information.
Certain Financial Intermediaries may, in connection with a change in account type (for example, due to leaving a fee‑based program or upon termination of the fee‑based program) or otherwise in accordance with the Financial Intermediary’s policies and procedures, exchange the share class held in the program for another share class of the same fund, provided that the exchanged shares are not subject to a sales charge and the shareholder meets the eligibility requirements of the new share class. Please speak to your Financial Intermediary for information about specific policies and procedures applicable to your account.
Details about the features of each fee‑based program and the relevant charges, terms and conditions are included in the client agreement for each fee‑based program and are available from your Financial Intermediary. Please speak to your Financial Intermediary for more information.
Short-Term Trading Policy
 
The Board has determined that the interests of long-term shareholders and the Fund’s ability to manage its investments may be adversely affected when shares are repeatedly bought, sold or exchanged in response to short-term market fluctuations — also known as “market timing.” The Fund is not designed for market timing organizations or other entities using programmed or frequent purchases and sales or exchanges. The exchange privilege is not intended as a vehicle for short-term trading. Excessive purchase and sale or exchange activity may interfere with portfolio management, increase expenses and taxes and may have an adverse effect on the performance of the Fund and its returns to shareholders. For example, large flows of cash into and out of the Fund may require the management team to allocate a significant amount of assets to cash or other short-term investments or sell securities, rather than maintaining such assets in securities selected to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Frequent trading may cause the Fund to sell securities at less favorable prices, and transaction costs, such as brokerage commissions, can reduce the Fund’s performance.
A fund’s investment in non‑U.S. securities is subject to the risk that an investor may seek to take advantage of a delay between the change in value of the fund’s portfolio securities and the determination of the fund’s net asset value as a result of different closing times of U.S. and non‑U.S. markets by buying or selling fund shares at a price that does not reflect their true value. A similar risk exists for funds that invest in securities of small capitalization companies, securities of issuers located in emerging markets or high yield securities (“junk bonds”) that are thinly traded and therefore may have actual values that differ from their market prices. This short-term arbitrage activity can reduce the return received by long-term shareholders. The Fund will seek to eliminate these opportunities by using fair value pricing, as described in “Management of the Fund — Valuation of Fund Investments” below.
The Fund discourages market timing and seeks to prevent frequent purchases and sales or exchanges of Fund shares that it determines may be detrimental to the Fund or long-term shareholders. The Board has approved the policies discussed below to seek to deter market timing activity. The Board has not adopted any specific numerical restrictions on purchases, sales and exchanges of Fund shares because certain legitimate strategies will not result in harm to the Fund or its shareholders.
If as a result of its own investigation, information provided by a Financial Intermediary or other third party, or otherwise, the Fund believes, in its sole discretion, that your short-term trading is excessive or that you are engaging in market timing activity, it reserves the right to reject any specific purchase or exchange order. If the Fund rejects your purchase or exchange order, you will not be able to execute that transaction, and the Fund will not be responsible for any losses you therefore may suffer. For transactions placed directly with the Fund, the Fund may consider the trading history of accounts under common ownership or control for the purpose of enforcing these policies. Transactions placed through the same Financial Intermediary on an omnibus basis may be deemed part of a group for the purpose of this policy and may be rejected in whole or in part by the Fund. Certain accounts, such as omnibus accounts and accounts at Financial Intermediaries, however, include multiple investors and such accounts typically provide the Fund with net purchase or redemption and exchange requests on any given day where purchases, redemptions and exchanges of shares are netted against one another and the identity of individual purchasers, redeemers and exchangers whose orders are aggregated may not be known by the Fund. While the Fund monitors for market timing activity, the Fund may be unable to identify such activities because the netting effect in omnibus accounts often makes it more difficult to locate and eliminate market timers from the Fund. The Distributor has entered into agreements with respect to Financial Intermediaries that maintain omnibus accounts with the Fund pursuant to which such Financial Intermediaries undertake to cooperate with the Distributor in monitoring purchase, exchange and redemption orders by their
 
39

customers in order to detect and prevent short-term or excessive trading in the Fund’s shares through such accounts. Identification of market timers may also be limited by operational systems and technical limitations. In the event that a Financial Intermediary is determined by the Fund to be engaged in market timing or other improper trading activity, the Distributor may terminate such Financial Intermediary’s agreement with the Distributor, suspend such Financial Intermediary’s trading privileges or take other appropriate actions.
There is no assurance that the methods described above will prevent market timing or other trading that may be deemed abusive.
The Fund may from time to time use other methods that it believes are appropriate to deter market timing or other trading activity that may be detrimental to the Fund or long-term shareholders.
 
40

Management of the Fund
 
 
 
BlackRock
 
BlackRock manages the Fund’s investments and its business operations subject to the oversight of the Board. While BlackRock is ultimately responsible for the management of the Fund, it is able to draw upon the trading, research and expertise of its asset management affiliates for portfolio decisions and management with respect to certain portfolio securities. BlackRock is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc.
BlackRock, a registered investment adviser, was organized in 1994 to perform advisory services for investment companies. BlackRock and its affiliates had approximately $9.090 trillion in investment company and other portfolio assets under management as of March 31, 2023.
BlackRock serves as manager to the Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement (the “Management Agreement”). Pursuant to the Management Agreement, BlackRock is entitled to fees computed daily and payable monthly.
Total Annual Management Fee
The maximum annual management fee that the Fund can pay to BlackRock (as a percentage of average daily net assets) is calculated as follows:
 
