LOGO

  AUGUST 31, 2023

 

   2023 Annual Report

 

iShares Trust

 

·  

iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF | DMXF | NASDAQ

·  

iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF | EMXF | NASDAQ


The Markets in Review

Dear Shareholder,

Despite an uncertain economic landscape during the 12-month reporting period ended August 31, 2023, the resilience of the U.S. economy in the face of ever tighter financial conditions provided an encouraging backdrop for investors. While inflation was near multi-decade highs at the beginning of the period, it declined precipitously as commodity prices dropped. Labor shortages also moderated, although wages continued to grow and unemployment rates reached the lowest levels in decades. This robust labor market powered further growth in consumer spending, backstopping the economy.

Equity returns were solid, as the durability of consumer sentiment eased investors’ concerns about the economy’s trajectory. The U.S. economy resumed growth in the third quarter of 2022 and continued to expand thereafter. Most major classes of equities rose, as large-capitalization U.S. stocks and developed market equities advanced strongly. However, small-capitalization U.S. stocks and emerging market equities posted more modest gains.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose during the reporting period, driving its price down, as investors reacted to elevated inflation and attempted to anticipate future interest rate changes. The corporate bond market also faced inflationary headwinds, although high-yield corporate bond prices fared significantly better than investment-grade bonds as demand from yield-seeking investors remained strong.

The U.S. Federal Reserve (the “Fed”), acknowledging that inflation has been more persistent than expected, raised interest rates seven times during the 12-month period. Furthermore, the Fed wound down its bond-buying programs and incrementally reduced its balance sheet by not replacing securities that reach maturity. However, the Fed declined to raise interest rates at its June 2023 meeting, the first time it paused its tightening in the current cycle, before again raising rates in July 2023.

Supply constraints appear to have become an embedded feature of the new macroeconomic environment, making it difficult for developed economies to increase production without sparking higher inflation. Geopolitical fragmentation and an aging population risk further exacerbating these constraints, keeping the labor market tight and wage growth high. Although the Fed has decelerated the pace of interest rate hikes and recently opted for two pauses, we believe that the new economic regime means that the Fed will need to maintain high rates for an extended period to keep inflation under control. Furthermore, ongoing structural changes may mean that the Fed will be hesitant to cut interest rates in the event of faltering economic activity lest inflation accelerate again. We believe investors should expect a period of higher volatility as markets adjust to the new economic reality and policymakers attempt to adapt.

While we favor an overweight position to developed market equities in the long term, we prefer an underweight stance in the near term. Expectations for corporate earnings remain elevated, which seems inconsistent with macroeconomic constraints. Nevertheless, we are overweight on emerging market stocks in the near term as growth trends for emerging markets appear brighter. We also believe that stocks with an AI tilt should benefit from an investment cycle that is set to support revenues and margins. In credit, there are selective opportunities in the near term despite tightening credit and financial conditions. For fixed income investing with a six- to twelve-month horizon, we see the most attractive investments in short-term U.S. Treasuries, U.S. inflation-linked bonds, U.S. mortgage-backed securities, and hard-currency emerging market bonds.

Overall, our view is that investors need to think globally, position themselves to be prepared for a decarbonizing economy, and be nimble as market conditions change. We encourage you to talk with your financial advisor and visit iShares.com for further insight about investing in today’s markets.

 

LOGO

Rob Kapito

President, BlackRock, Inc.

LOGO

Rob Kapito

President, BlackRock, Inc.

 

Total Returns as of August 31, 2023

 

     
    

 

6-Month 

 

 

 

12-Month 

 

   

 

U.S. large cap equities
(S&P 500 Index)

 

  14.50%   15.94%
   

 

U.S. small cap equities
(Russell 2000 Index)

 

  0.99   4.65
   

 

International equities
(MSCI Europe, Australasia,
Far East Index)

 

  4.75   17.92
   

 

Emerging market equities
(MSCI Emerging Markets
Index)

 

  3.62   1.25
   

 

3-month Treasury bills
(ICE BofA 3-Month
U.S. Treasury Bill Index)

 

  2.47   4.25
   

 

U.S. Treasury securities
(ICE BofA 10-Year
U.S. Treasury Index)

 

  0.11   (4.71)
   

 

U.S. investment grade bonds
(Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate
Bond Index)

 

  0.95   (1.19)
   

 

Tax-exempt municipal bonds
(Bloomberg Municipal Bond
Index)

 

  1.04   1.70
   

 

U.S. high yield bonds
(Bloomberg U.S. Corporate
High Yield 2% Issuer Capped
Index)

 

  4.55   7.19
Past performance is not an indication of future results. Index performance is shown for illustrative purposes only. You cannot invest directly in an index.

 

 

2  

T H I S  P A G EI SN O T  P A R TO F  Y O U R  F U N D  R E P O R T


Table of Contents

 

      Page  

The Markets in Review

     2  

Annual Report:

  

Market Overview

     4  

Fund Summary

     5  

About Fund Performance

     9  

Disclosure of Expenses

     9  

Schedules of Investments

     10  

Financial Statements

  

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

     25  

Statements of Operations

     26  

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

     27  

Financial Highlights

     28  

Notes to Financial Statements

     30  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     38  

Important Tax Information

     39  

Board Review and Approval of Investment Advisory Contract

     40  

Supplemental Information

     42  

Trustee and Officer Information

     43  

General Information

     46  

Glossary of Terms Used in this Report

     47  

 

 


Market Overview

 

  

 

iShares Trust

Global Market Overview

Global equity markets advanced during the 12 months ended August 31, 2023 (“reporting period”), supported by continued economic growth and moderating inflation. The MSCI ACWI, a broad global equity index that includes both developed and emerging markets, returned 13.95% in U.S. dollar terms for the reporting period. Despite concerns about the impact of higher interest rates and rising prices, the global economy continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace than during the initial post-coronavirus pandemic recovery. Inflation began to subside in most regions of the world, and lower energy prices reduced pressure on consumers, leading consumer and business sentiment to improve. While the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued to disrupt trade in Europe and elsewhere, market adaptation lessened the economic impact of the ongoing war. The prices of several key commodities, including oil, natural gas, and wheat, either stabilized or declined during the reporting period, easing pressure on the world’s economies.

The U.S. Federal Reserve (“Fed”) tightened monetary policy rapidly, raising short-term interest rates seven times over the course of the reporting period. The pace of tightening decelerated as the Fed twice lowered the increment of increase before pausing entirely in June 2023, the first time it declined to take action since the tightening cycle began. However, the Fed then raised interest rates again at its July 2023 meeting and stated that it would continue to monitor economic data. The Fed also continued to decrease the size of its balance sheet by reducing the store of U.S. Treasuries it had accumulated to stabilize markets in the early phases of the pandemic.

Despite the tightening financial conditions, the U.S. economy demonstrated continued strength, and U.S. equities advanced. The economy returned to growth in the third quarter of 2022 and showed robust, if slightly slower, growth thereafter. Consumers powered the economy, increasing their spending in both nominal and inflation-adjusted terms. A strong labor market bolstered spending, as unemployment remained low, and the number of employed persons reached an all-time high. Tightness in the labor market drove higher wages, although wage growth slowed as the reporting period continued.

European stocks outpaced their counterparts in most other regions of the globe, advancing strongly for the reporting period despite modest economic growth. European stocks benefited from a solid recovery following the early phases of the war in Ukraine. While the conflict disrupted critical natural gas supplies, new sources were secured and prices declined, while a warm winter helped moderate consumption. The European Central Bank (“ECB”) responded to the highest inflation since the introduction of the euro by raising interest rates eight times and beginning to reduce the size of its debt holdings.

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region gained, albeit at a slower pace than other regions of the world. Japan returned to growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 and first half of 2023, as strong business investment and exports helped boost the economy and support Japanese equities. However, Chinese stocks were negatively impacted by slowing economic growth. While investors were initially optimistic following China’s lifting of several pandemic-related lockdowns in December 2022, subsequent performance disappointed, and tensions with the U.S. increased. Emerging market stocks advanced modestly, as the resilient global economic environment reassured investors. The declining value of the U.S. dollar relative to many other currencies and the slowing pace of the Fed’s interest rate increases also supported emerging market stocks.

 

 

4  

2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S  A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Fund Summary  as of August 31, 2023    iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

 

Investment Objective

The iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of large- and mid-capitalization developed market companies excluding the U.S. and Canada that have a favorable environmental, social and governance rating while applying extensive screens for company involvement in controversial activities, as represented by the MSCI EAFE Choice ESG Screened Index (the “Index”). The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. Due to the use of representative sampling, the Fund may or may not hold all of the securities that are included in the Index.

Performance

 

    Average Annual Total Returns           Cumulative Total Returns  
 

 

 

     

 

 

 
      1 Year       
Since
Inception
 
 
            1 Year       
Since
Inception
 
 

Fund NAV

    18.17      6.66       18.17      22.99

Fund Market

    18.02        6.83         18.02        23.63  

Index

    17.64        6.72               17.64        23.19  

GROWTH OF $10,000 INVESTMENT

(SINCE INCEPTION AT NET ASSETVALUE)

 

LOGO

The inception date of the Fund was June 16, 2020. The first day of secondary market trading was June 18, 2020.

Past performance is not an indication of future results. Performance results do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on fund distributions or on the redemption or sale of fund shares. See “About Fund Performance” for more information.

Expense Example

 

      

Actual

 

         

Hypothetical 5% Return

          
         

Beginning
Account Value
(03/01/23


      

Ending
Account Value
(08/31/23
 
 
      

Expenses
Paid During
the Period
 
 
(a) 
           

Beginning
Account Value
(03/01/23
 
 
      

Ending
Account Value
(08/31/23
 
 
      

Expenses
Paid During
the Period
 
 
(a) 
      

Annualized
Expense
Ratio
 
 
 
          $   1,000.00          $   1,052.90          $   0.62               $   1,000.00          $   1,024.60          $   0.61          0.12

 

  (a)

Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 184/365 (to reflect the one-half year period shown). Other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, may be paid which are not reflected in the tables and examples above. See “Disclosure of Expenses” for more information.

 

 

 

F U N D  S U M M A R Y

  5


 

Fund Summary  as of August 31, 2023 (continued)    iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

 

Portfolio Management Commentary

Investor interest in the environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) attributes of companies was mixed during the reporting period. In Europe, ESG investments continued to attract net inflows, although the rate of net purchases slowed in the first half of 2023.

During the reporting period, the Index of international developed stocks with favorable ESG characteristics and screened for controversial activities advanced substantially. Japanese financials stocks gained the most, as the Bank of Japan modified its yield curve control policy, allowing banks to keep portions of their capital in higher-yielding investments. The semiconductors and semiconductor equipment industry in the information technology sector also gained amid efforts by the government to increase domestic semiconductor manufacturing with subsidies and incentives.

Stocks in Europe further contributed to the Index’s return, most notably France, Germany, and Switzerland. The French industrials sector benefited from rising demand for data center infrastructure, while the German information technology sector posted robust sales of cloud-based enterprise software. In Switzerland, the healthcare sector led the advance, as strong earnings enabled a significant stock buyback program.

In terms of relative performance, the Index was nearly in line with the broader market, as represented by the MSCI EAFE Index. The Index seeks companies that have a favorable environmental, social and governance rating while applying extensive screens for company involvement in Index held overweight positions in the information technology and industrials sectors and underweight positions in consumer staples and energy. Positioning in the information technology sector contributed to the Index’s relative performance, while the underweight position in energy and stock selection in industrials detracted.

Portfolio Information

 

SECTOR ALLOCATION

 

 

Sector

   
Percent of
Total Investments
 
(a) 

Financials

    21.4

Industrials

    20.4  

Information Technology

    14.5  

Health Care

    12.3  

Consumer Discretionary

    9.7  

Materials

    7.8  

Communication Services

    5.7  

Real Estate

    4.2  

Consumer Staples

    3.4  

Utilities

    0.6  

GEOGRAPHIC ALLOCATION

 

 

Country/Geographic Region

   
Percent of
Total Investments
 
(a) 

Japan

    30.1

France

    9.7  

Germany

    9.5  

United Kingdom

    8.4  

Switzerland

    7.4  

Netherlands

    7.0  

Denmark

    5.4  

Australia

    5.0  

Sweden

    4.8  

Hong Kong

    3.1  

Singapore

    1.9  

Spain

    1.6  

Italy

    1.2  

Finland

    1.1  

Ireland

    1.0  

Belgium

    1.0  

Other (each representing less than 1%)

    1.8  
(a) 

Excludes money market funds

 

 

6  

2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S  A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Fund Summary  as of August 31, 2023    iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

 

Investment Objective

The iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of large- and mid-capitalization emerging market companies that have a favorable environmental, social and governance rating while applying extensive screens for company involvement in controversial activities, as represented by the MSCI Emerging Markets Choice ESG Screened 5% Issuer Capped Index (the “Index”). The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. Due to the use of representative sampling, the Fund may or may not hold all of the securities that are included in the Index.

Performance

 

    Average Annual Total Returns           Cumulative Total Returns  
 

 

 

     

 

 

 
     1 Year    

Since

Inception

           1 Year     Since
Inception
 

Fund NAV

    1.06     1.42       1.06     4.19

Fund Market

    1.16       1.49         1.16       4.38  

Index

    0.69       1.72               0.69       5.08  

GROWTH OF $10,000 INVESTMENT

(SINCE INCEPTION AT NET ASSET VALUE)

 

LOGO

The inception date of the Fund was October 6, 2020. The first day of secondary market trading was October 8, 2020.

Past performance is not an indication of future results. Performance results do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on fund distributions or on the redemption or sale of fund shares. See “About Fund Performance” for more information.

Expense Example

 

      

Actual

 

         

Hypothetical 5% Return

          
         

Beginning
Account Value
(03/01/23


      

Ending
Account Value
(08/31/23
 
 
      

Expenses
Paid During
the Period
 
 
(a) 
           

Beginning
Account Value
(03/01/23
 
 
      

Ending
Account Value
(08/31/23
 
 
      

Expenses
Paid During
the Period
 
 
(a) 
      

Annualized
Expense
Ratio
 
 
 
          $   1,000.00          $   1,032.50          $   0.82               $   1,000.00          $   1,024.40          $   0.82          0.16

 

  (a)

Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 184/365 (to reflect the one-half year period shown). Other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, may be paid which are not reflected in the tables and examples above. See “Disclosure of Expenses” for more information.

 

 

 

F U N D  S U M M A R Y

  7


Fund Summary  as of August 31, 2023 (continued)    iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

 

Portfolio Management Commentary

Investor interest in the environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) attributes of companies was mixed during the reporting period. Globally, fund flows to ESG-focused investments slowed in the first half of 2023, while remaining net positive.

During the reporting period, the Index of emerging market stocks with favorable ESG characteristics and screened for controversial activities posted a marginal advance. Taiwanese stocks contributed the most to the Index’s return, led by the information technology sector. Continued data center growth drove robust sales of high-end power units used in their construction, bolstering profits in the technology hardware, storage, and peripherals industry. The semiconductors and semiconductor equipment industry also posted gains, as increasing interest in artificial intelligence drove investments in additional capacity. The financials sector also contributed to the Index’s return. Mexican banks posted strong gains amid significantly higher interest rates.

On the downside, Chinese stocks detracted meaningfully from the Index’s return, as they were negatively impacted by slowing economic growth. The consumer discretionary sector declined as increased online competition from low-cost retailers pressured the broadline retail and the internet and direct marketing retail industries. The Chinese healthcare sector also declined, as life sciences tools and services stocks were pressured by a U.S. executive order introducing a national biotechnology and biomanufacturing initiative.

In terms of relative performance, the Index underperformed the broader market, as represented by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Relative to the broader market, the Index seeks companies that have a favorable environmental, social and governance rating while applying extensive screens for company involvement in controversial activities. The Index held a significant overweight position in the financials sector and underweight positions in the energy and materials sectors, relative to the broader market. Stock selection in the consumer discretionary sector and materials sector detracted from the Index’s relative performance, while stock selection in the financials sector contributed to relative performance.

Portfolio Information

 

SECTOR ALLOCATION

 

 

Sector

   
Percent of
Total Investments
 
(a) 

Financials

    34.6

Consumer Discretionary

    18.4  

Information Technology

    17.8  

Communication Services

    7.9  

Consumer Staples

    6.2  

Materials

    4.4  

Industrials

    4.3  

Health Care

    3.9  

Real Estate

    1.9  

Utilities

    0.6  

GEOGRAPHIC ALLOCATION

 

 

Country/Geographic Region

   
Percent of
Total Investments
 
(a) 

China

    30.4

Taiwan

    16.6  

India

    15.4  

South Korea

    6.5  

South Africa

    5.3  

Brazil

    4.6  

Saudi Arabia

    3.1  

Thailand

    2.8  

Indonesia

    2.7  

Mexico

    2.2  

Malaysia

    2.1  

United Arab Emirates

    2.0  

Poland

    1.2  

Other (each representing less than 1%)

    5.1  

 

(a) 

Excludes money market funds.

 

 

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2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S  A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


About Fund Performance

 

Past performance is not an indication of future results. Financial markets have experienced extreme volatility and trading in many instruments has been disrupted. These circumstances may continue for an extended period of time and may continue to affect adversely the value and liquidity of each Fund’s investments. As a result, current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Performance data current to the most recent month-end is available at iShares.com. Performance results assume reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions and do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on fund distributions or on the redemption or sale of fund shares. The investment return and principal value of shares will vary with changes in market conditions. Shares may be worth more or less than their original cost when they are redeemed or sold in the market. Performance for certain funds may reflect a waiver of a portion of investment advisory fees. Without such a waiver, performance would have been lower.

