BLACKROCK HEALTH SCIENCES OPPORTUNITIES PORTFOLIO

JANUARY 28, 2020

Prospectus

BlackRock Funds^SM | Investor, Institutional and Class R Shares

•	BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio
	Investor A: SHSAX • Investor C: SHSCX • Institutional: SHSSX • Class R: BHSRX

Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund’s shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports from BlackRock or from your financial intermediary, such as a broker-dealer or bank. Instead, the reports will be made available on a website, and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report.

You may elect to receive all future reports in paper free of charge. If you hold accounts directly with BlackRock, you can call (800) 441-7762 to inform BlackRock that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you hold accounts through a financial intermediary, you can follow the instructions included with this disclosure, if applicable, or contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue to receive paper copies of your shareholder reports. Please note that not all financial intermediaries may offer this service. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds advised by BlackRock Advisors, LLC, BlackRock Fund Advisors or their affiliates, or all funds held with your financial intermediary, as applicable.

If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive electronic delivery of shareholder reports and other communications by: (i) accessing the BlackRock website at www.blackrock.com/edelivery and logging into your accounts, if you hold accounts directly with BlackRock, or (ii) contacting your financial intermediary, if you hold accounts through a financial intermediary. Please note that not all financial intermediaries may offer this service.

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

Fund Overview

Key Facts About BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio (the “Fund”), a series of BlackRock Funds^SM (the “Trust”), is to provide long-term growth of capital.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. 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 Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”) or its affiliates. More information about these and other discounts is available from 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”) and in the “Details About the Share Classes” and the “Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies” sections on pages 22 and A-1, respectively, of the Fund’s prospectus and in the “Purchase of Shares” section on page II-84 of Part II of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)	Investor A Shares	Investor C Shares	Institutional Shares	Class R Shares
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.25%	None	None	None
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering price or redemption proceeds, whichever is lower)	None ¹	1.00% ²	None	None
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)	Investor A Shares	Investor C Shares	Institutional Shares	Class R Shares
Management Fees³	0.68%	0.68%	0.68%	0.68%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	0.25%	1.00%	None	0.50%
Other Expenses	0.19%	0.17%	0.17%	0.27%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses⁴	0.01%	0.01%	0.01%	0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses⁴	1.13%	1.86%	0.86%	1.46%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements³	—	—	—	—
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements³	1.13%	1.86%	0.86%	1.46%

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	There is no CDSC on Investor C Shares after one year.

As described in the “Management of the Fund” section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 38, 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 January 31, 2021. 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 January 31, 2021. 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.

⁴

The Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses do not correlate to the ratios of expenses to average net assets given in the Fund’s most recent annual report, which do not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.

Example:

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5%

return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Investor A Shares	$634	$865	$1,115	$1,827
Investor C Shares	$289	$585	$1,006	$2,180
Institutional Shares	$ 88	$274	$ 477	$1,061
Class R Shares	$149	$462	$ 797	$1,746

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Investor C Shares	$189	$585	$1,006	$2,180

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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 41% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in equity securities, primarily common stock, of companies in health sciences and related industries. The health sciences sector can include companies in health care equipment and supplies, health care providers and services, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. Health sciences and related industries can include, but are not limited to, businesses involved in the development, production, and distribution or delivery of medical and pharmaceutical products and services, companies engaged in biotechnology and medical research and development, companies that may design, manufacture or distribute medical, dental and optical equipment and supplies, including diagnostic equipment, and companies that may also provide diagnostic services or operate health facilities and hospitals, or provide related administrative, management and financial support. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., invest more than 25% of its assets) in health sciences or related industries, and may invest in companies located in non-U.S. countries.

The Fund reserves the right to invest up to 20% of its total assets in other types of securities. These may include stocks of companies not associated with health sciences.

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 order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor.

■	Concentration Risk — The Fund’s strategy of concentrating in health sciences and related companies means that its performance will be closely tied to the performance of a particular market segment. The Fund’s concentration in these companies may present more risks than if it were broadly diversified over numerous industries and sectors of the economy. A downturn in these companies would have a larger impact on the Fund than on a mutual fund that does not concentrate in such companies. At times, the performance of these companies will lag the performance of other industries or the broader market as a whole.
■	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.
■	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.

■	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 may prohibit or impose substantial restrictions on foreign investments in their capital markets or in certain industries.
■	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 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. These events may spread to other countries in Europe. These events may affect the value and liquidity of certain of the Fund’s investments.

■	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.
■	Healthcare-Related Securities Risk — Healthcare companies are strongly affected by worldwide scientific or technological developments. Their products may rapidly become obsolete. Many healthcare companies are also subject to significant government regulation and may be affected by changes in governmental policies.
■	Investment Style Risk — Under certain market conditions, growth investments have performed better during the later stages of economic expansion. Therefore, this investment style may over time go in and out of favor. At times when the investment style used by the Fund is out of favor, the Fund may underperform other equity funds that use different investment styles.
■	Market Risk and Selection Risk — Market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by Fund management will underperform the markets, the relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money.
■	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.
■	Small Cap Securities Risk — Small cap 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

Class R Shares commenced operations on September 12, 2011, therefore the returns in the table for Class R Shares prior to commencement date are based on the Fund’s Investor A Shares, adjusted to reflect the fees and expenses applicable to Class R Shares and do not reflect any Investor A Shares front-end sales charges, which are not applicable to Class R Shares. This information may be considered when assessing the Fund’s performance, but does not represent the actual performance of these share classes.