Average Daily Net Assets
   Rate of
Management Fee
First $1 billion
       0.66 %
$1 billion – $3 billion
       0.62 %
$3 billion – $5 billion
       0.59 %
$5 billion – $10 billion
       0.57 %
Greater than $10 billion
       0.56 %
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 June 30, 2025. In addition, BlackRock has contractually agreed to waive its management fees by the amount of investment advisory fees the Fund pays to BlackRock indirectly through its investment in money market funds managed by BlackRock or its affiliates (the “affiliated money market fund waiver”), through June 30, 2025. The contractual agreements 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.
BlackRock has contractually agreed to cap net expenses (excluding (i) interest, taxes, dividends tied to short sales, brokerage commissions, and other expenditures which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; (ii) 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; (iii) other expenses attributable to, and incurred as a result of, the Fund’s investments; and (iv) extraordinary expenses (including litigation expenses) not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business, if any) of each share class of the Fund at the levels shown below and in the Fund’s fees and expenses table in the “Fund Overview” section of this prospectus. Items (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) in the preceding sentence are referred to in this prospectus as “Dividend Expense, Interest Expense, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and certain other Fund expenses.” To achieve these expense caps, BlackRock has agreed to waive and/or reimburse fees or expenses if the Fund’s operating expenses exceed a certain limit.
 
41

With respect to the Fund, BlackRock has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse fees or expenses in order to limit Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses to the amounts noted in the table below.
 
      Contractual Caps1 on
Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses2
(excluding Dividend
Expense, Interest
Expense, Acquired Fund
Fees and Expenses and
certain other Fund expenses)
Investor A Shares
   0.96%
Institutional Shares
   0.71%
 
1  The contractual caps are in effect through June 30, 2025. 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 a percentage of average daily net assets.
The amount of the contractual waivers and/or reimbursements of fees and expenses made pursuant to the contractual caps on net expenses will be reduced by the amount of the affiliated money market fund waiver.
With respect to the contractual agreement to cap net expenses described above, if during the Fund’s fiscal year the operating expenses of a share class, that at any time during the prior two fiscal years received a waiver and/or reimbursement from BlackRock, are less than the current expense limit for that share class, the share class is required to repay BlackRock up to the lesser of (a) the amount of fees waived or expenses reimbursed during those prior two fiscal years under the agreement and (b) an amount not to exceed either (x) the current expense limit of that share class or (y) the expense limit of the share class in effect at the time that the share class received the applicable waiver and/or reimbursement, provided that: (i) the Fund has more than $50 million in assets and (ii) BlackRock or an affiliate serves as the Fund’s manager or administrator. This repayment arrangement will terminate on June 21, 2030, and applies only to the contractual caps on net expenses and does not apply to the contractual management fee waivers described above or any voluntary waivers that may be in effect from time to time.
A discussion of the basis for the Board’s approval of the Management Agreement with respect to the Fund will be included in the Fund’s semi-annual shareholder report for the fiscal period ending October 31, 2023.
From time to time, a manager, analyst, or other employee of BlackRock or its affiliates may express views regarding a particular asset class, company, security, industry, or market sector. The views expressed by any such person are the views of only that individual as of the time expressed and do not necessarily represent the views of BlackRock or any other person within the BlackRock organization. Any such views are subject to change at any time based upon market or other conditions and BlackRock disclaims any responsibility to update such views. These views may not be relied on as investment advice and, because investment decisions for the Fund are based on numerous factors, may not be relied on as an indication of trading intent on behalf of the Fund.
Portfolio Manager Information
 
Information regarding the portfolio managers of the Fund is set forth below. Further information regarding the portfolio managers, including other accounts managed, compensation, ownership of Fund shares, and possible conflicts of interest, is available in the Fund’s SAI.
 
Portfolio Manager    Primary Role    Since        Title and Recent Biography
Raffaele Savi    Jointly and primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund.      2023        Senior Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2023; Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2022; Managing Director of Barclays Global Investors (“BGI”) from 2007 to 2009; Principal of BGI from 2006 to 2007.
Kevin Franklin    Jointly and primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund.      2023        Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2010; Head of Automated Trading at Marble Bar Asset Management from 2009 to 2010; Principal at BGI from 2005 to 2009.
 
42

Portfolio Manager    Primary Role    Since        Title and Recent Biography
Richard Mathieson, CA    Jointly and primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund.      2023        Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2011; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2011; Principal of BGI from 2008 to 2009. Equity Analyst of Exista UK from 2007 to 2008; Principal of BGI from 2005 to 2007; Associate of BGI from 2001 to 2005.
Anna Hawley, CFA    Jointly and primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund.      2023        Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since January 2022; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2021; Principal at BGI from 2007 to 2009; Associate of BGI from 2002 to 2007.
Prior Performance of the Adviser
 