Net asset value or “NAV” is the value of one share of a fund as calculated in accordance with the standard formula for valuing mutual fund shares. Beginning August 10, 2020, the price used to calculate market return (“Market Price”) is the closing price. Prior to August 10, 2020, Market Price was determined using the midpoint between the highest bid and the lowest ask on the primary stock exchange on which shares of a fund are listed for trading, as of the time that such fund’s NAV is calculated. Since shares of a fund may not trade in the secondary market until after the fund’s inception, for the period from inception to the first day of secondary market trading in shares of the fund, the NAV of the fund is used as a proxy for the Market Price to calculate market returns. Market and NAV returns assume that dividends and capital gain distributions have been reinvested at Market Price and NAV, respectively.

An index is a statistical composite that tracks a specified financial market or sector. Unlike a fund, an index does not actually hold a portfolio of securities and therefore does not incur the expenses incurred by a fund. These expenses negatively impact fund performance. Also, market returns do not include brokerage commissions that may be payable on secondary market transactions. If brokerage commissions were included, market returns would be lower.

Disclosure of Expenses

Shareholders of each Fund may incur the following charges: (1) transactional expenses, including brokerage commissions on purchases and sales of fund shares and (2) ongoing expenses, including management fees and other fund expenses. The expense examples shown (which are based on a hypothetical investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held through the end of the period) are intended to assist shareholders both in calculating expenses based on an investment in each Fund and in comparing these expenses with similar costs of investing in other funds.

The expense examples provide information about actual account values and actual expenses. Annualized expense ratios reflect contractual and voluntary fee waivers, if any. In order to estimate the expenses a shareholder paid during the period covered by this report, shareholders can divide their account value by $1,000 and then multiply the result by the number under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During the Period.”

The expense examples also provide information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on a fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. In order to assist shareholders in comparing the ongoing expenses of investing in the Funds and other funds, compare the 5% hypothetical examples with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

The expenses shown in the expense examples are intended to highlight shareholders’ ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional expenses, such as brokerage commissions and other fees paid on purchases and sales of fund shares. Therefore, the hypothetical examples are useful in comparing ongoing expenses only and will not help shareholders determine the relative total expenses of owning different funds. If these transactional expenses were included, shareholder expenses would have been higher.

 

 

A B O U T  F U N D  P E R F O R M A N C E / D I S C L O S U R EO F  E X P E N S E S

  9


Schedule of Investments

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  

Common Stocks

   
Australia — 5.0%            

ASX Ltd.

    11,920     $     443,607  

Aurizon Holdings Ltd.

    98,725       232,690  

BlueScope Steel Ltd.

    26,640       360,160  

Brambles Ltd.

    80,480       779,366  

Cochlear Ltd.

    3,840       674,014  

Computershare Ltd.

    32,880       534,528  

CSL Ltd.

    27,760       4,902,386  

Dexus

    61,600       307,822  

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.

    97,920       1,348,103  

Goodman Group

    98,160       1,479,001  

GPT Group (The)

    114,808       310,855  

IDP Education Ltd.

    14,320       227,743  

IGO Ltd.

    38,560       344,120  

Insurance Australia Group Ltd.

    141,360       533,078  

James Hardie Industries PLC(a)

    25,520       767,061  

Lendlease Corp. Ltd.

    38,960       196,184  

Mineral Resources Ltd.

    10,160       466,364  

Mirvac Group

    232,960       363,210  

Newcrest Mining Ltd.

    50,960       849,332  

Northern Star Resources Ltd.

    66,640       510,605  

Orica Ltd.

    26,400       267,454  

Pilbara Minerals Ltd.

    154,640       463,613  

QBE Insurance Group Ltd.

    86,400       833,404  

Ramsay Health Care Ltd.

    10,480       347,768  

REA Group Ltd.

    2,960       315,589  

Reece Ltd.

    12,720       167,335  

Scentre Group

    297,440       527,230  

SEEK Ltd.

    20,640       308,149  

Sonic Healthcare Ltd.

    25,920       538,726  

Stockland

    133,046       363,368  

Suncorp Group Ltd.

    72,560       636,431  

Telstra Corp. Ltd.

    231,680       601,005  

Transurban Group

    176,480       1,510,983  

Vicinity Ltd.

    226,884       273,679  

WiseTech Global Ltd.

    9,920       444,999  

Xero Ltd.(a)

    8,560       692,877  
   

 

 

 
       23,922,839  
Austria — 0.3%            

Erste Group Bank AG

    19,440       693,500  

Verbund AG

    3,920       321,349  

voestalpine AG

    6,252       182,679  
   

 

 

 
      1,197,528  
Belgium — 1.0%            

Ageas SA/NV

    9,120       362,705  

Argenx SE(a)

    3,280       1,648,477  

D’ieteren Group

    1,280       209,055  

Elia Group SA/NV.

    1,680       193,695  

Groupe Bruxelles Lambert NV

    5,600       450,931  

KBC Group NV

    14,720       965,780  

Sofina SA

    880       197,707  

Umicore SA

    12,962       343,470  

Warehouses De Pauw CVA

    9,600       274,335  
   

 

 

 
      4,646,155  
Denmark — 5.3%            

AP Moller - Maersk A/S, Class A

    162       289,507  

AP Moller - Maersk A/S, Class B, NVS

    320       580,916  

Chr Hansen Holding A/S

    5,921       386,076  

Demant A/S(a)

    5,840       238,413  
Security   Shares     Value  
Denmark (continued)            

DSV A/S

    10,720     $    2,035,723  

Genmab A/S(a)

    3,840       1,471,239  

Novo Nordisk A/S, Class B

    94,480       17,427,188  

Novozymes A/S, Class B

    12,080       522,892  

Pandora A/S

    4,880       505,364  

Rockwool A/S, Class B

    566       144,454  

Tryg A/S

    20,895       398,662  

Vestas Wind Systems A/S(a)

    58,510       1,351,880  
   

 

 

 
        25,352,314  
Finland — 1.1%            

Elisa OYJ

    8,165       400,828  

Kesko OYJ, Class B

    16,000       312,325  

Kone OYJ, Class B

    19,840       902,506  

Metso OYJ

    39,040       448,395  

Nokia OYJ

    313,440       1,253,468  

Orion OYJ, Class B

    6,160       251,762  

Sampo OYJ, Class A

    27,120       1,190,407  

Wartsila OYJ Abp

    27,300       346,461  
   

 

 

 
      5,106,152  
France — 9.7%            

Accor SA

    10,560       377,660  

Aeroports de Paris

    1,600       210,572  

Air Liquide SA

    30,320       5,478,102  

Amundi SA(b)

    3,558       211,788  

AXA SA

    106,240       3,191,969  

BioMerieux

    2,402       248,078  

BNP Paribas SA

    60,720       3,926,619  

Bouygues SA

    11,040       381,210  

Bureau Veritas SA

    17,040       456,470  

Capgemini SE

    9,600       1,791,565  

Carrefour SA

    34,240       654,454  

Cie. Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA

    40,320       1,261,450  

Covivio

    2,960       144,326  

Credit Agricole SA

    69,360       874,302  

Dassault Systemes SE

    38,800       1,537,664  

Edenred

    14,320       912,518  

Eiffage SA

    4,000       395,332  

EssilorLuxottica SA

    17,040       3,213,208  

Eurazeo SE

    2,411       142,061  

Eurofins Scientific SE

    7,840       482,573  

Euronext NV(b)

    5,120       369,616  

Gecina SA

    2,885       308,625  

Getlink SE

    20,480       342,782  

Hermes International

    1,869       3,843,945  

Ipsen SA

    2,174       281,629  

Klepierre SA

    12,865       339,811  

Legrand SA

    15,520       1,529,021  

Publicis Groupe SA

    13,040       1,017,485  

Sartorius Stedim Biotech

    1,600       453,778  

Schneider Electric SE

    31,520       5,402,789  

SEB SA

    1,374       150,818  

Sodexo SA

    4,880       523,528  

Teleperformance

    3,360       464,257  

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, New(a)

    6,880       367,218  

Valeo

    12,998       252,659  

Vinci SA

    30,960       3,448,574  

Vivendi SE

    41,040       373,787  

Wendel SE

    1,520       138,885  

 

 

10  

2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S   A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  
France (continued)            

Worldline SA/France(a)(b)

    13,920     $     453,043  
   

 

 

 
      45,954,171  
Germany — 8.9%            

adidas AG

    9,360       1,867,975  

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG

    17,680       1,859,567  

Bechtle AG

    4,720       229,467  

Beiersdorf AG

    5,840       764,661  

Brenntag SE

    8,720       705,310  

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Bearer

    2,320       230,109  

Commerzbank AG

    60,640       666,280  

Continental AG

    6,320       468,806  

Covestro AG(a)(b)

    11,120       590,520  

Daimler Truck Holding AG

    28,560       1,004,930  

Deutsche Boerse AG

    11,040       1,959,864  

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Registered(a)

    33,680       300,774  

Deutsche Post AG, Registered

    57,440       2,678,602  

Evonik Industries AG

    12,001       229,941  

GEA Group AG

    8,880       350,168  

Hannover Rueck SE

    3,524       749,479  

HelloFresh SE(a)

    9,440       304,233  

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA

    6,009       415,271  

Infineon Technologies AG

    76,080       2,718,771  

Knorr-Bremse AG

    3,930       268,421  

LEG Immobilien SE(a)

    4,240       305,350  

Merck KGaA

    7,318       1,313,765  

Muenchener Rueckversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG in Muenchen, Registered

    7,907       3,069,175  

Nemetschek SE

    3,280       226,535  

Rational AG

    286       217,860  

SAP SE

    60,400       8,426,068  

Scout24 SE(b)

    4,429       305,098  

Siemens AG, Registered

    44,000       6,610,154  

Siemens Healthineers AG(b)

    15,920       796,991  

Symrise AG, Class A

    7,840       817,280  

Talanx AG(a)

    3,600       242,004  

Telefonica Deutschland Holding AG

    51,120       97,187  

Vonovia SE

    42,480       1,019,235  

Wacker Chemie AG

    1,040       153,182  

Zalando SE(a)(b)

    13,120       407,842  
   

 

 

 
       42,370,875  
Hong Kong — 3.1%            

AIA Group Ltd.

    672,000       6,080,425  

BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd.

    203,500       565,382  

ESR Group Ltd.(b)

    128,000       192,067  

Futu Holdings Ltd., ADR(a)(c)

    3,120       185,952  

Hang Lung Properties Ltd.

    160,000       213,098  

Hang Seng Bank Ltd.

    48,000       611,718  

Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd.

    80,000       219,691  

HKT Trust & HKT Ltd., Class SS

    240,000       255,760  

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.

    65,200       2,527,034  

Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd.

    64,000       227,044  

Link REIT

    144,000       713,957  

MTR Corp. Ltd.

    83,500       348,401  

New World Development Co. Ltd.

    80,000       169,870  

Sino Land Co. Ltd.

    184,000       210,768  

Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.

    80,000       900,533  

Swire Pacific Ltd., Class A.

    40,000       329,815  

Swire Properties Ltd.

    80,000       167,182  

WH Group Ltd.(b)

    520,000       267,797  
Security   Shares     Value  
Hong Kong (continued)            

Wharf Real Estate Investment Co. Ltd.

    82,000     $     341,742  
   

 

 

 
       14,528,236  
Ireland — 1.0%            

AIB Group PLC

    83,440       379,781  

Bank of Ireland Group PLC

    61,360       611,009  

CRH PLC

    42,000       2,416,413  

Kerry Group PLC, Class A

    9,207       859,014  

Smurfit Kappa Group PLC

    14,880       624,223  
   

 

 

 
      4,890,440  
Israel — 0.5%            

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.(a)(c)

    5,520       742,937  

CyberArk Software Ltd.(a)

    2,400       398,496  

Monday.com Ltd.(a)

    1,280       227,123  

Nice Ltd.(a)

    3,680       717,245  

Wix.com Ltd.(a)

    3,200       316,064  
   

 

 

 
      2,401,865  
Italy — 1.2%            

Amplifon SpA

    7,040       228,612  

Assicurazioni Generali SpA

    60,400       1,251,064  

DiaSorin SpA

    1,440       152,059  

FinecoBank Banca Fineco SpA

    34,960       477,814  

Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane SpA(b)

    20,246       250,491  

Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario SpA

    31,600       412,524  

Moncler SpA

    11,840       802,215  

Nexi SpA(a)(b)

    33,840       242,778  

Poste Italiane SpA(b)

    28,582       317,287  

Prysmian SpA

    15,200       621,019  

Recordati Industria Chimica e Farmaceutica SpA

    5,612       281,318  

Telecom Italia SpA/Milano(a)

    514,223       159,528  

Terna - Rete Elettrica Nazionale

    88,240       727,677  
   

 

 

 
      5,924,386  
Japan — 30.0%            

Advantest Corp.

    10,800       1,351,842  

Aeon Co. Ltd.

    40,000       828,967  

AGC Inc.

    8,000       280,667  

Ajinomoto Co. Inc.

    24,000       1,016,708  

ANA Holdings Inc.(a)

    8,100       182,859  

Asahi Intecc Co. Ltd.

    16,000       324,568  

Asahi Kasei Corp.

    88,000       568,030  

Astellas Pharma Inc.

    104,000       1,573,558  

Azbil Corp.

    8,000       266,508  

Bridgestone Corp.

    32,000       1,242,424  

Brother Industries Ltd.

    16,000       270,777  

Canon Inc.

    56,700       1,395,617  

Capcom Co. Ltd.

    8,000       337,466  

Central Japan Railway Co.

    8,000       1,025,756  

Chiba Bank Ltd. (The)

    32,000       228,493  

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

    40,000       1,219,276  

Concordia Financial Group Ltd.

    64,000       283,586  

CyberAgent Inc.

    24,000       152,714  

Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd.

    12,200       333,370  

Daifuku Co. Ltd.

    16,000       295,289  

Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc.

    56,000       1,040,793  

Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd.

    104,000       3,063,180  

Daikin Industries Ltd.

    14,600       2,523,735  

Daito Trust Construction Co. Ltd.

    3,400       374,967  

Daiwa House Industry Co. Ltd.

    32,000       888,825  

Daiwa House REIT Investment Corp.

    160       303,627  

Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

    88,000       500,425  

 

 

S C H E D U L EO F  I N V E S T M E N T S

  11


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  
Japan (continued)            

Denso Corp.

    24,000     $    1,638,063  

Dentsu Group Inc.

    8,000       238,928  

Disco Corp.

    5,000       988,222  

East Japan Railway Co.

    16,000       904,626  

Eisai Co. Ltd.

    16,000       1,011,459  

FANUC Corp.

    56,000       1,592,716  

Fast Retailing Co. Ltd.

    9,700       2,225,289  

FUJIFILM Holdings Corp.

    21,100       1,246,935  

Fujitsu Ltd.

    9,900       1,237,419  

GLP J-Reit

    240       226,482  

GMO Payment Gateway Inc.

    1,100       69,655  

Hakuhodo DY Holdings Inc.

    16,000       151,798  

Hamamatsu Photonics KK

    8,000       370,148  

Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc.

    16,000       574,262  

Hikari Tsushin Inc.

    1,100       183,002  

Hirose Electric Co. Ltd.

    1,700       205,827  

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd.

    8,000       248,753  

Hoshizaki Corp.

    8,000       307,027  

Hoya Corp.

    19,500       2,163,543  

Hulic Co. Ltd.

    24,000       215,372  

Ibiden Co. Ltd.

    8,000       482,001  

Isuzu Motors Ltd.

    40,000       512,062  

Itochu Techno-Solutions Corp.

    8,000       237,532  

Japan Airlines Co. Ltd.

    8,000       164,750  

Japan Exchange Group Inc.

    32,000       558,328  

Japan Metropolitan Fund Invest

    402       269,939  

Japan Post Bank Co. Ltd.

    91,600       735,004  

Japan Post Insurance Co. Ltd.

    8,000       129,077  

Japan Real Estate Investment Corp.

    80       332,464  

JFE Holdings Inc.

    32,000       505,539  

JSR Corp.

    8,000       223,288  

Kajima Corp.

    24,000       400,866  

Kao Corp.

    24,600       950,240  

KDDI Corp.

    88,000          2,616,013  

Keio Corp.

    8,000       276,805  

Keisei Electric Railway Co. Ltd.

    8,000       306,335  

Keyence Corp.

    10,900       4,525,369  

Kikkoman Corp.

    8,000       462,128  

Kintetsu Group Holdings Co. Ltd.

    8,000       253,220  

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

    2,900       143,187  

Kobe Bussan Co. Ltd.

    8,000       199,314  

Koei Tecmo Holdings Co. Ltd.

    8,000       124,403  

Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

    16,000       271,528  

Komatsu Ltd.

    52,100       1,482,672  

Konami Group Corp.

    2,500       145,073  

Kubota Corp.

    56,700       912,502  

Kurita Water Industries Ltd.

    8,000       311,642  

Kyocera Corp.

    16,000       820,635  

Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd.

    16,000       292,509  

Lixil Corp.

    16,000       200,410  

Makita Corp.

    12,300       337,168  

MatsukiyoCocokara & Co.

    6,000       353,283  

McDonald’s Holdings Co. Japan Ltd.

    4,600       183,058  

MEIJI Holdings Co. Ltd.

    16,000       401,201  

MINEBEA MITSUMI Inc.

    24,000       406,935  

MISUMI Group Inc.

    16,100       280,457  

Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corp.

    80,000       477,577  

Mitsubishi Electric Corp.

    120,000       1,563,368  

Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd.

    64,900       826,632  

Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc.

    48,000       311,849  
Security   Shares      Value  
Japan (continued)             

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.

    664,000      $ 5,297,178  

Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

    8,000        216,870  

Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd.

    51,500        1,127,495  

Mizuho Financial Group Inc.

    136,000          2,241,147  

MonotaRO Co. Ltd.

    16,000        188,964  

MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc.

    24,000        861,879  

Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

    32,000        1,790,185  

NEC Corp.