The information shows you how the Fund’s performance has varied year by year and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of the Russell 3000^® Health Care Index. To the extent that dividends and distributions have been paid by the Fund, the performance information for the Fund in the chart and table assumes reinvestment of the dividends and distributions. As with all such investments, past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart. If they were, returns would be less than those shown. However, the table includes all applicable fees and sales charges. If BlackRock and its affiliates had not waived or reimbursed certain Fund expenses during these periods, the Fund’s returns would have been lower. Updated information on the Fund’s performance, including its current net asset value, can be obtained by visiting http://www.blackrock.com or can be obtained by phone at (800) 882-0052.

Investor A Shares

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS

BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio
As of 12/31

During the ten-year period shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a quarter was 17.54% (quarter ended March 31, 2013) and the lowest return for a quarter was -12.11% (quarter ended September 30, 2011).

As of 12/31/19 Average Annual Total Returns	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio — Investor A Shares
Return Before Taxes	18.70%	10.77%	15.34%
Return After Taxes on Distributions	17.62%	9.10%	13.54%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	11.81%	8.09%	12.24%
BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio — Investor C Shares
Return Before Taxes	23.37%	11.17%	15.12%
BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio — Institutional Shares
Return Before Taxes	25.64%	12.29%	16.29%
BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio — Class R Shares
Return Before Taxes	24.89%	11.62%	15.60%
Russell 3000^® Health Care Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	22.11%	10.47%	15.23%

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns are shown for Investor A Shares only, and the after-tax returns for Investor C, Institutional and Class R Shares will vary.

Investment Manager

The Fund’s investment manager is BlackRock Advisors, LLC (previously defined as “BlackRock”).

Portfolio Manager

Name	Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since	Title
Erin Xie, PhD	2003	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc.

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 9819, Providence, Rhode Island

02940-8019), 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 and Investor C Shares	Institutional Shares	Class R 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. $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.	$100 for all accounts.
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.	No subsequent minimum.

Details About the Fund

Included in this prospectus are sections that tell you about buying and selling shares, management information, shareholder features of BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio (the “Fund”), a series of BlackRock Funds^SM (the “Trust”), and your rights as a shareholder.

How the Fund Invests

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Fund is to provide long-term growth of capital.

Should the Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) determine 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”) considers a variety of factors when choosing investments for the Fund, such as:

■	identifying companies and industries that appear to have the potential for above-average returns; and
■	identifying companies that are expected to show above-average growth over the long-term as well as those that appear to be trading below their true worth.

The Fund expects to invest in health sciences companies comparable in size to those in the health sector of the Russell 3000^® Health Care Index or in similar companies, including non-U.S. companies.

The Fund generally will sell a stock when, in the Fund management team’s opinion, the stock reaches its price target, there is a deterioration in the company’s fundamentals, a change in macroeconomic outlook, technical deterioration, valuation issues, a need to rebalance the portfolio or a better opportunity elsewhere.

The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities to achieve its primary investment strategies.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund reserves the right to invest up to 20% of its total assets in other types of securities. These may include stocks of companies not associated with health sciences.

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 for temporary or emergency purposes, including to meet redemptions, for the payment of dividends, for share repurchases or for the clearance of transactions, subject 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.

■	Convertible Securities — The Fund may invest in convertible securities. Convertible securities generally are debt securities or preferred stock that may be converted into common stock. Convertible securities typically pay current

	income as either interest (debt security convertibles) or dividends (preferred stock). A convertible security’s value usually reflects both the stream of current income payments and the market value of the underlying common stock.
■	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.
■	Derivative Transactions — The Fund may use derivatives to hedge its investment portfolio against market, interest rate and currency risks or to seek to enhance its return. The derivatives that the Fund may use include options, futures, swaps and forward foreign exchange transactions.
■	Emerging Markets Issuers — The Fund may also invest a portion of its assets in securities of issuers located in emerging markets.
■	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.
■	Indexed and Inverse Securities — The Fund may invest in securities the potential return of which is based on the change in a specified interest rate or equity index (an “indexed security”). For example, the Fund may invest in a security that pays a variable amount of interest or principal based on the current level of a particular stock market. The Fund may also invest in securities whose return is inversely related to changes in an interest rate or index (“inverse securities”). In general, the return on inverse securities will decrease when the underlying index or interest rate goes up and increase when that index or interest rate goes down.
■	Investment Companies — The Fund has the ability to invest in other investment companies, such as exchange-traded funds, unit investment trusts, and open-end and closed-end funds. The Fund may invest in affiliated investment companies, including affiliated money market funds and affiliated exchange-traded funds.
■	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.
■	“New Issues” — The Fund may invest in shares of companies through initial public offerings (“IPOs”).
■	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.
■	Securities Lending — The Fund may lend securities with a value up to 33¹⁄3% of its total assets to financial institutions that provide cash or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government as collateral.
■	Temporary Defensive Strategies — It is possible that in extreme market conditions the Fund may temporarily invest some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents, including high quality money market securities. Such a temporary defensive strategy would be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies. The reason for acquiring money market securities would be to avoid market losses. However, if market conditions improve, this strategy could result in reducing the potential gain from the market upswing, thus reducing the Fund’s opportunity 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.