The following table sets forth performance data relating to the historical performance of a collective trust fund (the “CTF”) which is managed by BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A, an affiliate of BlackRock. Collective trust funds are not regulated by the SEC or registered under the Investment Company Act but operate instead under the regulatory authority of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The data provided, which is gross of all actual fees and expenses of the CTF, illustrates the past performance of Fund management in managing a substantially similar account as measured against the MSCI All Country World Index.
Raffaele Savi, Kevin Franklin, Richard Mathieson, CA and Anna Hawley, CFA of BlackRock are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio. Messrs. Savi, Franklin and Mathieson and Ms. Hawley are also members of the portfolio management team that is responsible for managing the CTF, which has investment policies and strategies substantially similar in all material respects to those of the Fund, except as noted below. Messrs. Savi, Franklin and Mathieson and Ms. Hawley have been portfolio managers of the CTF since its inception on November 18, 2015.
While BlackRock anticipates managing the Fund in a manner substantially similar to the manner in which the CTF is currently managed, there are certain differences between the Fund’s and the CTF’s stated investment objectives and strategies. The investment objective of the CTF is to seek total return, which differs from the Fund’s investment objective to seek to provide long-term capital appreciation while seeking to maintain certain environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics, climate risk exposure and climate opportunities relative to the Fund’s benchmark. The CTF also applies exclusionary screens that differ in some respects from those applied by the Fund. The Fund considers these differences to be immaterial, and such differences do not alter the conclusion that the CTF and the Fund are substantially similar.
The CTF is not subject to the specific tax restrictions and investment limitations imposed by the Investment Company Act or Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. Consequently, the performance results for the CTF expressed below could have been adversely affected if the CTF had been regulated as an investment company under the U.S. Federal securities laws.
The CTF is a separate fund and its historical performance is not indicative of the potential performance of the Fund. Performance of the CTF is gross of CTF fees and expenses, which differ from the fees and expenses of the Fund.
The returns shown in the table below reflect any sales charges. Share prices and investment returns will fluctuate reflecting market conditions as well as changes in company-specific fundamentals of portfolio securities.
 
As of 12/31/22
Gross total return in USD (annualized)
   1 Year     3 Years     5 Years     Since Inception
(November 2015)
 
CTF1
     (18.30 )%      5.47     6.35     8.95
MSCI All Country World Index
     (18.36 )%      4.00     5.23     7.70
Active Returns2
     0.06     1.47     1.12     1.25
1  Performance of the CTF was calculated pursuant to procedures applicable to CTFs, which differ in certain respects from the procedures applicable to the Fund. These differences would have an immaterial effect on the disclosed performance.
 
2  Active returns reflect the difference between the performance of the CTF and that of the MSCI All Country World Index.
   
   
 
43

Conflicts of Interest
 
The investment activities of BlackRock and its affiliates (including BlackRock, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Affiliates”)), and their respective directors, officers or employees, in the management of, or their interest in, their own accounts and other accounts they manage, may present conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders.
BlackRock and its Affiliates provide investment management services to other funds and discretionary managed accounts that may follow investment programs similar to that of the Fund. BlackRock and its Affiliates are involved worldwide with a broad spectrum of financial services and asset management activities and may engage in the ordinary course of business in activities in which their interests or the interests of their clients may conflict with those of the Fund. BlackRock or one or more Affiliates act or may act as an investor, research provider, investment manager, commodity pool operator, commodity trading advisor, financier, underwriter, adviser, trader, lender, index provider, agent and/or principal, and have other direct and indirect interests in securities, currencies, commodities, derivatives and other instruments in which the Fund may directly or indirectly invest. The Fund may invest in securities of, or engage in other transactions with, companies with which an Affiliate has significant debt or equity investments or other interests. The Fund may also invest in issuances (such as structured notes) by entities for which an Affiliate provides and is compensated for cash management services relating to the proceeds from the sale of such issuances. The Fund also may invest in securities of, or engage in other transactions with, companies for which an Affiliate provides or may in the future provide research coverage. An Affiliate may have business relationships with, and purchase, or distribute or sell services or products from or to, distributors, consultants or others who recommend the Fund or who engage in transactions with or for the Fund, and may receive compensation for such services. BlackRock or one or more Affiliates may engage in proprietary trading and advise accounts and funds that have investment objectives similar to those of the Fund and/or that engage in and compete for transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and other instruments as the Fund. This may include transactions in securities issued by other open‑end and closed‑end investment companies (which may include investment companies that are affiliated with the Fund and BlackRock, to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act). The trading activities of BlackRock and these Affiliates are carried out without reference to positions held directly or indirectly by the Fund and may result in BlackRock or an Affiliate having positions in certain securities that are senior or junior to, or have interests different from or adverse to, the securities that are owned by the Fund.
Neither BlackRock nor any Affiliate is under any obligation to share any investment opportunity, idea or strategy with the Fund. As a result, an Affiliate may compete with the Fund for appropriate investment opportunities. The results of the Fund’s investment activities, therefore, may differ from those of an Affiliate and of other accounts managed by BlackRock or an Affiliate, and it is possible that the Fund could sustain losses during periods in which one or more Affiliates and other accounts achieve profits on their trading for proprietary or other accounts. The opposite result is also possible.
In addition, the Fund may, from time to time, enter into transactions in which BlackRock or an Affiliate or their directors, officers or employees or other clients have an adverse interest. Furthermore, transactions undertaken by clients advised or managed by BlackRock or its Affiliates may adversely impact the Fund. Transactions by one or more clients or BlackRock or its Affiliates or their directors, officers or employees, may have the effect of diluting or otherwise disadvantaging the values, prices or investment strategies of the Fund. The Fund’s activities may be limited because of regulatory restrictions applicable to BlackRock or one or more Affiliates and/or their internal policies designed to comply with such restrictions.
Under a securities lending program approved by the Board, the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has retained BlackRock Investment Management, LLC, an Affiliate of BlackRock, to serve as the securities lending agent for the Fund to the extent that the Fund participates in the securities lending program. For these services, the securities lending agent will receive a fee from the Fund, including a fee based on the returns earned on the Fund’s investment of the cash received as collateral for the loaned securities. In addition, one or more Affiliates may be among the entities to which the Fund may lend its portfolio securities under the securities lending program.
The activities of BlackRock and its Affiliates and their respective directors, officers or employees, may give rise to other conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to address these potential conflicts of interest. See the SAI for further information.
Valuation of Fund Investments
 