    13,200        695,783  

NGK Insulators Ltd.

    16,000        212,259  

Nidec Corp.

    24,000        1,248,827  

Nintendo Co. Ltd.

    64,000        2,744,121  

Nippon Building Fund Inc.

    80        337,859  

Nippon Paint Holdings Co. Ltd.

    64,000        494,500  

Nippon Prologis REIT Inc.

    152        305,699  

Nippon Sanso Holdings Corp.

    8,000        192,897  

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.

    1,800,000        2,078,344  

Nippon Yusen KK

    32,000        851,340  

Nissan Chemical Corp.

    8,000        342,641  

Nissin Foods Holdings Co. Ltd.

    3,500        305,663  

Nitori Holdings Co. Ltd.

    3,900        443,929  

Nitto Denko Corp.

    8,000        545,780  

Nomura Real Estate Holdings Inc.

    8,000        201,308  

Nomura Real Estate Master Fund Inc.

    240        282,143  

Nomura Research Institute Ltd.

    24,000        689,739  

NTT Data Group Corp.

    32,500        436,986  

Obayashi Corp.

    48,000        434,724  

Odakyu Electric Railway Co. Ltd.

    16,000        237,913  

Oji Holdings Corp.

    48,000        196,337  

Omron Corp.

    8,000        386,020  

Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

    24,000        453,406  

Open House Group Co. Ltd.

    4,200        141,879  

Oracle Corp. Japan

    1,100        76,832  

Oriental Land Co. Ltd./Japan

    64,000        2,305,357  

Otsuka Corp.

    8,000        356,544  

Otsuka Holdings Co. Ltd.

    24,000        911,801  

Pan Pacific International Holdings Corp.

    24,000        478,204  

Panasonic Holdings Corp.

    128,000        1,477,549  

Persol Holdings Co. Ltd.

    8,100        138,440  

Rakuten Group Inc.

    80,000        311,283  

Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd.

    80,000        2,849,797  

Renesas Electronics Corp.(a)

    72,000        1,199,496  

Resona Holdings Inc.

    136,000        720,463  

Ricoh Co. Ltd.

    32,000        260,685  

Rohm Co. Ltd.

    4,200        350,312  

SCSK Corp.

    8,000        138,675  

Secom Co. Ltd.

    10,600        741,870  

Seiko Epson Corp.

    16,000        250,534  

Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd.

    24,000        368,097  

Sekisui House Ltd.

    32,500        662,330  

SG Holdings Co. Ltd.

    16,000        231,118  

Sharp Corp./Japan(a)

    16,000        98,493  

Shimadzu Corp.

    16,000        470,187  

Shimizu Corp.

    32,000        215,294  

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd.

    104,000        3,314,870  

Shionogi & Co. Ltd.

    16,000        702,709  

Shiseido Co. Ltd.

    24,000        973,901  

Shizuoka Financial Group Inc., NVS

    24,200        196,653  

SoftBank Corp.

    168,000        1,926,742  

SoftBank Group Corp.

    56,000        2,509,721  

Sompo Holdings Inc.

    16,000        696,280  

 

 

12  

2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S   A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares      Value  
Japan (continued)             

Sony Group Corp.

    72,000      $   5,989,855  

Square Enix Holdings Co. Ltd.

    4,600        174,608  

SUMCO Corp.

    24,000        320,538  

Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd.

    80,000        221,466  

Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd.

    48,000        587,630  

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd.

    16,000        496,538  

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.

    72,000        3,291,585  

Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. Ltd.

    16,000        409,013  

Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd.

    8,000        257,395  

Sysmex Corp.

    8,000        424,484  

T&D Holdings Inc.

    32,000        507,181  

Taisei Corp.

    8,000        269,248  

TDK Corp.

    24,000        873,531  

Terumo Corp.

    40,000        1,210,298  

TIS Inc.

    12,200        287,632  

Tobu Railway Co. Ltd.

    16,000        438,628  

Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.

    104,000        2,295,123  

Tokyo Electron Ltd.

    27,200        4,039,897  

Tokyu Corp.

    32,000        404,372  

Toppan Inc.

    16,000        386,495  

Toray Industries Inc.

    96,000        517,600  

Tosoh Corp.

    16,000        207,037  

TOTO Ltd.

    8,000        219,391  

Toyota Industries Corp.

    8,200        578,989  

Trend Micro Inc./Japan

    8,000        339,533  

Unicharm Corp.

    24,000        957,447  

USS Co. Ltd.

    16,000        279,395  

Welcia Holdings Co. Ltd.

    8,000        147,178  

West Japan Railway Co.

    12,200        528,187  

Yakult Honsha Co. Ltd.

    8,000        419,150  

Yamaha Corp.

    8,000        246,754  

Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd.

    16,000        414,020  

Yamato Holdings Co. Ltd.

    16,000        300,540  

Yaskawa Electric Corp.

    16,000        627,316  

Yokogawa Electric Corp.

    16,000        316,815  

Z Holdings Corp.

    184,000        552,527  

Zensho Holdings Co. Ltd.

    8,000        377,525  

ZOZO Inc.

    8,000        159,768  
    

 

 

 
       142,652,657  
Netherlands — 6.9%             

ABN AMRO Bank NV, CVA(b)

    23,062        339,240  

Adyen NV(a)(b)

    1,280        1,068,827  

AerCap Holdings NV(a)

    9,089        559,155  

Akzo Nobel NV

    9,760        792,351  

ASM International NV

    2,720        1,309,325  

ASML Holding NV

    23,360        15,359,856  

ASR Nederland NV

    9,280        406,234  

BE Semiconductor Industries NV

    4,480        515,422  

EXOR NV(c)

    6,240        552,221  

Ferrovial SE

    30,160        956,592  

IMCD NV

    3,216        442,947  

ING Groep NV

    210,560        2,983,427  

JDE Peet’s NV

    7,200        200,492  

NN Group NV

    14,400        554,335  

OCI NV

    6,080        153,771  

Prosus NV

    40,640        2,803,119  

QIAGEN NV(a)

    13,200        602,283  

Randstad NV

    6,320        370,890  

Universal Music Group NV

    47,840        1,186,106  
Security   Shares      Value  
Netherlands (continued)             

Wolters Kluwer NV

    14,960      $   1,802,535  
    

 

 

 
       32,959,128  
New Zealand — 0.4%             

Auckland International Airport Ltd.(a)

    72,000        335,231  

EBOS Group Ltd.

    8,880        200,933  

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp. Ltd.

    33,200        448,390  

Mercury NZ Ltd.

    42,885        158,707  

Meridian Energy Ltd.

    72,800        232,874  

Spark New Zealand Ltd.

    107,367        324,818  
    

 

 

 
       1,700,953  
Norway — 0.7%             

Adevinta ASA(a)

    15,769        111,865  

DNB Bank ASA

    53,600        1,059,487  

Gjensidige Forsikring ASA

    12,932        200,803  

Mowi ASA

    25,200        456,809  

Orkla ASA

    41,345        315,645  

Salmar ASA

    4,160        203,088  

Telenor ASA

    38,810        415,514  

Yara International ASA

    9,233        336,537  
    

 

 

 
         3,099,748  
Portugal — 0.1%             

Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA

    16,720        426,226  
    

 

 

 
Singapore — 1.9%             

CapitaLand Ascendas REIT

    216,099        442,594  

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust

    312,081        440,842  

Capitaland Investment Ltd/Singapore

    160,000        383,282  

City Developments Ltd.

    32,000        158,093  

DBS Group Holdings Ltd.

    104,000        2,559,819  

Grab Holdings Ltd., Class A(a)

    107,040        403,540  

Mapletree Logistics Trust

    200,000        248,490  

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd.

    192,000        1,781,435  

Seatrium Ltd.(a)

    2,568,000        275,279  

Singapore Airlines Ltd.(c)

    88,000        447,140  

Singapore Exchange Ltd.

    42,500        302,553  

United Overseas Bank Ltd.

    72,000        1,512,530  

UOL Group Ltd.

    24,400        119,791  
    

 

 

 
       9,075,388  
Spain — 1.6%             

Acciona SA

    1,440        205,803  

ACS Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA

    12,500        438,819  

Aena SME SA(b)

    4,339        682,078  

Amadeus IT Group SA

    26,320        1,805,906  

CaixaBank SA

    241,840        979,510  

Cellnex Telecom SA(b)

    32,800        1,254,451  

Corp. ACCIONA Energias Renovables SA

    4,880        145,015  

EDP Renovaveis SA

    19,445        355,632  

Grifols SA(a)

    17,200        235,637  

Redeia Corp. SA

    7,817        126,942  

Telefonica SA

    299,680        1,241,775  
    

 

 

 
       7,471,568  
Sweden — 4.7%             

Assa Abloy AB, Class B

    59,120        1,330,551  

Atlas Copco AB, Class A

    156,160        2,064,624  

Atlas Copco AB, Class B

    89,840        1,034,296  

Beijer Ref AB, Class B

    22,000        252,168  

Epiroc AB, Class A

    37,520        719,836  

Epiroc AB, Class B

    22,050        360,925  

EQT AB

    21,440        430,972  

 

 

S C H E D U L EO F  I N V E S T M E N T S

  13


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  
Sweden (continued)            

Essity AB, Class B

    34,160     $     797,506  

Fastighets AB Balder, Class B(a)

    37,859       180,952  

Getinge AB, Class B

    12,924       224,068  

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, Class B

    37,360       570,412  

Hexagon AB, Class B

    121,840       1,087,807  

Holmen AB, Class B

    5,184       196,495  

Husqvarna AB, Class B

    20,240       174,258  

Industrivarden AB, Class A

    7,940       206,829  

Industrivarden AB, Class C

    9,040       235,047  

Indutrade AB

    15,130       290,369  

Investment AB Latour, Class B

    8,480       154,087  

Investor AB, Class A

    1,223       23,339  

Investor AB, Class B

    99,120       1,907,844  

Lifco AB, Class B

    13,200       241,381  

Nibe Industrier AB, Class B

    88,640       663,477  

Nordea Bank Abp

     186,560       2,043,812  

Sagax AB, Class B

    11,280       234,593  

Sandvik AB

    62,320       1,178,584  

Securitas AB, Class B

    28,160       229,114  

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB, Class A

    94,160       1,091,652  

Skanska AB, Class B

    19,680       288,680  

SKF AB, Class B

    19,520       316,055  

Svenska Cellulosa AB SCA, Class B

    34,240       455,802  

Svenska Handelsbanken AB, Class A

    87,280       728,269  

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB(a)(c)

    9,040       174,367  

Tele2 AB, Class B

    30,640       216,465  

Telia Co. AB

    140,560       283,763  

Volvo AB, Class A

    11,440       233,991  

Volvo AB, Class B

    88,000       1,773,518  

Volvo Car AB, Class B(a)(c)

    33,004       125,304  
   

 

 

 
       22,521,212  
Switzerland — 7.3%            

ABB Ltd., Registered

    92,640       3,522,935  

Adecco Group AG, Registered

    8,839       380,210  

Alcon Inc.

    28,720       2,396,957  

Bachem Holding AG, Class B

    1,780       165,668  

Baloise Holding AG, Registered

    2,501       390,709  

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Registered

    1,680       182,019  

Coca-Cola HBC AG, Class DI

    12,640       364,119  

DSM-Firmenich AG

    10,800       999,010  

Geberit AG, Registered

    2,000       1,035,084  

Givaudan SA, Registered

    519       1,728,805  

Helvetia Holding AG, Registered

    2,000       304,149  

Julius Baer Group Ltd.

    12,080       838,466  

Kuehne + Nagel International AG, Registered

    3,120       937,388  

Logitech International SA, Registered

    9,440       653,083  

Lonza Group AG, Registered

    4,320       2,382,874  

Partners Group Holding AG

    1,352       1,457,327  

Schindler Holding AG, Participation Certificates, NVS

    2,320       516,661  

Schindler Holding AG, Registered

    1,360       285,374  

SGS SA

    8,800       799,241  

SIG Group AG

    17,280       454,558  

Sika AG, Registered

    8,480       2,396,297  

Sonova Holding AG, Registered

    2,960       782,128  

STMicroelectronics NV

    39,760       1,876,462  

Straumann Holding AG

    6,480       979,708  

Swiss Life Holding AG, Registered

    1,680       1,052,125  

Swiss Prime Site AG, Registered

    4,400       422,505  

Swiss Re AG

    17,640       1,712,978  

Swisscom AG, Registered

    1,445       879,845  
Security   Shares     Value  
Switzerland (continued)            

Temenos AG, Registered

    3,680     $ 291,662  

VAT Group AG(b)

    1,520       607,463  

Zurich Insurance Group AG

    8,820       4,135,636  
   

 

 

 
       34,931,446  
United Kingdom — 8.3%            

3i Group PLC

    56,400       1,420,233  

abrdn PLC

    114,720       239,314  

Admiral Group PLC

    12,160       383,089  

Anglo American PLC

    73,520       1,955,019  

Antofagasta PLC

    22,800       417,557  

Ashtead Group PLC

    25,360       1,769,070  

Associated British Foods PLC

    20,160       508,858  

Auto Trader Group PLC(b)

    53,600       411,029  

Aviva PLC

    159,600       757,264  

Barratt Developments PLC

    57,453       329,348  

Berkeley Group Holdings PLC

    6,160       316,477  

Bunzl PLC

    19,600       701,857  

Burberry Group PLC

    21,680       598,577  

CNH Industrial NV

    57,840       797,488  

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC

    11,920       764,191  

Compass Group PLC

    100,400       2,531,758  

Croda International PLC

    8,320       581,051  

Endeavour Mining PLC

    10,640       217,278  

Halma PLC

    21,520       583,373  

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC

    9,440       260,762  

Informa PLC

    81,040       748,769  

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC

    9,440       710,033  

Intertek Group PLC

    9,200       481,800  

JD Sports Fashion PLC

    148,480       272,535  

Johnson Matthey PLC

    10,320       212,759  

Kingfisher PLC

    110,320       326,932  

Land Securities Group PLC

    40,000       304,796  

Legal & General Group PLC

    346,160       956,404  

Lloyds Banking Group PLC

    3,754,960       2,006,134  

London Stock Exchange Group PLC

    23,120       2,391,859  

M&G PLC

    129,840       313,608  

Mondi PLC

    27,440       455,801  

Ocado Group PLC(a)

    33,120       364,821  

Pearson PLC

    37,360       395,968  

Persimmon PLC

    18,320       246,977  

Phoenix Group Holdings PLC

    42,960       282,995  

Prudential PLC

    159,440       1,941,829  

RELX PLC

    109,680       3,574,990  

Rentokil Initial PLC

    144,400       1,099,384  

Sage Group PLC (The)

    59,360       729,451  

Schroders PLC

    46,160       240,138  

Segro PLC

    67,360       627,948  

Severn Trent PLC

    14,491       440,061  

Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC

    4,240       543,340  

St. James’s Place PLC

    31,440       351,557  

Standard Chartered PLC

    137,360       1,235,925  

Taylor Wimpey PLC

    204,560       295,630  

Vodafone Group PLC

    1,331,600       1,234,463  

Whitbread PLC

    11,120       483,647  

Wise PLC, Class A(a)

    35,600       288,718  

WPP PLC

    61,840       599,440  
   

 

 

 
      39,702,305  
   

 

 

 

Total Common Stocks — 99.0%

   

(Cost: $481,060,980)

    .       470,835,592  
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

14  

2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S   A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  
Preferred Stocks            
Germany — 0.5%            

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Preference Shares, NVS

    3,440     $ 330,520  

Dr Ing hc F Porsche AG, Preference Shares, NVS(b)

    6,880       758,794  

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Preference Shares, NVS

    9,440       723,395  

Sartorius AG, Preference Shares, NVS

    1,520       621,568  
   

 

 

 
      2,434,277  
   

 

 

 

Total Preferred Stocks — 0.5%

   

(Cost: $2,557,179)

      2,434,277  
   

 

 

 
Rights    
Sweden — 0.0%            

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, (Expires 09/21/23, Strike Price SEK 142.00)(a)(c)

    8,814       7,962  
   

 

 

 

Total Rights — 0.0%
(Cost: $—)

      7,962  
   

 

 

 

Total Long-Term Investments — 99.5%

   

(Cost: $483,618,159)

      473,277,831  
   

 

 

 
Short-Term Securities    
Money Market Funds — 0.3%            

BlackRock Cash Funds: Institutional, SL Agency Shares, 5.52%(d)(e)(f)

    1,412,507       1,412,931  
Security   Shares     Value  
Money Market Funds (continued)            

BlackRock Cash Funds: Treasury, SL Agency Shares,
5.31%(d)(e)

    40,000     $ 40,000  
   

 

 

 

Total Short-Term Securities — 0.3%

   

(Cost: $1,452,822)

      1,452,931  
   

 

 

 

Total Investments — 99.8%

   

(Cost: $485,070,981)

      474,730,762  

Other Assets Less Liabilities — 0.2%

      1,145,007  
   

 

 

 

Net Assets — 100.0%

    $ 475,875,769  
   

 

 

 

 

(a)

Non-income producing security.

(b)

Security exempt from registration pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These securities may be resold in transactions exempt from registration to qualified institutional investors.

(c)

All or a portion of this security is on loan.

(d)

Affiliate of the Fund.

(e)

Annualized 7-day yield as of period end.

(f)

All or a portion of this security was purchased with the cash collateral from loaned securities.