ABOUT THE PORTFOLIO MANAGER OF THE FUND

Erin Xie, PhD, is the portfolio manager and is 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 manager.

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

■	Concentration Risk — The Fund’s strategy of concentrating in health sciences and related companies means that its performance will be closely tied to the performance of a particular market segment. The Fund’s concentration in these companies may present more risks than if it were broadly diversified over numerous industries and sectors of the economy. A downturn in these companies would have a larger impact on the Fund than on a mutual fund that does not concentrate in such companies. At times, the performance of these companies will lag the performance of other industries or the broader market as a whole.
■	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 interest or currency rates or generally adverse investor sentiment.
■	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 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, the governments of certain countries may prohibit or impose substantial restrictions on foreign investments in their capital markets or in certain industries. Any of these actions could severely affect securities prices or impair the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell foreign securities or transfer the Fund’s assets or income back into the United States, or otherwise adversely affect the Fund’s operations.
	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.
	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. These events may spread to other countries in Europe. These events 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. In addition, the United Kingdom has voted to withdraw 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. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far reaching.
■	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.
■	Healthcare-Related Securities Risk — Many healthcare-related companies are smaller and less seasoned than companies in other sectors. Healthcare-related companies may also be strongly affected by scientific or

	technological developments and their products may quickly become obsolete. Finally, many healthcare-related companies offer products and services that are subject to governmental regulation and may be adversely affected by changes in governmental policies or laws. A number of legislative proposals concerning healthcare have been introduced or considered by the U.S. Congress in recent years. These span a wide range of topics, including cost control, national health insurance, incentives for compensation in the provision of health care services, tax incentives and penalties related to health care insurance premiums, and promotion of prepaid healthcare plans. The Fund cannot predict what proposals will be enacted or what effect they may have on healthcare-related companies.
■	Investment Style Risk — Under certain market conditions, growth investments have performed better during the later stages of economic expansion. Therefore, this investment style may over time go in and out of favor. At times when the investment style used by the Fund is out of favor, the Fund may underperform other equity funds that use different investment styles.
■	Market Risk and Selection Risk — Market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by Fund management will underperform the markets, the relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money.
■	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.
■	Small Cap Securities Risk — Small cap 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 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.
	The securities of small cap 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 securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, borrowing costs and earnings. Investing in small cap 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.
■	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 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.
■	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.
■	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:
	Volatility 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.
	Counterparty Risk — Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligation.
	Market and Illiquidity Risk — Some derivatives are more sensitive to interest rate changes and market price fluctuations than other securities. 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. 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.
	Valuation Risk — 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 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, including, without limitation, swaps, currency forwards and non-deliverable forwards, 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, certain derivatives are subject to margin requirements and swap dealers are required to collect margin from the Fund with respect to such derivatives. Specifically, regulations are now in effect that require swap dealers to post and collect variation margin (comprised of specified liquid instruments and subject to a required haircut) in connection with trading of over-the-counter (“OTC”) swaps with the Fund. Shares of investment companies (other than certain money market funds) may not be posted as collateral under these regulations. Requirements for posting of initial margin in connection with OTC swaps will be phased-in through at least 2021. 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 weeks to more than one year. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or instruments, which can be adjusted for an interest factor. 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 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.

■

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. Communications between the United States and emerging market countries may be unreliable, increasing the risk of delayed settlements or losses of security certificates.

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. 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.
■	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.
■	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.
■	Illiquid Investments Risk — 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. 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. Liquid investments may become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. 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.
■	Indexed and Inverse Securities Risk — Indexed and inverse securities provide a potential return based on a particular index of value or interest rates. The Fund’s return on these securities will be subject to risk with respect to the value of the particular index. These securities are subject to leverage risk and correlation risk. Certain indexed and inverse securities have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates or index levels than other securities, and the Fund’s investment in such instruments may decline significantly in value if interest rates or index levels move in a way Fund management does not anticipate.
■	Investment in Other Investment Companies Risk — As with other investments, investments in other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds, 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.

■

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, the rules thereunder, and various SEC and SEC staff interpretive positions. In accordance with these laws, rules and positions, the Fund must “set aside” liquid assets (often referred to as “asset segregation”), or engage in other SEC- or staff-approved measures, to “cover” open positions with respect to certain kinds of instruments. 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 any required asset segregation requirements. Increases and decreases in the value of the Fund’s portfolio will be magnified when the Fund uses leverage.

■

“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.

■	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.
■	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.
■	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.

Account Information

How to Choose the Share Class that Best Suits Your Needs

The Fund currently offers multiple share classes (Investor A, Investor C, Institutional and Class R 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. Investor A and Investor C Shares are sometimes referred to herein collectively as “Investor Shares.”

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.

If you select Investor C or Class R Shares, you will invest the full amount of your purchase price, but you will be subject to a distribution fee of 0.75% per year for Investor C Shares and 0.25% per year for Class R Shares, and a service fee of 0.25% per year for both classes of shares under a plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act. Because these fees are paid out of the Fund’s assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. In addition, you may be subject to a deferred sales charge when you sell Investor C Shares within one year. Classes with lower expenses will have higher net asset values and dividends relative to other share classes.

The Fund’s shares are distributed by BlackRock Investments, LLC (the “Distributor”), an affiliate of BlackRock.