When you buy shares, you pay the net asset value, plus any applicable sales charge. This is the offering price. Shares are also redeemed at their net asset value, minus any applicable sales charge or redemption fee. The net asset value used in determining your share price is the next one calculated after your purchase or redemption order is received. The net asset value of each class of shares normally is determined once daily Monday through Friday, generally as of the close of regular trading hours of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time), on each day that the NYSE is open for trading, based on prices at the time of closing, provided that any Fund assets or
 
44

liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more data service providers. The net asset value of shares is calculated by dividing the value of the net assets of each class of shares (i.e., the value of its total assets less total liabilities) by the total number of outstanding shares of the class, generally rounded to the nearest cent.
Generally, Institutional Shares will have the highest net asset value because that class has the lowest expenses.
The value of the securities and other assets and liabilities held by the Fund are determined pursuant to BlackRock’s valuation policies and procedures. BlackRock has been designated by the Board as the valuation designee for the Fund pursuant to Rule 2a‑5 under the Investment Company Act.
Equity securities and other equity instruments for which market quotations are readily available are valued at market value, which is generally determined using the last reported official closing price or, if a reported closing price is not available, the last traded price on the exchange or market on which the security or instrument is primarily traded at the time of valuation. Shares of underlying open‑end funds (including money market funds) are valued at net asset value. Shares of underlying exchange-traded closed‑end funds or other ETFs are valued at their most recent closing price.
The Fund values fixed-income portfolio securities using last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by the Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with BlackRock’s valuation policies and procedures. Pricing services may use matrix pricing or valuation models that utilize certain inputs and assumptions to derive values. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but the Fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller odd lot sizes. Odd lots may trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. An amortized cost method of valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with 60 days or less remaining to maturity unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such method does not represent fair value.
Generally, trading in non‑U.S. securities, U.S. government securities, money market instruments and certain fixed-income securities is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of business on the NYSE. The values of such securities used in computing the net asset value of the Fund’s shares are determined as of such times.
When market quotations are not readily available or are believed by BlackRock to be unreliable, BlackRock will fair value the Fund’s investments in accordance with its policies and procedures. BlackRock may conclude that a market quotation is not readily available or is unreliable if a security or other asset or liability does not have a price source due to its lack of trading or other reasons, if a market quotation differs significantly from recent price quotations or otherwise no longer appears to reflect fair value, where the security or other asset or liability is thinly traded, when there is a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation, or if the trading market on which a security is listed is suspended or closed and no appropriate alternative trading market is available. A “significant event” is deemed to occur if BlackRock determines, in its reasonable business judgment prior to or at the time of pricing the Fund’s assets or liabilities, that the event is likely to cause a material change to the closing market price of one or more assets held by, or liabilities of, the Fund.
For certain foreign assets, a third-party vendor supplies evaluated, systematic fair value pricing based upon the movement of a proprietary multi-factor model after the relevant foreign markets have closed. This systematic fair value pricing methodology is designed to correlate the prices of foreign assets following the close of the local markets to the price that might have prevailed as of the Fund’s pricing time.
Fair value represents a good faith approximation of the value of an asset or liability. The fair value of an asset or liability held by the Fund is the amount the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from the current sale of that asset or the cost to extinguish that liability in an arm’s‑length transaction. Valuing the Fund’s investments using fair value pricing will result in prices that may differ from current market valuations and that may not be the prices at which those investments could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used.
The Fund may accept orders from certain authorized Financial Intermediaries or their designees. The Fund will be deemed to receive an order when accepted by the Financial Intermediary or designee, and the order will receive the net asset value next computed by the Fund after such acceptance. If the payment for a purchase order is not made by a designated later time, the order will be canceled and the Financial Intermediary could be held liable for any losses.
Dividends, Distributions and Taxes
 
 
BUYING A DIVIDEND
 
Unless your investment is in a tax‑deferred account, you may want to avoid buying shares shortly before the Fund pays a dividend, although the impact on you will be significantly less than if you were invested in a fund paying fully taxable dividends. The reason? If you buy shares when the Fund has declared but not yet distributed ordinary income or capital gains, you will pay the full price for the shares and then receive a portion of the price back in the form of a taxable dividend. Before investing you may want to consult your tax adviser.
 
45

The Fund will distribute net investment income, if any, and net realized capital gains, if any, at least annually. The Fund may also pay a special distribution at the end of the calendar year to comply with federal tax requirements. Dividends may be reinvested automatically in shares of the Fund at net asset value without a sales charge or may be taken in cash. If you would like to receive dividends in cash, contact your Financial Intermediary or the Fund. Although this cannot be predicted with any certainty, the Fund anticipates that a significant amount of its dividends, if any, will consist of ordinary income. Capital gains may be taxable to you at different rates depending on how long the Fund held the assets sold.
You will pay tax on dividends from the Fund whether you receive them in cash or additional shares. If you redeem Fund shares or exchange them for shares of another fund, you generally will be treated as having sold your shares and any gain on the transaction may be subject to tax. Fund distributions derived from qualified dividend income, which consists of dividends received from U.S. corporations and qualifying foreign corporations, and from long-term capital gains are eligible for taxation at a maximum rate of 15% or 20% for individuals, depending on whether their income exceeds certain threshold amounts, which are adjusted annually for inflation.
A 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on the net investment income (which includes, but is not limited to, interest, dividends and net gain from investments) of U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000, or $250,000 if married filing jointly, and of trusts and estates.
Your dividends and redemption proceeds will be subject to backup withholding tax if you have not provided a taxpayer identification number or social security number or the number you have provided is incorrect.
If you are neither a tax resident nor a citizen of the United States or if you are a foreign entity (other than a pass-through entity to the extent owned by U.S. persons), the Fund’s ordinary income dividends will generally be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax, unless a lower treaty rate applies. However, certain distributions reported by the Fund as capital gain dividends, interest-related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends and paid to a foreign shareholder may be eligible for an exemption from U.S. withholding tax.
Separately, a 30% withholding tax is currently imposed on U.S.-source dividends, interest and other income items paid to (i) certain foreign financial institutions and investment funds, and (ii) certain other foreign entities. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions and investment funds will generally either need to (a) collect and report to the IRS detailed information identifying their U.S. accounts and U.S. account holders, comply with due diligence procedures for identifying U.S. accounts and withhold tax on certain payments made to noncomplying foreign entities and account holders or (b) if an intergovernmental agreement is entered into and implementing legislation is adopted, comply with the agreement and legislation. Other foreign entities will generally either need to provide detailed information identifying each substantial U.S. owner or certify there are no such owners.
Dividends and interest received by the Fund and capital gains recognized by the Fund may give rise to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes. You may be able to claim a credit or take a deduction for foreign taxes paid by the Fund if certain requirements are met.
This section summarizes some of the consequences under current federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It is not a substitute for individualized tax advice. Consult your tax adviser about the potential tax consequences of an investment in the Fund under all applicable tax laws.
 