 

Affiliates

Investments in issuers considered to be affiliate(s) of the Fund during the year ended August 31, 2023 for purposes of Section 2(a)(3) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, were as follows:

 

                   
  Affiliated Issuer   Value at
08/31/22
     Purchases
at Cost
    Proceeds
from Sale
    Net
Realized
Gain (Loss)
     Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Value at
08/31/23
     Shares
Held at
08/31/23
     Income     Capital Gain
Distributions
from
Underlying
Funds
 
 

BlackRock Cash Funds: Institutional, SL Agency Shares

  $ 1,631,126      $     $ (223,813 )(a)    $ 6,114      $ (496   $ 1,412,931        1,412,507      $ 22,079 (b)    $  
 

BlackRock Cash Funds: Treasury, SL Agency Shares

    30,000        10,000 (a)                         40,000        40,000        6,255        
          

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

 
           $ 6,114      $ (496   $ 1,452,931         $ 28,334     $   —  
          

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

  (a)

Represents net amount purchased (sold).

  (b)

All or a portion represents securities lending income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral from loaned securities, net of fees and collateral investment expenses, and other payments to and from borrowers of securities.

Derivative Financial Instruments Outstanding as of Period End

Futures Contracts

 

         
Description    Number of
Contracts
     Expiration
Date
     Notional
Amount (000)
     Value/
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
 
Long Contracts            

Mini TOPIX Index

     59        09/07/23      $ 943      $ 37,413  
           

 

 

 

 

 

S C H E D U L EO F  I N V E S T M E N T S

  15


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

 

Futures Contracts (continued)

 

         
Description    Number of
Contracts
     Expiration
Date
     Notional
Amount (000)
     Value/
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
 

Euro STOXX 50 Index

     33        09/15/23      $ 1,540      $ (1,755
           

 

 

 
            $ 35,658  
           

 

 

 

Derivative Financial Instruments Categorized by Risk Exposure

As of period end, the fair values of derivative financial instruments located in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities were as follows:

 

               
      Commodity
Contracts
     Credit
Contracts
     Equity
Contracts
     Foreign
Currency
Exchange
Contracts
     Interest
Rate
Contracts
     Other
Contracts
     Total  

Assets — Derivative Financial Instruments

                    

Futures contracts

                    

Unrealized appreciation on futures contracts(a)

   $      $      $ 37,413      $      $      $      $ 37,413  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Liabilities — Derivative Financial Instruments

                    

Futures contracts

                    

Unrealized depreciation on futures contracts(a)

   $      $      $ 1,755      $      $      $      $ 1,755  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  (a)

Net cumulative unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on futures contracts are reported in the Schedule of Investments. In the Statements of Assets and Liabilities, only current day’s variation margin is reported in receivables or payables and the net cumulative unrealized appreciation (depreciation) is included in accumulated earnings (loss).

 

For the period ended August 31, 2023, the effect of derivative financial instruments in the Statements of Operations was as follows:

 

               
      Commodity
Contracts
     Credit
Contracts
     Equity
Contracts
     Foreign
Currency
Exchange
Contracts
     Interest
Rate
Contracts
     Other
Contracts
     Total  

Net Realized Gain (Loss) from

                    

Futures contracts

   $      $      $ 505,008      $      $      $      $ 505,008  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net Change in Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) on

                    

Futures contracts

   $      $      $ 48,787      $      $      $      $ 48,787  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Average Quarterly Balances of Outstanding Derivative Financial Instruments

 

 

 

Futures contracts:

  

Average notional value of contracts — long

   $ 2,391,327  

 

 

For more information about the Fund’s investment risks regarding derivative financial instruments, refer to the Notes to Financial Statements.

Fair Value Hierarchy as of Period End

Various inputs are used in determining the fair value of financial instruments. For a description of the input levels and information about the Fund’s policy regarding valuation of financial instruments, refer to the Notes to Financial Statements.

The following table summarizes the Fund’s financial instruments categorized in the fair value hierarchy. The breakdown of the Fund’s financial instruments into major categories is disclosed in the Schedule of Investments above.

 

 

 
    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

 

 

Assets

          

Investments

          

Long-Term Investments

          

Common Stocks

  $  4,937,600      $  465,897,992      $    —      $  470,835,592  

Preferred Stocks

           2,434,277               2,434,277  

Rights

    7,962                      7,962  

 

 

16  

2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S   A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

 

Fair Value Hierarchy as of Period End (continued)

 

 

 
    Level 1      Level 2     Level 3      Total  

 

 

Short-Term Securities

         

Money Market Funds

  $  1,452,931      $     $    —      $ 1,452,931  
 

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 
  $ 6,398,493      $  468,332,269     $      $  474,730,762  
 

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Derivative Financial Instruments(a)

         

Assets

         

Equity Contracts

  $      $ 37,413     $      $ 37,413  

Liabilities

         

Equity Contracts

           (1,755            (1,755
 

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 
  $      $ 35,658     $        35,658  
 

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  (a) 

Derivative financial instruments are futures contracts. Futures contracts are valued at the unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on the instrument.

 

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

S C H E D U L EO F  I N V E S T M E N T S

  17


Schedule of Investments

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  

Common Stocks

   
Brazil — 2.9%            

Atacadao SA

    11,072     $ 22,940  

B3 SA - Brasil, Bolsa, Balcao

    98,224       256,467  

Banco Bradesco SA

    26,760       71,547  

Banco do Brasil SA

    14,608       138,940  

CCR SA

    16,768       42,190  

Cia. de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo

    5,712       66,808  

Energisa SA

    3,744       34,854  

Equatorial Energia SA

    17,408       111,295  

Hapvida Participacoes e Investimentos SA(a)(b)

    89,280       76,803  

Localiza Rent a Car SA

    15,233       194,563  

Lojas Renner SA

    16,672       53,968  

Natura & Co. Holding SA(b)

    15,040       46,104  

Raia Drogasil SA

    21,994       122,049  

Rede D’Or Sao Luiz SA(a)

    9,984       57,782  

Rumo SA

    21,824       98,498  

Sendas Distribuidora SA

    23,296       54,617  

Telefonica Brasil SA

    6,944       57,983  

Tim SA

    14,032       40,832  

TOTVS SA

    8,976       50,281  
   

 

 

 
        1,598,521  
Chile — 0.5%            

Banco de Chile

    766,544       83,616  

Banco de Credito e Inversiones SA

    1,137       32,710  

Banco Santander Chile

    1,104,824       52,872  

Cencosud SA

    21,584       46,203  

Empresas CMPC SA

    19,552       35,500  

Falabella SA

    14,464       35,629  
   

 

 

 
      286,530  
China — 30.3%            

37 Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Group Co. Ltd., Class A

    3,200       10,846  

3SBio Inc.(a)

    32,000       26,761  

AAC Technologies Holdings Inc.

    16,000       30,993  

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., Class A

    88,000       41,826  

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., Class H

    496,000       170,006  

AIMA Technology Group Co. Ltd.

    1,600       6,244  

Air China Ltd., Class A(b)

    9,600       11,424  

Air China Ltd., Class H(b)

    32,000       23,687  

Akeso Inc.(a)(b)

    8,000       35,137  

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.(b)

    249,600       2,896,891  

Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd.(b)

    96,000       56,678  

BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Class A

    8,000       5,650  

Baidu Inc.(b)

    38,640       690,081  

Bank of China Ltd., Class A

    36,800       18,957  

Bank of China Ltd., Class H

    1,344,000       455,504  

Bank of Communications Co. Ltd., Class A

    40,000       30,519  

Bank of Communications Co. Ltd., Class H

    144,000       82,418  

Bank of Hangzhou Co. Ltd., Class A

    6,400       9,860  

Bank of Ningbo Co. Ltd., Class A

    6,400       23,007  

Beijing Enterprises Water Group Ltd.

    64,000       14,745  

Beijing Kingsoft Office Software Inc., Class A

    478       25,918  

Beijing Shiji Information Technology Co. Ltd., Class A(b)

    2,576       4,800  

Beijing Tongrentang Co. Ltd., Class A

    1,600       12,363  

Beiqi Foton Motor Co. Ltd.(b)

    14,400       7,084  

BOC Aviation Ltd.(a)

    3,200       24,001  

Bosideng International Holdings Ltd.

    64,000       25,114  

BYD Co. Ltd., Class A

    1,800       61,736  

BYD Co. Ltd., Class H

    17,000       533,981  
Security   Shares     Value  
China (continued)            

By-health Co. Ltd., Class A

    1,600     $ 4,248  

China CITIC Bank Corp. Ltd., Class H

    160,000       71,211  

China Conch Venture Holdings Ltd.

    24,000       23,581  

China Construction Bank Corp., Class A

    9,600       7,918  

China Construction Bank Corp., Class H

    1,632,000           873,203  

China Everbright Bank Co. Ltd., Class A

    49,600       20,515  

China Everbright Bank Co. Ltd., Class H

    48,000       13,825  

China Everbright Environment Group Ltd.

    64,000       23,313  

China Feihe Ltd.(a)

    64,000       38,478  

China International Capital Corp. Ltd., Class A

    1,600       8,578  

China International Capital Corp. Ltd., Class H(a)

    25,600       49,168  

China Jinmao Holdings Group Ltd.

    96,000       13,593  

China Jushi Co. Ltd., Class A

    4,971       9,538  

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Class A

    3,200       15,692  

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Class H

    128,000       194,002  

China Literature Ltd.(a)(b)

    6,400       25,702  

China Medical System Holdings Ltd.

    32,000       46,088  

China Mengniu Dairy Co. Ltd.

    55,000       184,936  

China Minsheng Banking Corp. Ltd., Class A

    39,376       20,443  

China Minsheng Banking Corp. Ltd., Class H

    112,000       35,973  

China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd.

    64,000       134,918  

China Railway Signal & Communication Corp. Ltd., Class A

    9,800       7,559  

China Resources Land Ltd.

    54,000       228,242  

China Resources Mixc Lifestyle Services Ltd.(a)

    12,800       55,311  

China Resources Pharmaceutical Group Ltd.(a)

    24,000       16,021  

China Ruyi Holdings Ltd.(b)

    128,000       33,943  

China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd., Class A(b)

    13,700       11,917  

China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd., Class H(b)

    32,000       16,999  

China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp. Ltd.(a)

    1,600       21,487  

China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp. Ltd., Class A

    1,600       23,987  

China Vanke Co. Ltd., Class A

    11,200       21,003  

China Vanke Co. Ltd., Class H

    36,800       42,928  

China Zheshang Bank Co. Ltd., Class A

    22,820       8,066  

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd.(c)

    35,200       53,376  

CITIC Securities Co. Ltd., Class A

    12,800       39,115  

CITIC Securities Co. Ltd., Class H

    32,000       62,484  

CMOC Group Ltd., Class A

    30,400       23,908  

CMOC Group Ltd., Class H

    48,000       28,635  

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., Class A

    4,380       142,276  

Country Garden Services Holdings Co. Ltd.

    39,000       45,312  

CSC Financial Co. Ltd., Class A

    4,800       17,018  

CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd.

    160,000       120,257  

Dongfeng Motor Group Co. Ltd., Class H

    32,000       11,738  

Far East Horizon Ltd.

    16,000       10,931  

Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. Ltd., Class A

    9,600       28,859  

Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd., Class H(a)(c)

    6,400       30,570  

Ganfeng Lithium Group Co. Ltd., Class A

    1,600       10,429  

GDS Holdings Ltd., Class A(b)

    16,000       23,756  

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.

    96,000       119,172  

GEM Co. Ltd., Class A

    7,200       6,193  

Genscript Biotech Corp.(b)

    18,000       42,015  

Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd., Class A

    3,200       11,495  

Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd., Class H

    40,000       47,392  

Greentown China Holdings Ltd.

    16,000       19,001  

Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings Co. Ltd., Class A

    1,624       6,902  

Haier Smart Home Co. Ltd., Class A

    6,400       20,670  

Haier Smart Home Co. Ltd., Class H

    41,600       128,847  

Haitong Securities Co. Ltd., Class A

    12,800       17,302  

 

 

18  

2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S   A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  
China (continued)            

Haitong Securities Co. Ltd., Class H

    38,400     $ 23,826  

Hangzhou Robam Appliances Co. Ltd., Class A

    1,600       6,044  

Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd.(a)

    32,000       41,578  

Huatai Securities Co. Ltd., Class A

    8,000       17,486  

Huatai Securities Co. Ltd., Class H(a)

    19,200       25,263  

Huaxia Bank Co. Ltd., Class A

    14,400       10,962  

Hundsun Technologies Inc., Class A

    1,978       9,786  

Hygeia Healthcare Holdings Co. Ltd.(a)

    6,400       32,392  

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Class A

    67,200       42,657  

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Class H

    1,104,000       506,159  

Industrial Bank Co. Ltd., Class A

    22,400       48,689  

Industrial Securities Co. Ltd., Class A

    9,660       8,517  

Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co. Ltd., Class A

    6,400       22,883  

JD Health International Inc.(a)(b)

    19,200       103,561  

JD.com Inc., Class A

    40,000       664,324  

Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. Ltd., Class A

    6,400       36,794  

Jiumaojiu International Holdings Ltd.(a)

    16,000       25,662  

Joincare Pharmaceutical Group Industry Co. Ltd., Class A

    3,200       5,018  

Kanzhun Ltd., ADR(b)

    3,680       54,464  

Kingboard Holdings Ltd.

    8,000       18,154  

Kingdee International Software Group Co. Ltd.(b)

    48,000       74,165  

Kingsoft Corp. Ltd.

    16,000       63,775  

Koolearn Technology Holding Ltd.(a)(b)(c)

    8,000       40,526  

Kuaishou Technology(a)(b)

    40,000       327,437  

Li Auto Inc.(b)

    18,338       381,794  

Longfor Group Holdings Ltd.(a)

    32,000       67,539  

Meituan, Class B(a)(b)

    86,400         1,429,847  

Microport Scientific Corp.(b)

    14,400       24,659  

Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd., Class A

    3,200       6,562  

MINISO Group Holding Ltd.(b)

    1,552       40,197  

NavInfo Co. Ltd., Class A(b)

    3,200       4,529  

NetEase Inc.

    32,075       664,512  

NIO Inc., ADR(b)(c)

    23,472       241,057  

Nongfu Spring Co. Ltd., Class H(a)

    28,800       161,752  

Orient Securities Co. Ltd., Class A

    8,400       11,518  

People’s Insurance Co. Group of China Ltd. (The), Class A

    9,600       7,714  

People’s Insurance Co. Group of China Ltd. (The), Class H

    144,000       49,015  

Pharmaron Beijing Co. Ltd., Class A

    2,400       9,811  

Ping An Bank Co. Ltd., Class A

    20,800       31,810  

Ping An Healthcare and Technology Co. Ltd.(a)(b)(c)

    9,600       23,963  

Ping An Insurance Group Co. of China Ltd., Class A

    11,200       75,197  

Ping An Insurance Group Co. of China Ltd., Class H

    112,000       670,560  

Pop Mart International Group Ltd.(a)

    9,600       31,225  

Postal Savings Bank of China Co. Ltd., Class A

    33,600       22,446  

Postal Savings Bank of China Co. Ltd., Class H(a)

    128,000       63,133  

SF Holding Co. Ltd., Class A

    4,800       28,666  

Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer Co. Ltd., Class H

    44,800       44,607  

Shanghai Electric Group Co. Ltd., Class A(b)

    14,883       9,133  

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd., Class A

    3,200       12,272  

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd., Class H

    8,000       18,782  

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co. Ltd., Class A

    3,200       7,857  

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co. Ltd., Class H

    12,800       21,045  

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co. Ltd., Class A

    30,400       29,179  

Shanghai Putailai New Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Class A

    2,230       10,029  

Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank Co. Ltd.

    9,399       7,519  
Security   Shares     Value  
China (continued)            

Shenzhen Inovance Technology Co. Ltd., Class A

    1,650     $ 15,492  

Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co. Ltd., Class A

    1,600       59,360  

Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd.

    176,000       66,808  

Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd., Class H

    25,600       74,289  

Sungrow Power Supply Co. Ltd., Class A

    1,600       21,933  

Sunny Optical Technology Group Co. Ltd.

    12,800       104,514  

TCL Technology Group Corp., Class A(b)

    19,760       11,123  

Tongcheng Travel Holdings Ltd.(b)

    19,200       43,028  

Topsports International Holdings Ltd.(a)

    32,000       26,060  

Unisplendour Corp. Ltd., Class A(b)

    3,200       11,838  

Vipshop Holdings Ltd., ADR(b)

    5,744       90,698  

Want Want China Holdings Ltd.

    80,000       52,911  

WuXi AppTec Co. Ltd., Class A

    3,260       36,596  

WuXi AppTec Co. Ltd., Class H(a)

    6,440       70,571  

Wuxi Biologics Cayman Inc.(a)(b)

    64,000       360,806  

Xinyi Solar Holdings Ltd.

    96,000       80,102  

XPeng Inc.(b)

    18,136       162,997  

Xtep International Holdings Ltd.

    24,000       23,779  

Yadea Group Holdings Ltd.(a)

    20,000       38,453  

Yonyou Network Technology Co. Ltd., Class A

    3,200       7,983  

Yum China Holdings Inc.

    7,024       377,119  

Yunnan Baiyao Group Co. Ltd., Class A

    2,140       16,073  

Yunnan Chihong Zinc&Germanium Co. Ltd.

    4,800       3,463  

Zai Lab Ltd.(b)

    16,140       42,030  

Zhejiang Expressway Co. Ltd., Class H

    32,000       23,895  

Zhejiang Weixing New Building Materials Co. Ltd., Class A

    2,300       6,386  

Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Class A

    8,000       7,106  
   

 

 

 
       16,959,734  
Colombia — 0.1%            

Bancolombia SA

    4,240       30,164  

Interconexion Electrica SA ESP

    8,032       29,414  
   

 

 

 
      59,578  
Czech Republic — 0.1%            

Komercni Banka AS

    1,297       40,501  

Moneta Money Bank AS(a)

    5,648       21,069  
   

 

 

 
      61,570  
Egypt — 0.1%            

Commercial International Bank Egypt SAE

    32,770       45,535  
   

 

 

 
Greece — 0.6%            

Alpha Services and Holdings SA(b)

    37,199       62,537  

Eurobank Ergasias Services and Holdings SA, Class A(b)

    43,528       75,459  

Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA

    3,302       49,346  

JUMBO SA

    1,996       61,728  

National Bank of Greece SA(b)

    9,487       64,414  

Piraeus Financial Holdings SA(b)

    11,280       39,043  
   

 

 

 
      352,527  
Hungary — 0.4%            

OTP Bank Nyrt

    4,112       167,677  

Richter Gedeon Nyrt

    2,380       59,730  
   

 

 

 
      227,407  
India — 15.4%            

ABB India Ltd.