The table on the following pages summarizes key features of each of the share classes offered by this prospectus.

Share Classes at a Glance¹

	Investor A	Investor C^2,3	Institutional	Class R
Availability	Generally available through Financial Intermediaries.	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. • 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.	Available only to certain employer-sponsored retirement plans.

	Investor A	Investor C^2,3	Institutional	Class R
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.	$1,000 for all accounts except: • $50, if establishing an 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. $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.	$100 for all accounts.
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.	No. Entire purchase price is invested in shares of the Fund.	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.)	Yes. Payable if you redeem within one year of purchase.	No.	No.

	Investor A	Investor C^2,3	Institutional	Class R
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees?	No Distribution Fee. 0.25% Annual Service Fee.	0.75% Annual Distribution Fee. 0.25% Annual Service Fee.	No.	0.25% Annual Distribution Fee. 0.25% Annual Service Fee.
Redemption Fees?	No.	No.	No.	No.
Conversion to Investor A Shares?	N/A	Yes, automatically approximately ten years after the date of purchase. It is the Financial Intermediary’s responsibility to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. As of the Effective Date (as defined below), certain Financial Intermediaries, including group retirement recordkeeping platforms, may not have been tracking such holding periods and therefore may not be able to process such conversions. In such instances, the automatic conversion of Investor C Shares to Investor A Shares will occur ten years after the Effective Date.	No.	No.
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. These shares may make sense for investors who have a shorter investment horizon relative to Investor A Shares.	No up-front sales charge so you start off owning more shares. No distribution or service fees.	No up-front sales charge so you start off owning more shares.
Disadvantage	You pay a sales charge up-front, and therefore you start off owning fewer shares.	You pay ongoing distribution fees each year you own Investor C Shares, which means that over the long term you can expect higher total fees per share than Investor A Shares and, as a result, lower total performance.	Limited availability.	Limited availability. You pay ongoing distribution fees each year you own Class R Shares, which means that over the long term you can expect higher total fees per share than Investor A Shares and, as a result, lower total performance.

¹	Please see “Details About the Share Classes” for more information about each share class.
²	If you establish a new account directly with the Fund and do not have a Financial Intermediary associated with your account, you may only invest in Investor A Shares. Applications without a Financial Intermediary that select Investor C Shares will not be accepted.

³	The Fund will not accept a purchase order of $500,000 or more for Investor C Shares (may be lower on funds that have set a lower breakpoint for purchasing Investor A Shares without a front-end sales charge). Your Financial Intermediary may set a lower maximum for Investor C Shares.

The following pages will cover the additional details of each share class, including the Institutional and Class R Share requirements, the sales charge table for Investor A Shares, reduced sales charge information, Investor C Share contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) 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 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 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

Rounded to the nearest one-hundredth percent.

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.

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 for sales charge reductions and waivers that may be available to customers of certain Financial Intermediaries.

Qualifying Holdings — Investor A and A1, Investor C, C1, C2 and C3, 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 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, C1, C2 and C3, 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-adviser, 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); and
■	State sponsored 529 college savings plans.

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 for sales charge reductions and waivers that may be available to customers of certain Financial Intermediaries.

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.

Investor C Shares — Deferred Sales Charge Option

If you select Investor C Shares, you do not pay an initial sales charge at the time of purchase. However, if you redeem your Investor C Shares within one year after purchase, you may be required to pay a deferred sales charge of 1.00%. The charge will apply to the lesser of the original cost of shares being redeemed or the proceeds of your redemption. When you redeem Investor C Shares, the redemption order is processed so that the lowest deferred sales charge is charged. Investor C Shares that are not subject to the deferred sales charge are redeemed first. In addition, you will not be charged a deferred sales charge when you redeem shares that you acquire through reinvestment of Fund dividends or capital gains. Any CDSC paid on the redemptions of Investor C Shares expressed as a percentage of the applicable redemption amount may be higher or lower than the charge described due to rounding.

Effective November 8, 2018 (the “Effective Date”), Investor C Shares will automatically convert to Investor A Shares approximately ten years after the date of purchase. It is the Financial Intermediary’s responsibility to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. As of the Effective Date, certain Financial Intermediaries, including group retirement recordkeeping platforms, may not have been tracking such holding periods and therefore may not be able to process such conversions. In such instances, the automatic conversion of Investor C Shares to Investor A Shares will occur ten years after the Effective Date. The automatic conversion of Investor C Shares to Investor A Shares is not a taxable event for Federal income tax purposes. Please consult your Financial Intermediary for additional information.

See the “Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies” section for sales charge reductions and waivers that may be available to customers of certain Financial Intermediaries.

You will also pay distribution fees of 0.75% and service fees of 0.25% for Investor C Shares each year. Because these fees are paid out of the Fund’s assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Distributor uses the money that it receives from the deferred sales charges and the distribution fees to cover the costs of marketing, advertising and compensating the Financial Intermediary who assists you in purchasing Fund shares.

The Distributor currently pays dealers a sales concession of 1.00% of the purchase price of Investor C Shares from its own resources at the time of sale. The Distributor pays the annual Investor C Shares distribution fee and the annual Investor C Shares service fee as an ongoing concession and as a shareholder servicing fee, respectively, to dealers for Investor C Shares held for over a year and normally retains the Investor C Shares distribution fee and service fee during the first year after purchase. For certain employer-sponsored retirement plans, the Distributor will pay the full Investor C Shares distribution fee and service fee to dealers beginning in the first year after purchase in lieu of paying the sales concession. This may depend on the policies, procedures and trading platforms of your Financial Intermediary; consult your financial adviser.