46

Financial Highlights
 
The Fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this prospectus. As a result, no financial performance information is available.
 
47

General Information
 
 
 
Shareholder Documents
 
Electronic Access to Annual Reports, Semi-Annual Reports and Prospectuses
Electronic copies of most financial reports and prospectuses are available on BlackRock’s website. Shareholders can sign up for e‑mail notifications of annual and semi-annual reports and prospectuses by enrolling in the Fund’s electronic delivery program. To enroll:
Shareholders Who Hold Accounts with Investment Advisers, Banks or Brokerages: Please contact your Financial Intermediary. Please note that not all investment advisers, banks or brokerages may offer this service.
Shareholders Who Hold Accounts Directly With BlackRock:
 
Access the BlackRock website at http://www.blackrock.com/edelivery; and
 
 
Log into your account.
Delivery of Shareholder Documents
The Fund delivers only one copy of shareholder documents, including prospectuses, shareholder reports and proxy statements, to shareholders with multiple accounts at the same address. This practice is known as “householding” and is intended to eliminate duplicate mailings and reduce expenses. Mailings of your shareholder documents may be householded indefinitely unless you instruct us otherwise. If you do not want the mailing of these documents to be combined with those for other members of your household, please contact the Fund at (800) 441‑7762.
Certain Fund Policies
 
Anti-Money Laundering Requirements
The Fund is subject to the USA PATRIOT Act (the “Patriot Act”). The Patriot Act is intended to prevent the use of the U.S. financial system in furtherance of money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities. Pursuant to requirements under the Patriot Act, the Fund is required to obtain sufficient information from shareholders to enable it to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of its shareholders. This information will be used to verify the identity of investors or, in some cases, the status of Financial Intermediaries. Such information may be verified using third-party sources. This information will be used only for compliance with the Patriot Act or other applicable laws, regulations and rules in connection with money laundering, terrorism or economic sanctions.
The Fund reserves the right to reject purchase orders from persons who have not submitted information sufficient to allow the Fund to verify their identity. The Fund also reserves the right to redeem any amounts in the Fund from persons whose identity it is unable to verify on a timely basis. It is the Fund’s policy to cooperate fully with appropriate regulators in any investigations conducted with respect to potential money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities.
BlackRock Privacy Principles
BlackRock is committed to maintaining the privacy of its current and former fund investors and individual clients (collectively, “Clients”) and to safeguarding their non‑public personal information. The following information is provided to help you understand what personal information BlackRock collects, how we protect that information and why in certain cases we share such information with select parties.
If you are located in a jurisdiction where specific laws, rules or regulations require BlackRock to provide you with additional or different privacy-related rights beyond what is set forth below, then BlackRock will comply with those specific laws, rules or regulations.
BlackRock obtains or verifies personal non‑public information from and about you from different sources, including the following: (i) information we receive from you or, if applicable, your Financial Intermediary, on applications, forms or other documents; (ii) information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others; (iii) information we receive from a consumer reporting agency; and (iv) from visits to our website.
BlackRock does not sell or disclose to non‑affiliated third parties any non‑public personal information about its Clients, except as permitted by law, or as is necessary to respond to regulatory requests or to service Client accounts. These non‑affiliated third parties are required to protect the confidentiality and security of this information and to use it only for its intended purpose.
We may share information with our affiliates to service your account or to provide you with information about other BlackRock products or services that may be of interest to you. In addition, BlackRock restricts access to non‑public
 
48

personal information about its Clients to those BlackRock employees with a legitimate business need for the information. BlackRock maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that are designed to protect the non‑public personal information of its Clients, including procedures relating to the proper storage and disposal of such information.
Statement of Additional Information
 
If you would like further information about the Fund, including how it invests, please see the SAI.
For a discussion of the Fund’s policies and procedures regarding the selective disclosure of its portfolio holdings, please see the SAI. The Fund makes its top ten holdings available on a monthly basis at www.blackrock.com generally within 5 business days after the end of the month to which the information applies.
 