    912       48,234  

Adani Green Energy Ltd.(b)

    5,344       59,946  

Ashok Leyland Ltd.

    23,680       52,588  

Asian Paints Ltd.

    6,512       256,023  

 

 

S C H E D U L EO F  I N V E S T M E N T S

  19


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  
India (continued)            

Astral Ltd.

    2,016     $ 47,585  

AU Small Finance Bank Ltd.(a)

    3,008       26,258  

Axis Bank Ltd.

    38,588       453,355  

Bajaj Auto Ltd.

    1,168       65,038  

Bajaj Finance Ltd.

    4,624       399,682  

Bandhan Bank Ltd.(a)

    12,397       34,344  

Bank of Baroda

    17,456       39,417  

Berger Paints India Ltd.

    4,249       36,863  

Bharti Airtel Ltd.

    37,792       390,733  

Britannia Industries Ltd.

    1,840       99,286  

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co. Ltd.

    6,992       94,682  

Colgate-Palmolive India Ltd.

    2,032       47,639  

Cummins India Ltd.

    2,368       48,848  

DLF Ltd.

    10,496       63,856  

Eicher Motors Ltd.

    2,304       92,811  

Grasim Industries Ltd.

    4,528       97,878  

Havells India Ltd.

    4,352       72,726  

HCL Technologies Ltd.

    16,160       228,610  

HDFC Bank Ltd.

    47,205       893,872  

HDFC Life Insurance Co. Ltd.(a)

    16,144       125,621  

Hero MotoCorp Ltd.

    1,888       66,461  

Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

    13,968       422,530  

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd.(a)

    4,178       66,247  

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.(a)

    5,882       40,039  

IDFC First Bank Ltd.(b)

    50,996       57,503  

Indian Hotels Co. Ltd. (The), Class A

    14,288       72,578  

Info Edge India Ltd.

    1,185       61,922  

Infosys Ltd.

    56,256       974,869  

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

    18,464       391,804  

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

    15,936       303,001  

Marico Ltd.

    8,784       60,443  

Mphasis Ltd.

    1,264       37,043  

Nestle India Ltd.

    576       152,902  

PI Industries Ltd.

    1,392       60,984  

SBI Cards & Payment Services Ltd.

    4,816       47,472  

Shriram Transport Finance Co. Ltd.

    4,832       112,465  

Siemens Ltd.

    1,536       72,727  

Sona Blw Precision Forgings Ltd.(a)

    6,880       49,498  

State Bank of India

    30,064       203,609  

Supreme Industries Ltd.

    955       51,423  

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

    15,520       628,620  

Tata Consumer Products Ltd.

    8,992       90,625  

Tata Elxsi Ltd.

    577       50,460  

Tech Mahindra Ltd.

    9,152       132,700  

Titan Co. Ltd.

    6,032       226,026  

Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd

    1,792       39,888  

Trent Ltd.

    3,088       76,384  

TVS Motor Co. Ltd.

    4,160       71,286  

Wipro Ltd.

    22,224       109,471  

Zomato Ltd.(b)

    73,107       86,025  
   

 

 

 
        8,592,900  
Indonesia — 2.7%            

Bank Central Asia Tbk PT

    944,000       568,293  

Bank Negara Indonesia Persero Tbk PT

    129,600       78,046  

Bank Rakyat Indonesia Persero Tbk PT

    1,156,847       421,435  

Barito Pacific Tbk PT

    492,862       34,623  

Kalbe Farma Tbk PT

    350,400       41,688  

Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk PT(b)

    209,600       46,458  

Sarana Menara Nusantara Tbk PT

    337,600       22,829  

Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk PT

    280,000       53,316  
Security   Shares     Value  
Indonesia (continued)            

Telkom Indonesia Persero Tbk PT

    833,600     $ 203,764  

Unilever Indonesia Tbk PT

    132,800       32,000  
   

 

 

 
      1,502,452  
Kuwait — 0.6%            

Gulf Bank KSCP

    31,145       25,455  

Kuwait Finance House KSCP

    138,665       335,015  
   

 

 

 
      360,470  
Malaysia — 2.1%            

AMMB Holdings Bhd

    28,900       23,249  

Axiata Group Bhd

    51,200       26,055  

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd

    108,800       131,890  

DiGi.Com Bhd(c)

    62,400       58,924  

Gamuda Bhd

    28,800       27,960  

Hong Leong Bank Bhd

    11,200       48,191  

Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd

    3,200       12,566  

IHH Healthcare Bhd

    36,800       47,020  

Inari Amertron Bhd

    48,000       32,652  

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd(c)

    8,000       37,153  

Malayan Banking Bhd

    92,800       182,164  

Maxis Bhd(c)

    36,800       31,814  

MR DIY Group M Bhd(a)(c)

    54,400       18,173  

Nestle Malaysia Bhd

    1,600       45,000  

PPB Group Bhd

    11,200       37,945  

Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd

    60,800       63,555  

Public Bank Bhd

    246,200       224,419  

RHB Bank Bhd

    24,000       29,011  

Sime Darby Bhd

    46,400       22,971  

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd

    32,000       30,367  

Telekom Malaysia Bhd

    17,600       19,358  
   

 

 

 
      1,150,437  
Mexico — 2.1%            

Arca Continental SAB de CV

    8,500       82,754  

Banco del Bajio SA(a)

    12,800       40,373  

Gruma SAB de CV, Class B

    3,280       54,754  

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV, Class B

    6,400       117,584  

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB de CV, Class B

    3,200       87,191  

Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV, Class O

    44,800       379,462  

Grupo Televisa SAB, CPO

    36,800       32,655  

Kimberly-Clark de Mexico SAB de CV, Class A

    25,600       57,595  

Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB de CV

    89,600       352,977  
   

 

 

 
      1,205,345  
Netherlands — 0.1%            

NEPI Rockcastle NV

    8,144       48,877  
   

 

 

 
Peru — 0.3%            

Credicorp Ltd.

    1,136       160,664  
   

 

 

 
Philippines — 0.4%            

BDO Unibank Inc.

    39,768       97,773  

PLDT Inc.

    1,360       27,600  

SM Prime Holdings Inc.

    179,200       92,403  
   

 

 

 
          217,776  
Poland — 1.2%            

Allegro.eu SA (a)(b)

    8,289       66,300  

Bank Polska Kasa Opieki SA

    3,044       79,467  

Budimex SA

    208       22,687  

CD Projekt SA

    1,128       40,263  

KGHM Polska Miedz SA

    2,320       63,975  

LPP SA

    19       63,918  

 

 

20  

2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S   A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  
Poland (continued)            

mBank SA(b)

    256     $ 26,587  

Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank Polski SA

    14,784       133,511  

Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen SA

    10,272       102,872  

Santander Bank Polska SA(b)

    608       54,701  
   

 

 

 
      654,281  
Qatar — 0.8%            

Commercial Bank PSQC (The)

    55,200       85,982  

Ooredoo QPSC

    13,552       40,149  

Qatar National Bank QPSC

    78,320       335,008  
   

 

 

 
      461,139  
Russia — 0.0%            

Magnit PJSC(b)(d)

    693        

Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS PJSC(b)(d)

    12,190       1  

Novolipetsk Steel PJSC(b)(d)

    15,750       2  

PhosAgro PJSC(b)(d)

    563        

PhosAgro PJSC, New(b)(d)

    11        

Polymetal International PLC(b)(d)

    3,451       1  

Polyus PJSC(b)(d)

    329        

TCS Group Holding PLC, GDR(b)(d)(e)

    1,183        

VK Co. Ltd.(b)(d)

    1,337        
   

 

 

 
      4  
Saudi Arabia — 3.1%            

Al Rajhi Bank

    33,248       639,169  

Alinma Bank

    16,736       164,435  

Bank AlBilad

    8,227       93,951  

Banque Saudi Fransi

    9,648       98,650  

Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Services Group Co.

    1,488       96,267  

Etihad Etisalat Co.

    6,240       75,117  

Jarir Marketing Co.

    9,648       37,968  

Mobile Telecommunications Co.

    7,360       26,491  

Sahara International Petrochemical Co.

    6,112       59,331  

Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

    15,312       360,615  

Saudi Investment Bank (The)

    8,528       37,709  

Savola Group (The)

    4,560       46,012  
   

 

 

 
        1,735,715  
South Africa — 5.3%            

Absa Group Ltd.

    14,280       137,681  

Anglo American Platinum Ltd.

    1,152       40,175  

Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd.

    6,256       57,044  

Bid Corp. Ltd.

    5,756       129,485  

Bidvest Group Ltd. (The)

    4,816       72,667  

Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd.

    1,472       123,520  

Clicks Group Ltd.

    4,208       60,942  

Discovery Ltd.(b)

    9,136       70,984  

FirstRand Ltd.

    85,536       332,343  

Gold Fields Ltd.

    15,184       194,259  

Growthpoint Properties Ltd.

    58,752       36,741  

Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.

    14,464       74,463  

Kumba Iron Ore Ltd.

    1,120       24,635  

MTN Group Ltd.

    28,840       183,745  

Naspers Ltd., Class N

    3,328       566,913  

Nedbank Group Ltd.

    7,312       83,559  

Northam Platinum Holdings Ltd.(b)

    6,096       40,188  

Old Mutual Ltd.

    81,584       54,821  

Pepkor Holdings Ltd.(a)

    35,334       30,497  

Remgro Ltd.

    9,040       75,656  

Sanlam Ltd.

    29,888       107,856  

Shoprite Holdings Ltd.

    8,560       119,586  

Standard Bank Group Ltd.

    22,752       232,773  
Security   Shares      Value  
South Africa (continued)             

Vodacom Group Ltd.

    10,400      $ 59,399  

Woolworths Holdings Ltd.

    15,968        62,722  
    

 

 

 
       2,972,654  
South Korea — 6.5%             

Amorepacific Corp.

    496        50,166  

BGF retail Co. Ltd.

    144        17,027  

Celltrion Healthcare Co. Ltd.

    1,776        86,936  

CJ CheilJedang Corp.

    144        32,540  

Coway Co. Ltd.

    912        29,780  

DB Insurance Co. Ltd.

    784        48,418  

Hana Financial Group Inc.

    5,024        150,130  

Hanon Systems

    3,344        23,024  

HYBE Co. Ltd.(b)

    320        61,101  

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd.

    1,264        33,903  

Industrial Bank of Korea

    4,528        36,861  

JYP Entertainment Corp.

    480        40,746  

KakaoBank Corp.

    2,816        56,015  

KB Financial Group Inc.

    6,496        264,622  

Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd.

    3,056        52,627  

KT Corp.

    1,056        26,365  

LG Display Co. Ltd.(b)

    3,872        39,173  

LG Electronics Inc.

    1,808        134,554  

LG H&H Co. Ltd.

    160        56,147  

Lotte Chemical Corp.

    328        33,851  

Mirae Asset Securities Co. Ltd.

    4,496        22,630  

NCSoft Corp.

    240        45,597  

Netmarble Corp.(a)(b)

    320        10,361  

NH Investment & Securities Co. Ltd.

    2,224        17,316  

POSCO Future M Co. Ltd.

    528        179,205  

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. Ltd.

    944        96,536  

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. Ltd.

    528        98,356  

Samsung Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

    1,312        67,058  

Samsung SDI Co. Ltd.

    928        430,408  

Samsung SDS Co. Ltd.

    675        72,440  

Samsung Securities Co. Ltd.

    1,136        32,062  

Shinhan Financial Group Co. Ltd.

    7,536        202,429  

SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.(b)

    576        37,296  

SK Bioscience Co. Ltd.(b)

    464        25,792  

SK Hynix Inc.

    9,248        850,355  

SK IE Technology Co. Ltd.(a)(b)

    448        30,548  

SKC Co. Ltd.

    288        19,902  

Woori Financial Group Inc.

    10,220        91,945  

Yuhan Corp.

    886        48,771  
    

 

 

 
         3,652,993  
Taiwan — 16.6%             

Accton Technology Corp.

    9,000        134,229  

Acer Inc.

    48,000        55,036  

Advantech Co. Ltd.

    7,599        81,775  

ASE Technology Holding Co. Ltd.

    51,000        188,765  

Asustek Computer Inc.

    12,000        151,188  

AUO Corp.

    112,000        62,542  

Cathay Financial Holding Co. Ltd.

    160,080        228,888  

Chailease Holding Co. Ltd.

    25,821        143,937  

Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Ltd.

    99,015        53,735  

China Airlines Ltd.

    48,000        34,021  

China Development Financial Holding Corp.(b)

    272,000        101,055  

China Steel Corp.

    192,000        159,696  

Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd.

    64,000        233,334  

Compal Electronics Inc.

    64,000        63,901  

 

 

S C H E D U L EO F  I N V E S T M E N T S

  21


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  
Taiwan (continued)            

CTBC Financial Holding Co. Ltd.

    304,000     $ 227,217  

Delta Electronics Inc.

    33,000       356,627  

E Ink Holdings Inc.

    16,000       91,453  

E.Sun Financial Holding Co. Ltd.

    241,895       185,512  

Eclat Textile Co. Ltd.

    3,000       47,795  

Eva Airways Corp.

    48,000       47,371  

Evergreen Marine Corp. Taiwan Ltd.

    18,000       60,112  

Far Eastern New Century Corp.

    48,000       42,372  

Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. Ltd.

    32,000       70,977  

First Financial Holding Co. Ltd.

    181,340       149,664  

Fubon Financial Holding Co. Ltd.

    131,650       262,531  

Hotai Motor Co. Ltd.

    5,100       108,480  

Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co. Ltd.

    144,037       92,683  

Innolux Corp.

    152,570       69,111  

Inventec Corp.

    48,000       84,559  

Lite-On Technology Corp.

    34,000       145,352  

MediaTek Inc.

    26,000       573,390  

Mega Financial Holding Co. Ltd.

    193,788       218,093  

momo.com Inc.

    1,100       17,942  

Nan Ya Plastics Corp.

    80,000       166,031  

Nien Made Enterprise Co. Ltd.

    3,000       28,116  

President Chain Store Corp.

    9,000       75,470  

Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank Ltd. (The)

    67,225       89,913  

Shin Kong Financial Holding Co. Ltd.(b)

    224,000       66,528  

SinoPac Financial Holdings Co. Ltd.

    180,383       96,820  

Taishin Financial Holding Co. Ltd.

    192,372       107,401  

Taiwan Business Bank

    98,688       41,295  

Taiwan Cement Corp.

    112,994       123,877  

Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co. Ltd.

    169,973       140,073  

Taiwan Mobile Co. Ltd.

    32,000       93,619  

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

    161,000       2,766,455  

Unimicron Technology Corp.

    23,000       133,084  

United Microelectronics Corp.

    192,000       274,128  

Voltronic Power Technology Corp.

    1,000       45,388  

Wistron Corp.

    48,000       175,481  

Wiwynn Corp.

    1,000       48,735  

WPG Holdings Ltd.

    32,000       55,067  

Yageo Corp.

    4,775       72,538  

Yuanta Financial Holding Co. Ltd.

    179,249       137,157  
   

 

 

 
        9,280,519  
Thailand — 2.7%            

Advanced Info Service PCL, NVDR

    19,900       122,683  

Airports of Thailand PCL, NVDR(b)

    73,600       152,319  

Asset World Corp. PCL, NVDR

    145,300       18,077  

Bangkok Dusit Medical Services PCL, NVDR

    190,400       152,195  

Berli Jucker PCL, NVDR

    18,500       17,820  

BTS Group Holdings PCL, NVDR

    143,200       30,042  

Bumrungrad Hospital PCL, NVDR

    9,600       70,968  

Central Pattana PCL, NVDR

    38,400       75,333  

Central Retail Corp. PCL, NVDR

    32,000       37,645  

Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL, NVDR

    73,300       43,325  

CP ALL PCL, NVDR

    102,400       190,680  

Delta Electronics Thailand PCL, NVDR

    56,000       173,311  

Home Product Center PCL, NVDR

    104,100       40,693  

Indorama Ventures PCL, NVDR

    30,400       25,160  

Intouch Holdings PCL, NVDR

    16,000       33,224  

Kasikornbank PCL, NVDR

    11,500       42,839  

Krung Thai Bank PCL, NVDR

    64,000       35,256  

Krungthai Card PCL, NVDR(c)

    16,400       22,702  

Minor International PCL, NVDR

    56,000       53,134  
Security   Shares      Value  
Thailand (continued)             

SCB X PCL, NVS

    14,400      $ 48,497  

SCG Packaging PCL, NVDR

    22,800        26,678  

Siam Cement PCL (The), NVDR

    14,400        128,647  
    

 

 

 
       1,541,228  
Turkey — 0.7%             

Akbank TAS

    52,112        56,059  

Haci Omer Sabanci Holding AS

    17,568        39,280  

Pegasus Hava Tasimaciligi AS(b)

    784        25,648  

Turk Hava Yollari AO(b)

    9,296        85,159  

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS

    20,032        41,775  

Turkiye Is Bankasi AS, Class C

    60,992        48,016  

Turkiye Sise ve Cam Fabrikalari AS

    22,992        44,046  

Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi AS

    58,176        34,552  
    

 

 

 
       374,535  
United Arab Emirates — 2.0%             

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC

    49,730        116,845  

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC

    24,784        70,310  

Aldar Properties PJSC

    64,960        92,983  

Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC

    50,000        76,762  

Emirates NBD Bank PJSC

    32,672        145,383  

Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. PJSC

    58,736        317,267  

First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC

    74,656        277,985  
    

 

 

 
       1,097,535  
    

 

 

 

Total Common Stocks — 97.6%
(Cost: $56,902,388)

        54,600,926  
    

 

 

 

Preferred Stocks

    
Brazil — 1.7%             

Banco Bradesco SA, Preference Shares, NVS

    89,856        271,271  

Gerdau SA, Preference Shares, NVS

    19,280        100,643  

Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Preference Shares, NVS

    82,000        454,208  

Itausa SA, Preference Shares, NVS

    86,055        160,569  
    

 

 

 
       986,691  
Chile — 0.3%             

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA, Class B, Preference Shares

    2,416        149,625  
    

 

 

 
Colombia — 0.1%             

Bancolombia SA, Preference Shares, NVS

    7,600        50,536  
    

 

 

 

Total Preferred Stocks — 2.1%
(Cost: $1,113,008)

       1,186,852  
    

 

 

 

Rights

    
Brazil — 0.0%             

Itausa SA, (Expires 09/29/23, Strike Price BRL 6.50)(b)

    1,213        679  
    

 

 

 

Total Rights — 0.0%
(Cost: $—)

       679  
    

 

 

 

Total Long-Term Investments — 99.7%
(Cost: $58,015,396)

       55,788,457  
    

 

 

 

 

 

22  

2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S   A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

(Percentages shown are based on Net Assets)

 

Security   Shares     Value  
Short-Term Securities            
Money Market Funds — 0.7%            

BlackRock Cash Funds: Institutional, SL Agency Shares, 5.52%(f)(g)(h)

    393,721     $ 393,840  
   

 

 

 

Total Short-Term Securities — 0.7%
(Cost: $393,872)

 

    393,840  
   

 

 

 

Total Investments — 100.4%
(Cost: $58,409,268)

 

    56,182,297  

Liabilities in Excess of Other Assets — (0.4)%

 

    (227,371
   

 

 

 

Net Assets — 100.0%

    $ 55,954,926  
   

 

 

 

 

(a)

Security exempt from registration pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These securities may be resold in transactions exempt from registration to qualified institutional investors.