Contingent Deferred Sales Charge Waivers

The deferred sales charge relating to Investor 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 70½;
■	Certain post-retirement withdrawals from an IRA or other retirement plan if you are over 59½ 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 for sales charge reductions and waivers that may be available to customers of certain Financial Intermediaries.

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 Share 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;
■	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 PNC Bank, National Association and Bank of America, N.A. and their 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., BlackRock Funds, BofA Corp., The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., Barclays 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; and
■	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.

The Fund reserves the right to modify or waive the above-stated policies at any time.

Class R Shares

Class R Shares are available only to certain employer-sponsored retirement plans. For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs. If you buy Class R Shares, you will pay neither an initial sales charge nor a CDSC. However, Class R Shares are subject to a distribution fee of 0.25% per year and a service fee of 0.25% per year. Because these fees are paid out of the Fund’s assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges.

Class R Shares do not offer a conversion privilege.

The Distributor currently pays the annual Class R Shares distribution fee and annual Class R Shares service fee to dealers as an ongoing concession and as a shareholder servicing fee, respectively, on a monthly basis.

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 Shares and Class R 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, Investor C and Class R Shares pay a distribution fee to the Distributor and/or its affiliates for distribution and sales support services. The distribution fees may be used to pay the Distributor for distribution and sales support services and to pay the Distributor and BlackRock and its affiliates for sales support services provided and related expenses incurred in connection with the sale of Investor C and Class R Shares. The distribution fees may also be used to pay Financial Intermediaries for sales support services and related expenses. All Investor C and Class R Shares pay a maximum distribution fee per year that is a percentage of the average daily net asset value of the Investor C and Class R Shares of the Fund. Institutional and Investor A Shares do not pay distribution fees.

Under the Plan, the Fund also 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 Shares and/or Class R Shares of the Fund. The shareholder servicing fee payment is calculated as a percentage of the average daily net asset value of Investor Shares and Class R Shares of the Fund. All Investor Shares and Class R 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 Shares and Class R 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. In addition, the distribution fees paid by Investor C and Class R Shares may over time cost investors more than the front-end sales charge on Investor A Shares. 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, 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. Class R Shares are available only to certain employer-sponsored retirement plans.
	Next, determine the amount of your investment	Refer to the minimum initial investment in the “Share Classes at a Glance” table of this prospectus. Be sure to note the maximum investment amounts in Investor C Shares. 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.
	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.

	Your Choices	Important Information for You to Know
Initial Purchase (continued)	Have your Financial Intermediary submit your purchase order (continued)	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.
Add to Your Investment	Purchase additional shares	For Investor A and Investor C 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 and Class R 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. For more details on purchasing by Internet see below.
	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 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 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.
	Acquire additional shares by reinvesting dividends and capital gains	All dividends and capital gains distributions are automatically reinvested without a sales charge. 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.

	Your Choices	Important Information for You to Know
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 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. 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, Investor C, Institutional or Class R 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.
	Selling shares held directly with BlackRock	Methods of Redeeming Redeem by Telephone: You may redeem Investor 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 administrators 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.

	Your Choices	Important Information for You to Know
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares (continued)	Selling shares held directly with BlackRock (continued)	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 Shares may also be redeemed by use of the Fund’s automated VRU service. Payment for Investor 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 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 at BlackRock by writing to BlackRock, P.O. Box 9819, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8019 or for overnight delivery, 4400 Computer Drive, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581. 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 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.

	Your Choices	Important Information for You to Know
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares (continued)	Selling shares held directly with BlackRock (continued)	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.
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, Investor C 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. No exchange privilege is available for Class R Shares. You can exchange $1,000 or more of Investor A or Investor C Shares from one fund into the same class of another fund which offers that same class of shares (you can exchange less than $1,000 of Investor A or Investor C Shares if you already have an account in the fund into which you are exchanging). Investors who currently own

	Your Choices	Important Information for You to Know
Exchange Privilege (continued)	Selling shares of one BlackRock Fund to purchase shares of another BlackRock Fund (“exchanging”) (continued)	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.
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 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 fund at BlackRock, the receiving fund must be open to new purchases.
EZ Trader	Allows an investor to purchase or sell Investor 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 an 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. 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 or Investor C 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 semi-annual SWP redemptions of Investor A or Investor C 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 or Investor C 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.

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 for Investor Shares and Institutional Shares 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 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.

Management of the Fund

BlackRock

BlackRock manages the Fund’s investments and its business operations subject to the oversight of the Trust’s 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 $7.429 trillion in investment company and other portfolio assets under management as of December 31, 2019.

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. The maximum annual management fees that can be paid to BlackRock (as a percentage of average daily net assets) are calculated as follows:

Average Daily Net Assets	Rate of Management Fee
First $1 billion	0.750%
$1 billion — $2 billion	0.700%
$2 billion — $3 billion	0.675%
Greater than $3 billion	0.650%

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 January 31, 2021. 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 January 31, 2021. 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.

For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, the Fund paid BlackRock management fees, net of any applicable waivers, at the annual rate of 0.67% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

A discussion of the basis for the Board’s approval of the Management Agreement with respect to the Fund is included in the Fund’s annual shareholder report for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019.