49

Glossary
 
 
 
This glossary contains an explanation of some of the common terms used in this prospectus. For additional information about the Fund, please see the SAI.
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses — 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.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses — expenses that cover the costs of operating the Fund.
Distribution Fees — fees used to support the Fund’s marketing and distribution efforts, such as compensating Financial Intermediaries, advertising and promotion.
Management Fee — a fee paid to BlackRock for managing the Fund.
MSCI All Country World Index — an index that captures large- and mid‑cap representation across 23 developed markets and 24 emerging market countries. With 2,884 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the global investable equity opportunity set.
Other Expenses — include accounting, administration, transfer agency, custody, professional and registration fees.
Service Fees — fees used to compensate Financial Intermediaries for certain shareholder servicing activities.
Shareholder Fees — fees paid directly by a shareholder, including sales charges that you may pay when you buy or sell shares of the Fund.
 
50

Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies
 
 
 
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies
 
Ameriprise Financial:
Investor A Shares Front‑End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial:
The following information applies to Investor A Shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial:
Shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial retail brokerage account are eligible for the following front‑end sales charge waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Fund’s prospectus or SAI:
 
 
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR‑SEPs.
 
 
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Fund (but not any other fund within BlackRock Funds).
 
 
Shares exchanged from Investor C Shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 7‑year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Investor C Shares or conversion of Investor C Shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply.
 
 
Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates and their immediate family members.
 
 
Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step‑son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant.
 
 
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within BlackRock Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front‑end or deferred sales charge (i.e. Rights of Reinstatement).
D.A. Davidson & Co. (“D.A. Davidson”):
Effective March 1, 2021, shareholders purchasing Fund shares including existing Fund shareholders, through a D.A. Davidson platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment advisor for which D.A. Davidson provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front‑end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back‑end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus or the Funds’ SAI.
Front‑End Sales Charge Waivers on Investor A Shares available at D.A. Davidson
 
 
 
Shares purchased of the same Fund or another BlackRock Fund through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions.
 
 
Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of D.A. Davidson or its affiliates and their family members as designated by D.A. Davidson.
 
 
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions of the same Fund or another BlackRock Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front‑end or deferred sales charge (known as Rights of Reinstatement).
 
 
A shareholder in the Fund’s Investor C Shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Investor A Shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is consistent with D.A. Davidson’s policies and procedures.
 
A-1

CDSC Waivers on Investor A and C Shares Available at D.A. Davidson
 
 
 
Shares sold due to the death or disability of the shareholder.
 
 
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s prospectus.
 
 
Shares bought due to return of excess contributions from an IRA account.
 
 
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA or other qualifying retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.
 
 
Shares acquired through a Right of Reinstatement.
Front‑end sales charge discounts available at D.A. Davidson: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent
 
 
 
Breakpoints as described in this Prospectus.
 
 
Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of BlackRock Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at D.A. Davidson. Eligible BlackRock Fund assets not held at D.A. Davidson may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
 
 
Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of BlackRock Funds, over a 13‑month time period. Eligible BlackRock Fund assets not held at D.A. Davidson may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (“Edward Jones”):
Policies Regarding Transactions Through Edward Jones
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after January 15, 2021, the following information supersedes prior information with respect to transactions and positions held in fund shares through an Edward Jones system. Clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as “shareholders”) purchasing fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee‑based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as “breakpoints”) and waivers, which may differ from discounts and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or statement of additional information (“SAI”) or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder’s responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of BlackRock Funds, or other facts qualifying the purchaser for discounts or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance. Shareholders should contact Edward Jones if they have questions regarding their eligibility for these discounts and waivers.
Breakpoints
 
 
Breakpoint pricing, otherwise known as volume pricing, at dollar thresholds as described in the prospectus.
Rights of Accumulation (“ROA”)
 
 
The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Investor A Shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except certain money market funds and any assets held in group retirement plans) of BlackRock Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations (“pricing groups”). If grouping assets as a shareholder, this includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible fund family assets in the ROA calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying Edward Jones of such assets at the time of calculation. Money market funds are included only if such shares were sold with a sales charge at the time of purchase or acquired in exchange for shares purchased with a sales charge.
 
 
The employer maintaining a SEP IRA plan and/or SIMPLE IRA plan may elect to establish or change ROA for the IRA accounts associated with the plan to a plan-level grouping as opposed to including all share classes at a shareholder or pricing group level.
 
 
ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost minus redemptions or market value (current shares multiplied by NAV).
Letter of Intent (“LOI”)
 
 
Through a LOI, a shareholder can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases such shareholder intends to make over a 13‑month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination
 
A-2

 
with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13‑month period to calculate the front‑end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13‑month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible BlackRock Funds assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying Edward Jones of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not adjusted under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charges previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if the LOI is not met.
 
 
If the employer maintaining a SEP IRA plan and/or SIMPLE IRA plan has elected to establish or change ROA for the IRA accounts associated with the plan to a plan-level grouping, LOIs will also be at the plan-level and may only be established by the employer.
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
 
 
Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate’s life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing and remains in good standing pursuant to Edward Jones’ policies and procedures.
 
 
Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee‑based advisory program.
 
 
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment.
 
 
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of BlackRock Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account (“IRA”) with proceeds from liquidations in a non‑retirement account.
 
 
Shares exchanged into Investor A Shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSCs due to BlackRock, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in the prospectus.
 
 
Exchanges from Investor C Shares to Investor A Shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones.
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (“CDSC”) Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
 
 
The death or disability of the shareholder.
 
 
Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value.
 
 
Return of excess contributions from an IRA.
 
 
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations.
 
 
Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones.
 
 
Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee‑based program.
 
 
Shares acquired through a Right of Reinstatement.
 