(b)

Non-income producing security.

(c)

All or a portion of this security is on loan.

(d)

Security is valued using significant unobservable inputs and is classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy.

(e)

This security may be resold to qualified foreign investors and foreign institutional buyers under Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933.

(f)

Affiliate of the Fund.

(g)

Annualized 7-day yield as of period end.

(h)

All or a portion of this security was purchased with the cash collateral from loaned securities.

 

Affiliates

Investments in issuers considered to be affiliate(s) of the Fund during the year ended August 31, 2023 for purposes of Section 2(a)(3) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, were as follows:

 

                   
  Affiliated Issuer   Value at
08/31/22
    Purchases
at Cost
    Proceeds
from Sale
    Net
Realized
Gain (Loss)
    Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Value at
08/31/23
    Shares
Held at
08/31/23
    Income     Capital Gain
Distributions
from
Underlying
Funds
        
 

BlackRock Cash Funds: Institutional, SL Agency Shares

  $  288,657     $ 105,286 (a)    $     $ (49   $ (54   $ 393,840       393,721     $  2,831 (b)    $     
 

BlackRock Cash Funds: Treasury, SL Agency Shares(c)

    50,000             (50,000 )(a)                              3,199           
         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

    
          $ (49   $ (54   $ 393,840       $  6,030     $     
         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

  (a)

Represents net amount purchased (sold).

 
  (b)

All or a portion represents securities lending income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral from loaned securities, net of fees and collateral investment expenses, and other payments to and from borrowers of securities.

 
  (c)

As of period end, the entity is no longer held.

 

Derivative Financial Instruments Outstanding as of Period End

Futures Contracts

 

Description    Number of
Contracts
     Expiration
Date
     Notional
Amount (000)
     Value/
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
 

Long Contracts

           

MSCI Emerging Markets Index

     3        09/15/23      $ 147      $ (5,879
           

 

 

 

 

 

S C H E D U L EO F  I N V E S T M E N T S

  23


Schedule of Investments (continued)

August 31, 2023

  

iShares® ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

 

Derivative Financial Instruments Categorized by Risk Exposure

As of period end, the fair values of derivative financial instruments located in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities were as follows:

 

               
      Commodity
Contracts
     Credit
Contracts
     Equity
Contracts
     Foreign
Currency
Exchange
Contracts
     Interest
Rate
Contracts
     Other
Contracts
     Total  

Liabilities — Derivative Financial Instruments

                    

Futures contracts

                    

Unrealized depreciation on futures contracts(a)

   $      $      $ 5,879      $      $      $      $ 5,879  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  (a)

Net cumulative unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on futures contracts are reported in the Schedule of Investments. In the Statements of Assets and Liabilities, only current day’s variation margin is reported in receivables or payables and the net cumulative unrealized appreciation (depreciation) is included in accumulated earnings (loss).

 

For the period ended August 31, 2023, the effect of derivative financial instruments in the Statements of Operations was as follows:

 

               
      Commodity
Contracts
     Credit
Contracts
     Equity
Contracts
     Foreign
Currency
Exchange
Contracts
     Interest
Rate
Contracts
     Other
Contracts
     Total  

Net Realized Gain (Loss) from

                    

Futures contracts

   $      $      $ 9,386      $      $      $      $ 9,386  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net Change in Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) on

                    

Futures contracts

   $      $      $ (5,376    $      $      $      $ (5,376
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Average Quarterly Balances of Outstanding Derivative Financial Instruments

 

 

 

Futures contracts:

  

Average notional value of contracts — long

   $ 97,074   

 

 

Fair Value Hierarchy as of Period End

Various inputs are used in determining the fair value of financial instruments. For a description of the input levels and information about the Fund’s policy regarding valuation of financial instruments, refer to the Notes to Financial Statements.

The following table summarizes the Fund’s financial instruments categorized in the fair value hierarchy. The breakdown of the Fund’s financial instruments into major categories is disclosed in the Schedule of Investments above.

 

 

 
     Level 1            Level 2            Level 3            Total  

 

 

Assets

                        

Investments

                               

Long-Term Investments

                 

Common Stocks

   $ 7,408,427        $ 47,192,495        $ 4        $ 54,600,926  

Preferred Stocks

     1,186,852                            1,186,852  

Rights

     679                            679  

Short-Term Securities

                 

Money Market Funds

     393,840                            393,840  
  

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

 
   $ 8,989,798        $ 47,192,495        $ 4        $ 56,182,297  
  

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

 

Derivative Financial Instruments(a)

                 

Liabilities

                 

Equity Contracts

   $ (5,879      $        $        $ (5,879
  

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

  (a) 

Derivative financial instruments are futures contracts. Futures contracts are valued at the unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on the instrument.

 

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

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Statements of Assets and Liabilities

August 31, 2023

 

     iShares
ESG
Advanced
MSCI EAFE
ETF
    iShares
ESG
Advanced
MSCI EM
ETF
 

ASSETS

   

Investments, at value — unaffiliated(a)(b)

  $ 473,277,831     $ 55,788,457  

Investments, at value — affiliated(c)

    1,452,931       393,840  

Cash

    9,296       578,159  

Cash pledged for futures contracts

    145,000       5,000  

Foreign currency, at value(d)

    1,285,726       157,149  

Receivables:

   

Investments sold

    15,801,983       1,339,221  

Securities lending income — affiliated

    438       485  

Capital shares sold

    710,505        

Dividends — unaffiliated

    612,900       39,113  

Dividends — affiliated

    64       371  

Tax reclaims

    643,658       740  

Variation margin on futures contracts

    995        
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total assets

    493,941,327       58,302,535  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

LIABILITIES

   

Bank borrowings

          452,080  

Collateral on securities loaned, at value

    1,407,441       393,945  

Payables:

   

Investments purchased

    16,610,861       1,446,330  

Deferred foreign capital gain tax

          45,581  

Investment advisory fees

    47,256       7,704  

Variation margin on futures contracts

          1,969  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total liabilities

    18,065,558       2,347,609  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Commitments and contingent liabilities

   

NET ASSETS

  $ 475,875,769     $ 55,954,926  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

NET ASSETS CONSIST OF

   

Paid-in capital

  $ 503,764,925     $ 61,754,429  

Accumulated loss

    (27,889,156     (5,799,503
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

NET ASSETS

  $ 475,875,769     $ 55,954,926  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

NET ASSET VALUE

   

Shares outstanding

    8,000,000       1,600,000  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net asset value

  $ 59.48     $ 34.97  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Shares authorized

    Unlimited       Unlimited  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Par value

    None       None  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

(a) Investments, at cost — unaffiliated

  $ 483,618,159     $ 58,015,396  

(b) Securities loaned, at value

  $ 1,363,214     $ 370,384  

(c)  Investments, at cost — affiliated

  $ 1,452,822     $ 393,872  

(d) Foreign currency, at cost

  $ 1,301,603     $ 157,531  

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

F I N A N C I A L  S T A T E M E N T S

  25


Statements of Operations

Year Ended August 31, 2023

 

     iShares
ESG
Advanced
MSCI EAFE
ETF
    iShares
ESG
Advanced
MSCI EM
ETF
 

INVESTMENT INCOME

   

Dividends — unaffiliated

  $  11,834,299     $  1,440,424  

Dividends — affiliated

    6,255       3,199  

Securities lending income — affiliated — net

    22,079       2,831  

Foreign taxes withheld

    (1,249,424     (181,419
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total investment income

    10,613,209       1,265,035  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

EXPENSES

   

Investment advisory

    503,234       72,928  

Commitment costs

          896  

Interest expense

          725  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total expenses

    503,234       74,549  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net investment income

    10,109,975       1,190,486  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

REALIZED AND UNREALIZED GAIN (LOSS)

   

Net realized gain (loss) from:

   

Investments — unaffiliated(a)

    (5,033,455     (2,284,798

Investments — affiliated

    6,114       (49

Foreign currency transactions

    (47,041     (21,978

Futures contracts

    505,008       9,386  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 
    (4,569,374     (2,297,439
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on:

   

Investments — unaffiliated(b)

    63,355,802       1,962,769  

Investments — affiliated

    (496     (54

Foreign currency translations

    45,154       1,299  

Futures contracts

    48,787       (5,376
 

 

 

   

 

 

 
    63,449,247       1,958,638  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    58,879,873       (338,801
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS

  $ 68,989,848     $ 851,685  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

(a) Net of foreign capital gain tax and capital gain tax refund, if applicable of

  $     $ (20,094

(b) Net of increase in deferred foreign capital gain tax of

  $     $ (34,990

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

26  

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Statement of Changes in Net Assets

 

    iShares
ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF
          iShares
ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF
 
     Year Ended
08/31/23
    Year Ended
08/31/22
           Year Ended
08/31/23
    Year Ended
08/31/22
 

INCREASE (DECREASE) IN NET ASSETS

 

       

OPERATIONS

         

Net investment income

  $ 10,109,975     $ 9,021,180       $ 1,190,486     $ 840,274  

Net realized loss

    (4,569,374     (13,145,851       (2,297,439     (1,585,361

Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

    63,449,247       (94,638,332       1,958,638       (6,761,697
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations

    68,989,848       (98,763,003       851,685       (7,506,784
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

 

DISTRIBUTIONS TO SHAREHOLDERS(a)

         

Decrease in net assets resulting from distributions to shareholders

    (8,971,067     (9,431,637       (1,013,727     (523,636
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

 

CAPITAL SHARE TRANSACTIONS

         

Net increase in net assets derived from capital share transactions

    61,424,524       216,781,420         20,649,127       29,948,355  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

 

NET ASSETS

         

Total increase in net assets

    121,443,305       108,586,780         20,487,085       21,917,935  

Beginning of year

    354,432,464       245,845,684         35,467,841       13,549,906  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

 

End of year

  $ 475,875,769     $ 354,432,464       $ 55,954,926     $ 35,467,841  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(a) 

Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.

 

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

F I N A N C I A L  S T A T E M E N T S

  27


Financial Highlights

(For a share outstanding throughout each period)

 

    iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF  
     
Year Ended
08/31/23
 
 
           
Year Ended
08/31/22
 
 
           
Year Ended
08/31/21
 
 
           

Period From
06/16/20

to 08/31/20

 
(a)  

 

Net asset value, beginning of period

  $ 51.37       $ 70.24       $ 55.79       $ 51.37  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net investment income(b)

    1.37         1.65         1.36         0.18  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(c)

    7.93         (18.86       13.91         4.24  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease) from investment operations

    9.30         (17.21       15.27         4.42  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Distributions from net investment income(d)

    (1.19       (1.66       (0.82        
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net asset value, end of period

  $ 59.48       $ 51.37       $ 70.24       $ 55.79  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Return(e)

             

Based on net asset value

    18.17       (24.82 )%        27.47       8.60 %(f) 
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Ratios to Average Net Assets(g)

             

Total expenses

    0.12       0.12       0.12       0.12 %(h) 
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net investment income

    2.41       2.73       2.06       1.64 %(h) 
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Supplemental Data

             

Net assets, end of period (000)

  $ 475,876       $ 354,432       $ 245,846       $ 11,158  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Portfolio turnover rate(i)

    16       18       28       6 %(f) 
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

(a)

Commencement of operations.

(b)

Based on average shares outstanding.

(c)

The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.

(d)

Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.

(e)

Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.

(f)

Not annualized.

(g)

Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.

(h)

Annualized.

(i)

Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions.

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

28  

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Financial Highlights (continued)

(For a share outstanding throughout each period)

 

    iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF  
     
Year Ended
08/31/23
 
 
           
Year Ended
08/31/22
 
 
           

Period From
10/06/20

to 08/31/21

 
(a)  

 

Net asset value, beginning of period

  $ 35.47       $ 45.17       $ 35.39  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net investment income(b)

    0.91         1.08         0.71  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(c)

    (0.55       (9.94       9.42  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease) from investment operations

    0.36         (8.86       10.13  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Distributions from net investment income(d)

    (0.86       (0.84       (0.35
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net asset value, end of period

  $ 34.97       $ 35.47       $ 45.17  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Return(e)

         

Based on net asset value

    1.06       (19.91 )%        28.74 %(f) 
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Ratios to Average Net Assets(g)

         

Total expenses

    0.16       0.16       0.16 %(h) 
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net investment income

    2.61       2.72       1.83 %(h) 
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Supplemental Data

         

Net assets, end of period (000)

  $ 55,955       $ 35,468       $ 13,550  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Portfolio turnover rate(i)

    24       31       51 %(f)  
 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

(a)

Commencement of operations.

(b)

Based on average shares outstanding.

(c)

The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.

(d)

Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.

(e)

Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.

(f)

Not annualized.

(g)

Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.

(h)

Annualized.

(i)

Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions.

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

F I N A N C I A L  H I G H L I G H T S

  29


Notes to Financial Statements

 

1. ORGANIZATION

iShares Trust (the “Trust”) is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust is organized as a Delaware statutory trust and is authorized to have multiple series or portfolios.

These financial statements relate only to the following funds (each, a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”):

 

   
iShares ETF   Diversification
Classification

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

  Diversified(a)

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

  Diversified(a)

 

  (a) 

The Fund’s classification changed from non-diversified to diversified during the reporting period.

 

2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), which may require management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities in the financial statements, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Each Fund is considered an investment company under U.S. GAAP and follows the accounting and reporting guidance applicable to investment companies. Below is a summary of significant accounting policies:

Investment Transactions and Income Recognition: For financial reporting purposes, investment transactions are recorded on the dates the transactions are executed. Realized gains and losses on investment transactions are determined using the specific identification method. Dividend income and capital gain distributions, if any, are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Non-cash dividends, if any, are recorded on the ex-dividend date at fair value. Dividends from foreign securities where the ex-dividend date may have passed are subsequently recorded when the Funds are informed of the ex-dividend date. Under the applicable foreign tax laws, a withholding tax at various rates may be imposed on capital gains, dividends and interest. Upon notification from issuers or as estimated by management, a portion of the dividend income received from a real estate investment trust may be redesignated as a reduction of cost of the related investment and/or realized gain.

Foreign Currency Translation: Each Fund’s books and records are maintained in U.S. dollars. Securities and other assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars using prevailing market rates as quoted by one or more data service providers. Purchases and sales of investments are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions. Generally, when the U.S. dollar rises in value against a foreign currency, the investments denominated in that currency will lose value; the opposite effect occurs if the U.S. dollar falls in relative value.

Each Fund does not isolate the effect of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates from the effect of fluctuations in the market prices of investments for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, the effects of changes in exchange rates on investments are not segregated in the Statements of Operations from the effects of changes in market prices of those investments, but are included as a component of net realized and unrealized gain (loss) from investments. Each Fund reports realized currency gains (losses) on foreign currency related transactions as components of net realized gain (loss) for financial reporting purposes, whereas such components are generally treated as ordinary income for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Foreign Taxes: The Funds may be subject to foreign taxes (a portion of which may be reclaimable) on income, stock dividends, capital gains on investments, or certain foreign currency transactions. All foreign taxes are recorded in accordance with the applicable foreign tax regulations and rates that exist in the foreign jurisdictions in which each Fund invests. These foreign taxes, if any, are paid by each Fund and are reflected in its Statements of Operations as follows: foreign taxes withheld at source are presented as a reduction of income, foreign taxes on securities lending income are presented as a reduction of securities lending income, foreign taxes on stock dividends are presented as “Other foreign taxes”, and foreign taxes on capital gains from sales of investments and foreign taxes on foreign currency transactions are included in their respective net realized gain (loss) categories. Foreign taxes payable or deferred as of August 31, 2023, if any, are disclosed in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

The Funds file withholding tax reclaims in certain jurisdictions to recover a portion of amounts previously withheld. The Funds may record a reclaim receivable based on collectability, which includes factors such as the jurisdiction’s applicable laws, payment history and market convention. The Statements of Operations includes tax reclaims recorded as well as professional and other fees, if any, associated with recovery of foreign withholding taxes.