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.

Legal Proceedings. On May 27, 2014, certain investors in the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, Inc. (“Global Allocation”) and the BlackRock Equity Dividend Fund (“Equity Dividend”) filed a consolidated complaint in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against BlackRock Advisors, LLC, BlackRock Investment Management, LLC and BlackRock International Limited (collectively, the “Defendants”) under the caption In re BlackRock Mutual Funds Advisory Fee Litigation. In the lawsuit, which purports to be brought derivatively on behalf of Global Allocation and Equity Dividend, the plaintiffs allege that the Defendants violated Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act by receiving allegedly excessive investment advisory fees from Global Allocation and Equity Dividend. On June 13, 2018, the court granted in part and denied in part the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. On

July 25, 2018, the plaintiffs served a pleading that supplemented the time period of their alleged damages to run through the date of trial. The lawsuit seeks, among other things, to recover on behalf of Global Allocation and Equity Dividend all allegedly excessive advisory fees received by the Defendants beginning twelve months preceding the start of the lawsuit with respect to each of Global Allocation and Equity Dividend and ending on the date of judgment, along with purported lost investment returns on those amounts, plus interest. The Defendants believe the claims in the lawsuit are without merit. The trial on the remaining issues was completed on August 29, 2018. On February 8, 2019, the court issued an order dismissing the claims in their entirety. On March 8, 2019, the plaintiffs provided notice that they are appealing both the February 8, 2019 post-trial order and the June 13, 2018 order partially granting Defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

Portfolio Manager Information

Information regarding the portfolio manager of the Fund is set forth below. Further information regarding the portfolio manager, 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
Erin Xie, PhD	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.	2003	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006; Director of BlackRock, Inc. in 2005; Senior Vice President of State Street Research & Management from 2001 to 2005.

Conflicts of Interest

The investment activities of BlackRock and its affiliates (including BlackRock, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Affiliates”)), The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (which, through a subsidiary, has a significant economic interest in BlackRock, Inc.) and its subsidiaries (each with The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., an “Entity” and collectively, the “Entities”), 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, its Affiliates and the Entities provide investment management services to other funds and discretionary managed accounts that may follow investment programs similar to that of the Fund. BlackRock, its Affiliates and the Entities are involved worldwide with a broad spectrum of financial services and asset management activities and may engage in the ordinary course of business in activities in which their interests or the interests of their clients may conflict with those of the Fund. BlackRock or one or more Affiliates or Entities act or may act as an investor, investment banker, research provider, investment manager, commodity pool operator, commodity trading advisor, financier, underwriter, adviser, market maker, trader, prime broker, 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. Thus, it is likely that the Fund will have multiple business relationships with and will invest in, engage in transactions with, make voting decisions with respect to, or obtain services from, entities for which an Affiliate or an Entity performs or seeks to perform investment banking or other services. Specifically, the Fund may invest in securities of, or engage in other transactions with, companies with which an Affiliate or an Entity has developed or is trying to develop investment banking relationships or in which an Affiliate or an Entity 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 or an Entity 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 or an Entity provides or may in the future provide research coverage. An Affiliate or Entity 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. The Fund may also make brokerage and other payments to Entities in connection with the Fund’s portfolio investment transactions. BlackRock or one or more Affiliates or Entities may engage in proprietary trading and advise accounts and funds that have investment objectives similar to those of the Fund and/or that engage in and compete for transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and other instruments as the Fund. 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 or Entities are carried out without reference to positions held directly or indirectly by the Fund and may result in BlackRock or an Affiliate or an Entity 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 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 an Entity or their directors, officers or employees or other clients have an adverse interest. Furthermore, transactions undertaken by clients advised or managed by BlackRock, its Affiliates or Entities may adversely impact the Fund. Transactions by one or more clients or BlackRock, its Affiliates or Entities 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, one or more Affiliates or Entities 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 or Entities may be among the entities to which the Fund may lend its portfolio securities under the securities lending program.

The activities of BlackRock, its Affiliates and Entities 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 deferred sales charge or redemption fee. The Fund calculates the net asset value of each class of its shares each day the NYSE is open, generally as of the close of regular trading hours on the NYSE, based on prices at the time of closing. The NYSE generally closes at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time). The net asset value used in determining your share price is the next one calculated after your purchase or redemption order is received.

Generally, Institutional Shares will have the highest net asset value because that class has the lowest expenses. Investor A Shares will have a higher net asset value than Investor C or Class R Shares, and Class R Shares will have a higher net asset value than Investor C Shares. Also, dividends paid on Investor A, Institutional and Class R Shares will generally be higher than dividends paid on Investor C Shares because Investor A, Institutional and Class R Shares have lower expenses.

Equity securities and other instruments for which market quotations are readily available are valued at market value, which is generally determined using the last reported 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. The Fund values fixed-income portfolio securities and non-exchange traded derivatives 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 valuation procedures approved by the Board. 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 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. Short-term debt securities with remaining maturities of 60 days or less may be valued on the basis of amortized cost.

Foreign currency exchange rates are generally determined as of the close of business on the NYSE. Foreign securities owned by the Fund may trade on weekends or other days when the Fund does not price its shares. As a result, the Fund’s net asset value may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or redeem the Fund’s shares.