 
Shares redeemed at the discretion of Edward Jones for Minimum Balances, as described below.
Other Important Information Regarding Transactions Through Edward Jones
Minimum Purchase Amounts for Investor A and Investor C Shares
 
 
Initial purchase minimum: $250
 
 
Subsequent purchase minimum: none
Minimum Balances
 
 
Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy:
 
   
A fee‑based account held on an Edward Jones platform
 
   
A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform
 
   
An account with an active systematic investment plan or LOI
 
A-3

Exchanging Share Classes
 
 
At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder’s holdings in a fund to Investor A Shares of the same fund at NAV, provided that Edward Jones will be responsible for any remaining CDSC due to BlackRock, if applicable, and that the shareholders meet the eligibility requirements of the new share class.
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase fund shares through a Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (“Janney”) brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front‑end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”), or back‑end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Fund’s prospectus or SAI.
Front‑end sales charge* waivers on Investor A shares available at Janney
 
 
 
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other BlackRock Fund).
 
 
Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney.
 
 
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another BlackRock Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front‑end or deferred sales charge (i.e., right of reinstatement).
 
 
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR‑SEPs or Keogh plans.
 
 
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
 
 
Investor C shares that are no longer subject to a contingent deferred sales charge and are converted to Investor A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures.
CDSC waivers on Investor A and C shares available at Janney
 
 
 
Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder.
 
 
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s prospectus or SAI.
 
 
Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account.
 
 
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.
 
 
Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney.
 
 
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
 
 
Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund.
Front‑end sales charge* discounts available at Janney: breakpoints, rights of accumulation, and/or letters of intent
 
 
 
Breakpoints as described in the Fund’s prospectus or SAI.
 
 
Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of BlackRock Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible BlackRock Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
 
 
Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within a BlackRock Fund, over a 13‑month time period. Eligible BlackRock Fund assets not held at Janney Montgomery Scott may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
 
*
Also referred to as an “initial sales charge.”
 
A-4

Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account (excluding shares purchased from or through the Fund, the Fund’s distributor or any non‑Merrill Lynch platform or account, even if Merrill Lynch serves as broker-dealer of record for such shares) will be eligible only for the following sales charge waivers (front‑end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Fund’s prospectus or SAI.
Front‑end Sales Charge Waivers on Investor A Shares available at Merrill Lynch
 
 
 
Shares purchased by employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan/plan participants
 
 
Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529‑specific share classes or equivalents)
 
 
Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program
 
 
Exchanges of shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program due to the holdings moving from such Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non‑advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales charge discounts and waivers
 
 
Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform
 
 
Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable)
 
 
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other BlackRock Fund)
 
 
Shares exchanged from Investor C (i.e. level-load) shares of the same Fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales charge discounts and waivers
 
 
Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members
 
 
Shares purchased by directors of the Fund, and employees of BlackRock or any of its affiliates, as described in the prospectus
 
 
Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another BlackRock Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front‑end or deferred sales charge (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e., systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement.
CDSC Waivers on Investor A and C Shares available at Merrill Lynch
 
 
 
Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder
 
 
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s prospectus
 
 
Shares bought due to return of excess contributions from an IRA Account
 
 
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code
 
 
Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch
 
 
Shares acquired through a Right of Reinstatement
 
 
Investor A and C Shares of a Fund held in the following IRA or other retirement brokerage accounts: Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, Rollover IRAs, Inherited IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, BASIC Plans, Educational Savings Account and Medical Savings Accounts that are exchanged for Institutional shares of the same Fund due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms
 
 
Investor A Shares sold, where such Investor A Shares were received as a result of exchanges of shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program due to the holdings moving from the program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non‑advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales charge discounts and waivers
 
A-5

Front‑end Sales Charge Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation & Letters of Intent
 
 
 
Breakpoints as described in this prospectus
 
 
Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in the Fund’s prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of BlackRock Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible BlackRock Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
 
 
Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of BlackRock Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13‑month period of time
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Investor A Share Front‑End Sales Charge Waiver
Effective July 1, 2018, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management clients purchasing Investor A Shares of the Fund through Morgan Stanley’s transactional brokerage accounts are entitled to a waiver of the front‑end sales charge in the following circumstances:
 
 
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans does not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR‑SEPs or Keogh plans
 
 
Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules
 
 
Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund
 
 
Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account
 
 
Investor C Shares that are no longer subject to a contingent deferred sales charge and are exchanged for Investor A Shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class conversion program
 
 
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within BlackRock Funds under a Rights of Reinstatement provision, provided the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and redeemed shares were subject to a front‑end or deferred sales charge
Unless specifically described above, no other front‑end sales charge waivers are available to mutual fund purchases by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management clients through Morgan Stanley’s transactional brokerage accounts.
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.:
Effective May 1, 2020, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (“OPCO”) platform or account are eligible only for the following sales charge waivers (front‑end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back‑end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Fund’s prospectus or SAI.
Front‑End Sales Charge Waivers on Investor A Shares available at OPCO
 
 
 
Shares purchased by employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan
 
 
Shares purchased by or through a 529 Plan
 
 
Shares purchased through an OPCO affiliated investment advisory program
 
 
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other BlackRock Fund)
 
 
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another BlackRock Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front‑end or deferred sales charge (known as Rights of Reinstatement)
 
 
A shareholder in the Fund’s Investor C Shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Investor A Shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of OPCO
 
 
Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of OPCO or its affiliates and their family members
 
 
Shares purchased by directors or trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus
 
A-6

CDSC Waivers on Investor A and C Shares available at OPCO
 
 
 
Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder
 
 
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s prospectus
 
 
Shares bought due to return of excess contributions from an IRA account
 
 
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in the prospectus
 
 
Shares sold to pay OPCO fees but only if the transaction is initiated by OPCO
 
 
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement
Front‑End Sales Charge Discounts Available at OPCO: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation & Letters of Intent
 
 
 
Breakpoints as described in this prospectus
 
 
Rights of Accumulation (“ROA”) and Letters of Intent (“LOI”) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of BlackRock Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at OPCO. Eligible BlackRock Fund assets not held at OPCO may be included in the ROA or LOI calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and Each Entity’s Affiliates (“Raymond James”):
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following sales charge waivers (front‑end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI.
Front‑End Sales Charge Waivers on Investor A Shares Available at Raymond James
 
 
 
Shares purchased in a Raymond James investment advisory program.
 