Collateralization: If required by an exchange or counterparty agreement, the Funds may be required to deliver/deposit cash and/or securities to/with an exchange, or broker-dealer or custodian as collateral for certain investments.

In-kind Redemptions: For financial reporting purposes, in-kind redemptions are treated as sales of securities resulting in realized capital gains or losses to the Funds. Because such gains or losses are not taxable to the Funds and are not distributed to existing Fund shareholders, the gains or losses are reclassified from accumulated net realized gain (loss) to paid-in capital at the end of the Funds’ tax year. These reclassifications have no effect on net assets or net asset value (“NAV”) per share.

Distributions: Dividends and distributions paid by each Fund are recorded on the ex-dividend dates. Distributions are determined on a tax basis and may differ from net investment income and net realized capital gains for financial reporting purposes. Dividends and distributions are paid in U.S. dollars and cannot be automatically reinvested in additional shares of the Funds.

 

 

30  

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

Indemnifications: In the normal course of business, each Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of representations that provide general indemnification. The Funds’ maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown because it involves future potential claims against the Funds, which cannot be predicted with any certainty.

3. INVESTMENT VALUATION AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Investment Valuation Policies: Each Fund’s investments are valued at fair value (also referred to as “market value” within the financial statements) each day that the Fund’s listing exchange is open and, for financial reporting purposes, as of the report date. U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price a fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) of each Fund has approved the designation of BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”), the Funds’ investment adviser, as the valuation designee for each Fund. Each Fund determines the fair values of its financial instruments using various independent dealers or pricing services under BFA’s policies. If a security’s market price is not readily available or does not otherwise accurately represent the fair value of the security, the security will be valued in accordance with BFA’s policies and procedures as reflecting fair value. BFA has formed a committee (the “Valuation Committee”) to develop pricing policies and procedures and to oversee the pricing function for all financial instruments, with assistance from other BlackRock pricing committees.

Fair Value Inputs and Methodologies: The following methods and inputs are used to establish the fair value of each Fund’s assets and liabilities:

 

  ·  

Equity investments traded on a recognized securities exchange are valued at that day’s official closing price, as applicable, on the exchange where the stock is primarily traded. Equity investments traded on a recognized exchange for which there were no sales on that day are valued at the last traded price.

 

  ·  

Investments in open-end U.S. mutual funds (including money market funds) are valued at that day’s published NAV.

 

  ·  

Futures contracts are valued based on that day’s last reported settlement or trade price on the exchange where the contract is traded.

Generally, trading in foreign instruments is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). Each business day, the Funds use current market factors supplied by independent pricing services to value certain foreign instruments (“Systematic Fair Value Price”). The Systematic Fair Value Price is designed to value such foreign securities at fair value as of the close of trading on the NYSE, which follows the close of the local markets.

If events (e.g., market volatility, company announcement or a natural disaster) occur that are expected to materially affect the value of such investment, or in the event that application of these methods of valuation results in a price for an investment that is deemed not to be representative of the market value of such investment, or if a price is not available, the investment will be valued by the Valuation Committee, in accordance with BFA’s policies and procedures as reflecting fair value (“Fair Valued Investments”). The fair valuation approaches that may be used by the Valuation Committee include market approach, income approach and cost approach. Valuation techniques such as discounted cash flow, use of market comparables and matrix pricing are types of valuation approaches and are typically used in determining fair value. When determining the price for Fair Valued Investments, the Valuation Committee seeks to determine the price that each Fund might reasonably expect to receive or pay from the current sale or purchase of that asset or liability in an arm’s-length transaction. Fair value determinations shall be based upon all available factors that the Valuation Committee deems relevant and consistent with the principles of fair value measurement.

Fair value pricing could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate a fund’s NAV and the prices used by the fund’s underlying index, which in turn could result in a difference between the fund’s performance and the performance of the fund’s underlying index.

Fair Value Hierarchy: Various inputs are used in determining the fair value of financial instruments. These inputs to valuation techniques are categorized into a fair value hierarchy consisting of three broad levels for financial reporting purposes as follows:

 

  ·  

Level 1 – Unadjusted price quotations in active markets/exchanges for identical assets or liabilities that each Fund has the ability to access;

 

  ·  

Level 2 – Other observable inputs (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other market-corroborated inputs); and

 

  ·  

Level 3 – Unobservable inputs based on the best information available in the circumstances, to the extent observable inputs are not available, (including the Valuation Committee’s assumptions used in determining the fair value of financial instruments).

The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). Accordingly, the degree of judgment exercised in determining fair value is greatest for instruments categorized in Level 3. The inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, for disclosure purposes, the fair value hierarchy classification is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. Investments classified within Level 3 have significant unobservable inputs used by the Valuation Committee in determining the price for Fair Valued Investments. Level 3 investments include equity or debt issued by privately held companies or funds that may not have a secondary market and/or may have a limited number of investors. The categorization of a value determined for financial instruments is based on the pricing transparency of the financial instruments and is not necessarily an indication of the risks associated with investing in those securities.

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

4. SECURITIES AND OTHER INVESTMENTS

Securities Lending: Each Fund may lend its securities to approved borrowers, such as brokers, dealers and other financial institutions. The borrower pledges and maintains with the Fund collateral consisting of cash, an irrevocable letter of credit issued by an approved bank, or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government. The initial collateral received by each Fund is required to have a value of at least 102% of the current market value of the loaned securities for securities traded on U.S. exchanges and a value of at least 105% for all other securities. The collateral is maintained thereafter at a value equal to at least 100% of the current value of the securities on loan. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of each business day of the Fund and any additional required collateral is delivered to the Fund or excess collateral is returned by the Fund, on the next business day. During the term of the loan, each Fund is entitled to all distributions made on or in respect of the loaned securities but does not receive interest income on securities received as collateral. Loans of securities are terminable at any time and the borrower, after notice, is required to return borrowed securities within the standard time period for settlement of securities transactions.

As of period end, any securities on loan were collateralized by cash and/or U.S. Government obligations. Cash collateral invested in money market funds managed by BFA, or its affiliates is disclosed in the Schedule of Investments. Any non-cash collateral received cannot be sold, re-invested or pledged by the Fund, except in the event of borrower default. The securities on loan, if any, are also disclosed in each Fund’s Schedule of Investments. The market value of any securities on loan and the value of any related cash collateral are disclosed in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

Securities lending transactions are entered into by the Funds under Master Securities Lending Agreements (each, an “MSLA”) which provide the right, in the event of default (including bankruptcy or insolvency) for the non-defaulting party to liquidate the collateral and calculate a net exposure to the defaulting party or request additional collateral. In the event that a borrower defaults, the Funds, as lender, would offset the market value of the collateral received against the market value of the securities loaned. When the value of the collateral is greater than that of the market value of the securities loaned, the lender is left with a net amount payable to the defaulting party. However, bankruptcy or insolvency laws of a particular jurisdiction may impose restrictions on or prohibitions against such a right of offset in the event of an MSLA counterparty’s bankruptcy or insolvency. Under the MSLA, absent an event of default, the borrower can resell or re-pledge the loaned securities, and the Funds can reinvest cash collateral received in connection with loaned securities. Upon an event of default, the parties’ obligations to return the securities or collateral to the other party are extinguished, and the parties can resell or re-pledge the loaned securities or the collateral received in connection with the loaned securities in order to satisfy the defaulting party’s net payment obligation for all transactions under the MSLA. The defaulting party remains liable for any deficiency.

As of period end, the following table is a summary of the securities on loan by counterparty which are subject to offset under an MSLA:

 

         

iShares ETF and Counterparty

   
Securities Loaned
at Value
 
 
    
Cash Collateral
Received

(a) 
   
Non-Cash Collateral
Received, at Fair Value

(a) 
    Net Amount  

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

        

Barclays Capital, Inc.

  $ 2,035      $ (2,035   $     $  

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

    179,456        (179,456            

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

    168,292        (168,292            

Morgan Stanley

    377,089        (377,089            
 

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

RBC Capital Markets LLC

    636,342        (636,342            
 

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

  $ 1,363,214      $ (1,363,214   $     $  

BofA Securities, Inc.

  $ 7,219      $ (7,219   $     $  

GOLDMAN SACHS & CO.

    21,456        (21,456            

HSBC BANK PLC

    22,993        (22,993            

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

    7,800        (7,717           83 (b) 

Jefferies LLC

    203,993        (203,993            

Macquarie Bank Limited

    57,125        (57,125            

UBS AG

    49,798        (49,798            
 

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
  $ 370,384      $ (370,301   $     $ 83  
 

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

  (a)

Collateral received, if any, in excess of the market value of securities on loan is not presented in this table. The total cash collateral received by each Fund is disclosed in the Fund’s Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

 
  (b)

The market value of the loaned securities is determined as of August 31, 2023. Additional collateral is delivered to the Fund on the next business day in accordance with the MSLA. The net amount would be subject to the borrower default indemnity in the event of default by the counterparty.

 

The risks of securities lending include the risk that the borrower may not provide additional collateral when required or may not return the securities when due. To mitigate these risks, each Fund benefits from a borrower default indemnity provided by BlackRock, Inc. (“BlackRock”). BlackRock’s indemnity allows for full replacement of the securities loaned to the extent the collateral received does not cover the value of the securities loaned in the event of borrower default. Each Fund could incur a loss if the value of an investment purchased with cash collateral falls below the market value of the loaned securities or if the value of an investment purchased with cash collateral falls below the value of the original cash collateral received. Such losses are borne entirely by each Fund.

5. DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Futures Contracts: Futures contracts are purchased or sold to gain exposure to, or manage exposure to, changes in interest rates (interest rate risk) and changes in the value of equity securities (equity risk) or foreign currencies (foreign currency exchange rate risk).

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

Futures contracts are exchange-traded agreements between the Funds and a counterparty to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying instrument at a specified price and on a specified date. Depending on the terms of a contract, it is settled either through physical delivery of the underlying instrument on the settlement date or by payment of a cash amount on the settlement date. Upon entering into a futures contract, the Funds are required to deposit initial margin with the broker in the form of cash or securities in an amount that varies depending on a contract’s size and risk profile. The initial margin deposit must then be maintained at an established level over the life of the contract. Amounts pledged, which are considered restricted, are included in cash pledged for futures contracts in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

Securities deposited as initial margin are designated in the Schedule of Investments and cash deposited, if any, are shown as cash pledged for futures contracts in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities. Pursuant to the contract, the Funds agree to receive from or pay to the broker an amount of cash equal to the daily fluctuation in market value of the contract (“variation margin”). Variation margin is recorded as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) and, if any, shown as variation margin receivable (or payable) on futures contracts in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities. When the contract is closed, a realized gain or loss is recorded in the Statements of Operations equal to the difference between the notional amount of the contract at the time it was opened and the notional amount at the time it was closed. The use of futures contracts involves the risk of an imperfect correlation in the movements in the price of futures contracts and interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates or underlying assets.

6. INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT AND OTHER TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

Investment Advisory Fees: Pursuant to an Investment Advisory Agreement with the Trust, BFA manages the investment of each Fund’s assets. BFA is a California corporation indirectly owned by BlackRock. Under the Investment Advisory Agreement, BFA is responsible for substantially all expenses of the Funds, except (i) interest and taxes; (ii) brokerage commissions and other expenses connected with the execution of portfolio transactions; (iii) distribution fees; (iv) the advisory fee payable to BFA; and (v) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses (in each case as determined by a majority of the independent trustees).

For its investment advisory services to each of the following Funds, BFAis entitled to an annual investment advisory fee, accrued daily and paid monthly by the Funds, based on the average daily net assets of each Fund as follows:

 

   
iShares ETF    Investment Advisory Fees  

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

     0.12

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

     0.16  

Distributor: BlackRock Investments, LLC, an affiliate of BFA, is the distributor for each Fund. Pursuant to the distribution agreement, BFA is responsible for any fees or expenses for distribution services provided to the Funds.

Securities Lending: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has issued an exemptive order which permits BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. (“BTC”), an affiliate of BFA, to serve as securities lending agent for the Funds, subject to applicable conditions. As securities lending agent, BTC bears all operational costs directly related to securities lending, including any custodial costs. Each Fund is responsible for fees in connection with the investment of cash collateral received for securities on loan (the “collateral investment fees”). The cash collateral is invested in a money market fund, BlackRock Cash Funds: Institutional or BlackRock Cash Funds: Treasury, managed by BFA, or its affiliates. However, BTC has agreed to reduce the amount of securities lending income it receives in order to effectively limit the collateral investment fees each Fund bears to an annual rate of 0.04%. The SL Agency Shares of such money market fund will not be subject to a sales load, distribution fee or service fee. The money market fund in which the cash collateral has been invested may, under certain circumstances, impose a liquidity fee of up to 2% of the value redeemed or temporarily restrict redemptions for up to 10 business days during a 90 day period, in the event that the money market fund’s weekly liquid assets fall below certain thresholds.

Securities lending income is equal to the total of income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral, net of fees and other payments to and from borrowers of securities, and less the collateral investment fees. Each Fund retains a portion of securities lending income and remits the remaining portion to BTC as compensation for its services as securities lending agent.

Pursuant to the current securities lending agreement, each Fund retains 82% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees), and the amount retained can never be less than 70% of the total of securities lending income plus the collateral investment fees.

In addition, commencing the business day following the date that the aggregate securities lending income plus the collateral investment fees generated across all 1940 Act iShares exchange-traded funds (the “iShares ETF Complex”) in that calendar year exceeds a specified threshold, each Fund, pursuant to the securities lending agreement, will retain for the remainder of that calendar year 85% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees), and the amount retained can never be less than 70% of the total of securities lending income plus the collateral investment fees.

The share of securities lending income earned by each Fund is shown as securities lending income – affiliated – net in its Statements of Operations. For the year ended August 31, 2023, the Funds paid BTC the following amounts for securities lending agent services:

 

   
iShares ETF   Amounts  

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

  $ 6,103  

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

    739  

Officers and Trustees: Certain officers and/or trustees of the Trust are officers and/or trustees of BlackRock or its affiliates.

 

 

N O T E ST O  F I N A N C I A L  S T A T E M E N T S

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

Other Transactions: Cross trading is the buying or selling of portfolio securities between funds to which BFA (or an affiliate) serves as investment adviser. At its regularly scheduled quarterly meetings, the Board reviews such transactions as of the most recent calendar quarter for compliance with the requirements and restrictions set forth by Rule 17a-7.

For the year ended August 31, 2023, transactions executed by the Funds pursuant to Rule 17a-7 under the 1940 Act were as follows:

 

       
iShares ETF   Purchases      Sales      Net Realized
Gain (Loss)
 

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

  $  28,291,555      $  27,682,775      $  (271,958

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

    461,526        1,116,644        (331,972

Each Fund may invest its positive cash balances in certain money market funds managed by BFA or an affiliate. The income earned on these temporary cash investments is shown as dividends – affiliated in the Statements of Operations.

A fund, in order to improve its portfolio liquidity and its ability to track its underlying index, may invest in shares of other iShares funds that invest in securities in the fund’s underlying index.

7.  PURCHASES AND SALES

For the year ended August 31, 2023, purchases and sales of investments, excluding short-term securities and in-kind transactions, were as follows:

 

     
iShares ETF   Purchases      Sales  

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

  $  70,897,533      $  65,882,338  

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

    27,712,434        10,793,733  

For the year ended August 31, 2023, in-kind transactions were as follows:

 

     
iShares ETF   In-kind
Purchases
     In-kind
Sales
 

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

  $  57,342,061      $  

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

    3,848,937         

8.  INCOME TAX INFORMATION

Each Fund is treated as an entity separate from the Trust’s other funds for federal income tax purposes. It is each Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, applicable to regulated investment companies, and to distribute substantially all of its taxable income to its shareholders. Therefore, no U.S. federal income tax provision is required.

Management has analyzed tax laws and regulations and their application to the Funds as of August 31, 2023 and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability in the Funds’ financial statements.

The tax character of distributions paid was as follows:

 

     
iShares ETF   Year Ended
08/31/23
     Year Ended
08/31/22
 

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

    

Ordinary income

  $  8,971,067      $ 9,431,637  
 

 

 

    

 

 

 

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

    

Ordinary income

  $ 1,013,727      $ 523,636  
 

 

 

    

 

 

 

As of August 31, 2023, the tax components of accumulated net earnings (losses) were as follows:

 

iShares ETF    
Undistributed
Ordinary Income
 
 
    

Non-expiring
Capital Loss
Carryforwards
 
 
(a) 
   
Net Unrealized
Gains (Losses)
 
(b) 
    Total  

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

  $ 2,938,022      $ (15,791,410   $ (15,035,768   $ (27,889,156

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

    778,678        (3,339,116     (3,239,065     (5,799,503

 

  (a)

Amounts available to offset future realized capital gains.

 
  (b)

The difference between book-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) was attributable primarily to the tax deferral of losses on wash sales, the realization for tax purposes of unrealized gains (losses) on certain futures contracts, the timing and recognition of partnership income, the characterization of corporate actions and the realization for tax purposes of unrealized gains on investments in passive foreign investment companies.

 

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

A fund may own shares in certain foreign investment entities, referred to, under U.S. tax law, as “passive foreign investment companies.” Such fund may elect to mark-to-market annually the shares of each passive foreign investment company and would be required to distribute to shareholders any such marked-to-market gains.