Generally, trading in foreign 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 not believed by BlackRock to be reliable, the Fund’s investments are valued at fair value. Fair value determinations are made by BlackRock in accordance with procedures approved by the Board. 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 liquidity, if BlackRock believes a market quotation from a broker-dealer or other source is unreliable, where the security or other asset or other liability is thinly traded (e.g., municipal securities, certain small cap and emerging growth companies and certain non-U.S. securities) or where there is a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation. For this purpose, a “significant event” is deemed to occur if BlackRock determines, in its business judgment prior to or at the time of pricing the Fund’s assets or liabilities, that it is likely that the event will cause a material change to the last closing market price of one or more assets or liabilities held by the Fund. For instance, significant events may occur between the foreign market close and the close of business on the NYSE that may not be reflected in the computation of the Fund’s net assets. If such event occurs, those instruments may be fair valued. Similarly, foreign securities whose values are affected by volatility that occurs in U.S. markets on a trading day after the close of foreign securities markets may be fair valued.

For certain foreign securities, 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 securities 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 a security. The fair value of one or more securities may not, in retrospect, be the price at which those assets could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used in determining the Fund’s net asset value.

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. 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.

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 capital gains. 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.

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.

Financial Highlights

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

	Institutional
	Year Ended September 30,
(For a share outstanding throughout each period)	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$ 67.67	$ 57.28	$ 50.30	$ 52.51	$ 50.07
Net investment income^(a)	0.28	0.24	0.14	0.13	0.05
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	(1.64)	12.18	7.92	3.87	5.96
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations	(1.36)	12.42	8.06	4.00	6.01
Distributions ^(b)
From net investment income	(0.23)	(0.02)	—	(0.77)	(0.15)
From net realized gain	(4.53)	(2.01)	(1.08)	(5.44)	(3.42)
Total distributions	(4.76)	(2.03)	(1.08)	(6.21)	(3.57)
Net asset value, end of year	$ 61.55	$ 67.67	$ 57.28	$ 50.30	$ 52.51
Total Return^(c)
Based on net asset value	(1.84)%	22.47%	16.53%	7.99%	12.25%
Ratios to Average Net Assets
Total expenses	0.85% ^(d)	0.87%	0.89%	0.90% ^(d)	0.88%
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed and paid indirectly	0.84% ^(d)	0.86%	0.89%	0.90% ^(d)	0.88%
Net investment income	0.45% ^(d)	0.40%	0.27%	0.25% ^(d)	0.09%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)	$3,095,352	$2,944,146	$2,190,418	$1,544,880	$1,513,269
Portfolio turnover rate	41%	39%	39%	50%	50%

^(a)	Based on average shares outstanding.
^(b)	Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
^(c)	Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.

^(d)	Excludes expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds as follows:

	Year Ended September 30,
	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Investments in underlying funds	0.01%	—	—	0.01%	—

Financial Highlights (continued)

	Investor A
	Year Ended September 30,
(For a share outstanding throughout each period)	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$ 64.50	$ 54.70	$ 48.22	$ 50.61	$ 48.38
Net investment income (loss)^(a)	0.10	0.06	(0.01)	(0.01)	(0.10)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	(1.56)	11.63	7.57	3.73	5.77
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations	(1.46)	11.69	7.56	3.72	5.67
Distributions ^(b)
From net investment income	(0.06)	—	—	(0.67)	(0.02)
From net realized gain	(4.53)	(1.89)	(1.08)	(5.44)	(3.42)
Total distributions	(4.59)	(1.89)	(1.08)	(6.11)	(3.44)
Net asset value, end of year	$ 58.45	$ 64.50	$ 54.70	$ 48.22	$ 50.61
Total Return^(c)
Based on net asset value	(2.11)%	22.13%	16.20%	7.70%	11.94%
Ratios to Average Net Assets
Total expenses	1.12% ^(d)	1.15%	1.17%	1.18% ^(d)	1.16%
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed and paid indirectly	1.12% ^(d)	1.14%	1.17%	1.18% ^(d)	1.15%
Net investment income (loss)	0.17% ^(d)	0.11%	(0.02)%	(0.03)% ^(d)	(0.19)%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)	$2,598,888	$2,767,303	$2,597,901	$2,701,948	$2,827,428
Portfolio turnover rate	41%	39%	39%	50%	50%

^(a)	Based on average shares outstanding.
^(b)	Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
^(c)	Where applicable, excludes the effects of any sales charges and assumes the reinvestment of distributions.

^(d)	Excludes expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds as follows:

	Year Ended September 30,
	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Investments in underlying funds	0.01%	—	—	0.01%	—

Financial Highlights (continued)

	Investor C
	Year Ended September 30,
(For a share outstanding throughout each period)	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$ 56.55	$ 48.54	$ 43.22	$ 46.05	$ 44.36
Net investment loss^(a)	(0.28)	(0.30)	(0.33)	(0.32)	(0.45)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	(1.38)	10.20	6.73	3.37	5.31
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations	(1.66)	9.90	6.40	3.05	4.86
Distributions ^(b)
From net investment income	—	—	—	(0.44)	—
From net realized gain	(4.15)	(1.89)	(1.08)	(5.44)	(3.17)
Total distributions	(4.15)	(1.89)	(1.08)	(5.88)	(3.17)
Net asset value, end of year	$ 50.74	$ 56.55	$ 48.54	$ 43.22	$ 46.05
Total Return^(c)
Based on net asset value	(2.82)%	21.22%	15.37%	6.92%	11.14%
Ratios to Average Net Assets
Total expenses	1.85% ^(d)	1.87%	1.90%	1.90% ^(d)	1.88%
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed and paid indirectly	1.85% ^(d)	1.87%	1.90%	1.90% ^(d)	1.87%
Net investment loss	(0.56)% ^(d)	(0.61)%	(0.75)%	(0.75)% ^(d)	(0.90)%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)	$745,636	$1,017,205	$954,780	$1,130,051	$1,167,437
Portfolio turnover rate	41%	39%	39%	50%	50%