 
Shares purchased of the same Fund or another BlackRock Fund through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend distributions.
 
 
Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James.
 
 
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another BlackRock Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front‑end or deferred sales charge (known as Rights of Reinstatement).
 
 
A shareholder in the Fund’s Investor C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Investor A shares of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James.
CDSC Waivers on Investor A and C Shares Available at Raymond James
 
 
 
Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder.
 
 
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s prospectus.
 
 
Shares bought due to return of excess contributions from an IRA Account.
 
 
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in the Fund’s prospectus or SAI.
 
 
Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James.
 
 
Shares acquired through a Right of Reinstatement.
 
A-7

Front‑End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent
 
 
 
Breakpoints as described in this prospectus.
 
 
Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of BlackRock Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible BlackRock Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
 
 
Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of BlackRock Funds over a 13‑month time period. Eligible BlackRock Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
Robert W. Baird & Co. (“Baird”):
Effective June 15, 2020, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Baird platform or account will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front‑end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Fund’s prospectus or SAI
Front‑End Sales Charge Waivers on Investor A Shares Available at Baird
 
 
 
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing share of the same fund
 
 
Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird
 
 
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another BlackRock Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front‑end or deferred sales charge (known as Rights of Reinstatement)
 
 
A shareholder in the Fund’s Investor C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Investor A shares of the fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird
 
 
Shares purchased by employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR‑SEPs
CDSC Waivers on Investor A and C Shares Available at Baird
 
 
 
Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder
 
 
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s prospectus
 
 
Shares bought due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account
 
 
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable Internal Revenue Service regulations as described in the Fund’s prospectus
 
 
Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird
 
 
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement
Front‑End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, & Letters of Intent
 
 
 
Breakpoints as described in this prospectus
 
 
Rights of Accumulation (“ROA”) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of BlackRock Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible BlackRock Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets
 
 
Letters of Intent (“LOI”) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of BlackRock Funds through Baird, over a 13‑month period of time
 
A-8

For More Information
 
 
Fund and Service Providers
 
 
FUND
BlackRock FundsSM
BlackRock Sustainable Advantage Global Equity Fund
100 Bellevue Parkway
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
Written Correspondence:
P.O. Box 534429
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15253-4429
Overnight Mail:
Attention: 534429
500 Ross Street 154-0520
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15262
(800) 441‑7762
MANAGER AND ADMINISTRATOR
BlackRock Advisors, LLC
100 Bellevue Parkway
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
TRANSFER AGENT
BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.
301 Bellevue Parkway
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Deloitte & Touche LLP
200 Berkeley Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
ACCOUNTING SERVICES PROVIDER
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
383 Madison Avenue, Floor 11
New York, New York 10179
DISTRIBUTOR
BlackRock Investments, LLC
50 Hudson Yards
New York, New York 10001
CUSTODIAN
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
383 Madison Avenue, Floor 11
New York, New York 10179
COUNSEL
Sidley Austin LLP
787 Seventh Avenue
New York, New York 10019

Additional Information
 
 
For more information:
This prospectus contains important information you should know before investing, including information about risks. Please read it before you invest and keep it for future reference. More information about the Fund is available at no charge upon request. This information includes:
Annual/Semi-Annual Reports
These reports contain additional information about the Fund’s investments. The annual report describes the Fund’s performance, lists portfolio holdings, and discusses recent market conditions, economic trends and Fund investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance for the last fiscal year.
Statement of Additional Information
A Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), dated June 7, 2023, has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The SAI, which includes additional information about the Fund, may be obtained free of charge, along with the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports, by calling (800) 441‑7762. The SAI, as amended and/or supplemented from time to time, is incorporated by reference into this prospectus.
BlackRock Investor Services
Representatives are available to discuss account balance information, mutual fund prospectuses, literature, programs and services available. Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Eastern time), on any business day. Call: (800) 441‑7762.
Purchases and Redemptions
Call your Financial Intermediary or BlackRock Investor Services at (800) 441‑7762.
World Wide Web
General Fund information and specific Fund performance, including the SAI and annual/semi-annual reports, can be accessed free of charge at www.blackrock.com/prospectus. Mutual fund prospectuses and literature can also be requested via this website.
Written Correspondence
BlackRock FundsSM
P.O. Box 534429
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15253-4429
Overnight Mail
BlackRock FundsSM
Attention: 534429
500 Ross Street 154-0520
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15262
Internal Wholesalers/Broker Dealer Support
Available on any business day to support investment professionals. Call: (800) 882‑0052.
Portfolio Characteristics and Holdings
A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures related to disclosure of portfolio characteristics and holdings is available in the SAI.
For information about portfolio holdings and characteristics, BlackRock fund shareholders and prospective investors may call (800) 882‑0052.
Securities and Exchange Commission
You may also view and copy public information about the Fund, including the SAI, by visiting the EDGAR database on the SEC’s website (http://www.sec.gov). Copies of this information can be obtained, for a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e‑mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. No one is authorized to provide you with information that is different from information contained in this prospectus.
The SEC has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT FILE # 811‑05742
 
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