^(a)	Based on average shares outstanding.
^(b)	Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
^(c)	Where applicable, excludes the effects of any sales charges and assumes the reinvestment of distributions.

^(d)	Excludes expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds as follows:

	Year Ended September 30,
	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Investments in underlying funds	0.01%	—	—	0.01%	—

Financial Highlights (concluded)

	Class R
	Year Ended September 30,
(For a share outstanding throughout each period)	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$ 63.09	$ 53.71	$ 47.51	$ 50.04	$ 47.94
Net investment loss^(a)	(0.09)	(0.11)	(0.16)	(0.17)	(0.26)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	(1.53)	11.38	7.44	3.68	5.72
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations	(1.62)	11.27	7.28	3.51	5.46
Distributions ^(b)
From net investment income	—	—	—	(0.60)	—
From net realized gain	(4.42)	(1.89)	(1.08)	(5.44)	(3.36)
Total distributions	(4.42)	(1.89)	(1.08)	(6.04)	(3.36)
Net asset value, end of year	$ 57.05	$ 63.09	$ 53.71	$ 47.51	$ 50.04
Total Return^(c)
Based on net asset value	(2.44)%	21.75%	15.85%	7.33%	11.59%
Ratios to Average Net Assets
Total expenses	1.45% ^(d)	1.46%	1.49%	1.51% ^(d)	1.46%
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed and paid indirectly	1.45% ^(d)	1.46%	1.49%	1.51% ^(d)	1.45%
Net investment loss	(0.15)% ^(d)	(0.20)%	(0.33)%	(0.35)% ^(d)	(0.48)%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)	$ 224,862	$241,495	$198,426	$ 172,640	$146,562
Portfolio turnover rate	41%	39%	39%	50%	50%

^(a)	Based on average shares outstanding.
^(b)	Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
^(c)	Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.

^(d)	Excludes expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds as follows:

	Year Ended September 30,
	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Investments in underlying funds	0.01%	—	—	0.01%	—

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 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 the Fund 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.

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 — fees and expenses charged by other investment companies in which the Fund invests a portion of its assets.

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.

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

Russell 3000^® Health Care Index — an unmanaged index that features companies involved in medical services or health care in the Russell 3000^® Index, which includes the largest 3,000 U.S. companies as determined by total market capitalization.

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.

Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies

Merrill Lynch:

Effective April 10, 2017, 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 reductions, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in the prospectus or SAI.

Front-End Sales Charge Waivers for 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 or through a 529 Plan
■	Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program, or effective February 1, 2019, exchanges of shares purchased through such a Merrill Lynch program due to the holdings moving from such program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account
■	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
■	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 in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date
■	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
■	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)

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 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 age 70½
■	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 the 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 Accounts and Medical Savings Accounts, that are exchanged for Institutional Shares of the Fund due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms

A-1

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.

Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Investor A shares through an Ameriprise Financial platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, 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 an Ameriprise Financial investment advisory program (if an advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available)
■	Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial’s platform (if an advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available)
■	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 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Investor C Shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges
■	Shares purchased by 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 (“FA”) and/or the FA’s spouse, FA’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), FA’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)

A-3

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.

A-4

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 age 70½ as described in the Fund’s prospectus.
■	Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James.
■	Shares acquired through a Right of Reinstatement.

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.

A-5

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 January 28, 2020, 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 Funds^SM
P.O. Box 9819
Providence, Rhode Island 02940

Overnight Mail
BlackRock Funds^SM
4400 Computer Drive
Westborough, Massachusetts 01581

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: [email protected].

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

PRO-HSO-0120

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

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	4
	Performance Information	5
	Investment Manager	6
	Portfolio Manager	6
	Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares	6
	Tax Information	8
	Payments to Broker/Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries	8

Details About the Fund	Information about how the Fund invests, including investment objective, investment process, principal strategies and risk factors
	How the Fund Invests	9
	Investment Risks	11

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	18
	Details About the Share Classes	22
	Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Payments	27
	How to Buy, Sell, Exchange and Transfer Shares	28
	Account Services and Privileges	33
	Fund’s Rights	35
	Participation in Fee-Based Programs	35
	Short-Term Trading Policy	36

Management of the Fund	Information about BlackRock and the Portfolio Manager
	BlackRock	38
	Portfolio Manager Information	39
	Conflicts of Interest	39
	Valuation of Fund Investments	40
	Dividends, Distributions and Taxes	41

Glossary	Glossary of Investment Terms	49

Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies	Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies	A-1

■	Breakpoints as described in the prospectus
■	Rights of Accumulation (ROA) entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts that will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of BlackRock Fund assets held by accounts 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) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of BlackRock Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time