As of August 31, 2023, gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation based on cost of investments (including short positions and derivatives, if any) for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:

 

         
iShares ETF   Tax Cost      Gross Unrealized
Appreciation
     Gross Unrealized
Depreciation
    Net Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
 

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

  $ 489,798,754      $ 36,515,845      $ (51,546,285   $ (15,030,440

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

    59,375,744        3,431,629        (6,625,076     (3,193,447

9.  LINE OF CREDIT

The iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF, along with certain other iShares funds (“Participating Funds”), is a party to a $800 million credit agreement (“Syndicated Credit Agreement”) with a group of lenders, which expires on August 9, 2024. The line of credit may be used for temporary or emergency purposes, including redemptions, settlement of trades and rebalancing of portfolio holdings in certain target markets. The Funds may borrow up to the aggregate commitment amount subject to asset coverage and other limitations as specified in the Syndicated Credit Agreement. The Syndicated Credit Agreement has the following terms: a commitment fee of 0.15% per annum on the unused portion of the credit agreement and interest at a rate equal to the higher of (a) Daily Simple Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) plus 0.10% and 1.00% per annum or (b) the U.S. Federal Funds rate plus 1.00% per annum on amounts borrowed. The commitment fee is generally allocated to each Participating Fund based on the lesser of a Participating Fund’s relative exposure to certain target markets or a Participating Fund’s maximum borrowing amount as set forth by the terms of the Syndicated Credit Agreement.

For the year ended August 31, 2023, the maximum amount borrowed, the average daily borrowing and the weighted average interest rate, if any, under the Syndicated Credit Agreement were as follows:

 

       
iShares ETF   Maximum
Amount
Borrowed
     Average
Borrowing
     Weighted
Average
Interest Rates
 

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

  $ 452,000      $ 12,373        5.19

10.  PRINCIPAL RISKS

In the normal course of business, each Fund invests in securities or other instruments and may enter into certain transactions, and such activities subject the Fund to various risks, including, among others, fluctuations in the market (market risk) or failure of an issuer to meet all of its obligations. The value of securities or other instruments may also be affected by various factors, including, without limitation: (i) the general economy; (ii) the overall market as well as local, regional or global political and/or social instability; (iii) regulation, taxation or international tax treaties between various countries; or (iv) currency, interest rate or price fluctuations. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Funds and their investments. Each Fund’s prospectus provides details of the risks to which the Fund is subject.

BFA uses a “passive” or index approach to try to achieve each Fund’s investment objective following the securities included in its underlying index during upturns as well as downturns. BFA does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. Divergence from the underlying index and the composition of the portfolio is monitored by BFA.

The Funds may be exposed to additional risks when reinvesting cash collateral in money market funds that do not seek to maintain a stable NAV per share of $1.00, which may be subject to redemption gates or liquidity fees under certain circumstances.

Market Risk: Investments in the securities of issuers domiciled in countries with emerging capital markets involve certain additional risks that do not generally apply to investments in securities of issuers in more developed capital markets, such as (i) low or nonexistent trading volume, resulting in a lack of liquidity and increased volatility in prices for such securities; (ii) uncertain national policies and social, political and economic instability, increasing the potential for expropriation of assets, confiscatory taxation, high rates of inflation or unfavorable diplomatic developments; (iii) lack of publicly available or reliable information about issuers as a result of not being subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements and accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards; and (iv) possible fluctuations in exchange rates, differing legal systems and the existence or possible imposition of exchange controls, custodial restrictions or other foreign or U.S. governmental laws or restrictions applicable to such investments.

Infectious Illness Risk: An outbreak of an infectious illness, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may adversely impact the economies of many nations and the global economy, and may impact individual issuers and capital markets in ways that cannot be foreseen. An infectious illness outbreak may result in, among other things, closed international borders, prolonged quarantines, supply chain disruptions, market volatility or disruptions and other significant economic, social and political impacts.

Valuation Risk: The market values of equities, such as common stocks and preferred securities or equity related investments, such as futures and options, may decline due to general market conditions which are not specifically related to a particular company. They may also decline due to factors which affect a particular industry or industries. A fund may invest in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment is any investment that a fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. A fund may experience difficulty in selling illiquid investments in a timely manner at the price that it believes the investments are worth. Prices may fluctuate widely over short or extended periods in response to company, market or economic news. Markets also tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising and falling prices. This volatility may cause a fund’s NAV to experience significant increases or decreases over short periods of time. If there is a general decline in the securities and other markets, the NAV of a fund may lose value, regardless of the individual results of the securities and other instruments in which a fund invests.

The price each Fund could receive upon the sale of any particular portfolio investment may differ from each Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair valuation technique or a price provided by an independent pricing service. Changes to significant unobservable inputs and assumptions (i.e., publicly traded company multiples, growth rate, time to exit) due to the lack of observable inputs.

Counterparty Credit Risk: The Funds may be exposed to counterparty credit risk, or the risk that an entity may fail to or be unable to perform on its commitments related to unsettled or open transactions, including making timely interest and/or principal payments or otherwise honoring its obligations. The Funds manage counterparty credit risk by entering into transactions only with counterparties that BFA believes have the financial resources to honor their obligations and by monitoring the financial stability of those counterparties. Financial assets, which potentially expose the Funds to market, issuer and counterparty credit risks, consist principally of financial instruments and receivables due from counterparties. The extent of the Funds’ exposure to market, issuer and counterparty credit risks with respect to these financial assets is approximately their value recorded in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities, less any collateral held by the Funds.

A derivative contract may suffer a mark-to-market loss if the value of the contract decreases due to an unfavorable change in the market rates or values of the underlying instrument. Losses can also occur if the counterparty does not perform under the contract.

With exchange-traded futures, there is less counterparty credit risk to the Funds since the exchange or clearinghouse, as counterparty to such instruments, guarantees against a possible default. The clearinghouse stands between the buyer and the seller of the contract; therefore, credit risk is limited to failure of the clearinghouse. While offset rights may exist under applicable law, a fund does not have a contractual right of offset against a clearing broker or clearinghouse in the event of a default (including the bankruptcy or insolvency). Additionally, credit risk exists in exchange-traded futures with respect to initial and variation margin that is held in a clearing broker’s customer accounts. While clearing brokers are required to segregate customer margin from their own assets, in the event that a clearing broker becomes insolvent or goes into bankruptcy and at that time there is a shortfall in the aggregate amount of margin held by the clearing broker for all its clients, typically the shortfall would be allocated on a pro rata basis across all the clearing broker’s customers, potentially resulting in losses to the Funds.

Geographic/Asset Class Risk: A diversified portfolio, where this is appropriate and consistent with a fund’s objectives, minimizes the risk that a price change of a particular investment will have a material impact on the NAV of a fund. The investment concentrations within each Fund’s portfolio are disclosed in its Schedule of Investments.

Certain Funds invest a significant portion of their assets in issuers located in a single country or a limited number of countries. When a fund concentrates its investments in this manner, it assumes the risk that economic, regulatory, political and social conditions in that country or those countries may have a significant impact on the fund and could affect the income from, or the value or liquidity of, the Fund’s portfolio. Unanticipated or sudden political or social developments may cause uncertainty in the markets and as a result adversely affect the Fund’s investments. Foreign issuers may not be subject to the same uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices as used in the United States. Foreign securities markets may also be more volatile and less liquid than U.S. securities and may be less subject to governmental supervision not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. Investment percentages in specific countries are presented in the Schedule of Investments.

Certain Funds invest a significant portion of their assets in securities of issuers located in Europe or with significant exposure to European issuers or countries. The European financial markets have recently experienced volatility and adverse trends due to concerns about economic downturns in, or rising government debt levels of, several European countries as well as acts of war in the region. These events may spread to other countries in Europe and may affect the value and liquidity of certain of the Funds’ investments.

Responses to the financial problems by European governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not work, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and others of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world. The United Kingdom has withdrawn from the European Union, and one or more other countries may withdraw from the European Union and/or abandon the Euro, the common currency of the European Union. These events and actions have adversely affected, and may in the future adversely affect, the value and exchange rate of the Euro and may continue to significantly affect the economies of every country in Europe, including countries that do not use the Euro and non-European Union member states. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far reaching. In addition, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The extent and duration of the military action, resulting sanctions and resulting future market disruptions in the region are impossible to predict, but have been, and may continue to be significant and have a severe adverse effect on the region, including significant negative impacts on the economy and the markets for certain securities and commodities, such as oil and natural gas, as well as other sectors.

Certain Funds invest a significant portion of their assets in securities of issuers located in China or with significant exposure to Chinese issuers. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed securities, involve risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability and demonstrates significantly higher volatility from time to time in comparison to developed markets. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other neighboring countries may disrupt economic development in China and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher rates of inflation. Incidents involving China’s or the region’s security may cause uncertainty in Chinese markets and may adversely affect the Chinese economy and a fund’s investments. Reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, institution of tariffs or other trade barriers,

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. In addition, measures may be taken to limit the flow of capital and/or sanctions may be imposed, which could prohibit or restrict the ability to own or transfer fund assets and may also include retaliatory actions, such as seizure of fund assets.

Certain Funds invest a significant portion of their assets in securities of issuers located in Asia or with significant exposure to Asian issuers or countries. The Asian financial markets have recently experienced volatility and adverse trends due to concerns in several Asian countries regarding monetary policy, government intervention in the markets, rising government debt levels or economic downturns. These events may spread to other countries in Asia and may affect the value and liquidity of certain of the Funds’ investments.

Certain Funds invest a significant portion of their assets in securities within a single or limited number of market sectors. When a fund concentrates its investments in this manner, it assumes the risk that economic, regulatory, political and social conditions affecting such sectors may have a significant impact on the fund and could affect the income from, or the value or liquidity of, the fund’s portfolio. Investment percentages in specific sectors are presented in the Schedule of Investments.

Significant Shareholder Redemption Risk: Certain shareholders may own or manage a substantial amount of fund shares and/or hold their fund investments for a limited period of time. Large redemptions of fund shares by these shareholders may force a fund to sell portfolio securities, which may negatively impact the fund’s NAV, increase the fund’s brokerage costs, and/or accelerate the realization of taxable income/gains and cause the fund to make additional taxable distributions to shareholders.

11.  CAPITAL SHARE TRANSACTIONS

Capital shares are issued and redeemed by each Fund only in aggregations of a specified number of shares or multiples thereof (“Creation Units”) at NAV. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares of each Fund are not redeemable.

Transactions in capital shares were as follows:

 

     Year Ended
08/31/23
     Year Ended
08/31/22
 
iShares ETF   Shares      Amount      Shares     Amount  

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

         

Shares sold

    1,100,000      $  61,424,524        3,500,000     $  223,468,417  

Shares redeemed

                  (100,000     (6,686,997
 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 
    1,100,000      $ 61,424,524        3,400,000     $ 216,781,420  
 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

         

Shares sold

    600,000      $ 20,649,127        700,000     $ 29,948,355  
 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

The consideration for the purchase of Creation Units of a fund in the Trust generally consists of the in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of securities and a specified amount of cash. Certain funds in the Trust may be offered in Creation Units solely or partially for cash in U.S. dollars. Investors purchasing and redeeming Creation Units may pay a purchase transaction fee and a redemption transaction fee directly to State Street Bank and Trust Company, the Trust’s administrator, to offset transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance and redemption of Creation Units, including Creation Units for cash. Investors transacting in Creation Units for cash may also pay an additional variable charge to compensate the relevant fund for certain transaction costs (i.e., stamp taxes, taxes on currency or other financial transactions, and brokerage costs) and market impact expenses relating to investing in portfolio securities. Such variable charges, if any, are included in shares sold in the table above.

From time to time, settlement of securities related to in-kind contributions or in-kind redemptions may be delayed. In such cases, securities related to in-kind transactions are reflected as a receivable or a payable in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

12.  SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Management’s evaluation of the impact of all subsequent events on the Funds’ financial statements was completed through the date the financial statements were available to be issued and the following item was noted:

Effective October 18, 2023, the Syndicated Credit Agreement to which the Participating Funds are party was amended to extend the maturity date to October 2024 under the same terms.

 

 

N O T E ST O  F I N A N C I A L  S T A T E M E N T S

  37


Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

To the Board of Trustees of

iShares Trust and Shareholders of each of the two funds listed in the table below

Opinions on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the schedules of investments, of each of the funds listed in the table below (two of the funds constituting iShares Trust, hereafter collectively referred to as the “Funds”) as of August 31, 2023, the related statements of operations for the year ended August 31, 2023, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended August 31, 2023, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of each of the Funds as of August 31, 2023, the results of each of their operations for the year then ended, the changes in each of their net assets for each of the two years in the period ended August 31, 2023 and each of the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

 

 iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF

 

 iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF

 

Basis for Opinions

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Funds’ management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Funds’ financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of August 31, 2023 by correspondence with the custodian, transfer agent and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

October 23, 2023

We have served as the auditor of one or more BlackRock investment companies since 2000.

 

 

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Important Tax Information (unaudited)

 

The following amounts, or maximum amounts allowable by law, are hereby designated as qualified dividend income for individuals for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2023:

 

   
iShares ETF   Qualified Dividend
Income
 

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

  $ 10,391,233  

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

    719,754  

The Funds intend to pass through to their shareholders the following amounts, or maximum amounts allowable by law, of foreign source income earned and foreign taxes paid for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2023:

 

     
iShares ETF   Foreign Source
Income Earned
     Foreign
Taxes Paid
 

ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE

  $ 11,829,452      $  1,139,160  

ESG Advanced MSCI EM

    1,439,829        204,920  

 

 

I M P O R T A N T  T A X  I N F O R M A T I O N

  39


Board Review and Approval of Investment Advisory Contract

 

iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EAFE ETF, iShares ESG Advanced MSCI EM ETF (each the “Fund”)

Under Section 15(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), the Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”), including a majority of Board Members who are not “interested persons” of the Trust (as that term is defined in the 1940 Act) (the “Independent Board Members”), is required annually to consider the approval of the Investment Advisory Agreement between the Trust and BFA (the “Advisory Agreement”) on behalf of the Fund. The Board’s consideration entails a year-long process whereby the Board and its committees (composed solely of Independent Board Members) assess BlackRock’s services to the Fund, including investment management; fund accounting; administrative and shareholder services; oversight of the Fund’s service providers; risk management and oversight; legal and compliance services; and ability to meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. The Independent Board Members requested, and BFA provided, such information as the Independent Board Members, with advice from independent counsel, deemed reasonably necessary to evaluate the Advisory Agreement. At meetings on May 2, 2023 and May 15, 2023, a committee composed of all of the Independent Board Members (the “15(c) Committee”), with independent counsel, met with management and reviewed and discussed information provided in response to initial requests of the 15(c) Committee and/or its independent counsel, and requested certain additional information, which management agreed to provide. At a meeting held on June 7-8, 2023, the Board, including the Independent Board Members, reviewed the additional information provided by management in response to these requests.

After extensive discussions and deliberations, the Board, including all of the Independent Board Members, approved the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for the Fund, based on a review of qualitative and quantitative information provided by BFA and their cumulative experience as Board Members. The Board noted its satisfaction with the extent and quality of information provided and its frequent interactions with management, as well as the detailed responses and other information provided by BFA. The Independent Board Members were advised by their independent counsel throughout the process, including about the legal standards applicable to their review. In approving the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for the Fund, the Board, including the Independent Board Members, considered various factors, including: (i) the expenses and performance of the Fund; (ii) the nature, extent and quality of the services provided by BFA; (iii) the costs of services provided to the Fund and profits realized by BFA and its affiliates; (iv) potential economies of scale and the sharing of related benefits; (v) the fees and services provided for other comparable funds/accounts managed by BFA and its affiliates; and (vi) other benefits to BFA and/or its affiliates. The material factors, none of which was controlling, and conclusions that formed the basis for the Board, including the Independent Board Members, to approve the continuance of the Advisory Agreement are discussed below.

Expenses and Performance of the Fund: The Board reviewed statistical information prepared by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent provider of investment company data, regarding the expense ratio components, including gross and net total expenses, fees and expenses of other fund(s) in which the Fund invests (if applicable), and waivers/reimbursements (if applicable) of the Fund in comparison with the same information for other ETFs, objectively selected by Broadridge as comprising the Fund’s applicable expense peer group pursuant to Broadridge’s proprietary ETF methodology (the “Peer Group”). The Board was provided with a detailed description of the proprietary ETF methodology used by Broadridge to determine the Fund’s Peer Group. The Board noted that, due to the limitations in providing comparable funds in the Peer Group, the statistical information provided in Broadridge’s report may or may not provide meaningful direct comparisons to the Fund in all instances. The Board also noted that the investment advisory fee rate and overall expenses (net of any waivers and reimbursements) for the Fund were lower than the median of the investment advisory fee rates and overall expenses (net of any waivers and reimbursements) of the funds in its Peer Group, excluding iShares funds.

In addition, to the extent that any of the comparison funds included in the Peer Group, excluding iShares funds, track the same index as the Fund, Broadridge also provided, and the Board reviewed, a comparison of the Fund’s performance for the one-year, three-year, five-year, ten-year, and since inception periods, as applicable, and for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, to that of such relevant comparison fund(s) for the same periods. The Board noted that the Fund seeks to track its specified underlying index and that, during the year, the Board received periodic reports on the Fund’s short- and longer-term performance in comparison with its underlying index. Such periodic comparative performance information, including additional detailed information as requested by the Board, was also considered. The Board noted that the Fund generally performed in line with its underlying index over the relevant periods.

Based on this review, the other factors considered at the meeting, and their general knowledge of ETF pricing, the Board concluded that the investment advisory fee rate and expense level and the historical performance of the Fund supported the Board’s approval of the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for the coming year.

Nature, Extent and Quality of Services Provided: Based on management’s representations, including information about ongoing enhancements and initiatives with respect to the iShares business, including with respect to capital markets support and analysis, technology, portfolio management, product design and quality, compliance and risk management, global public policy and other services, the Board expected that there would be no diminution in the scope of services required of or provided by BFA under the Advisory Agreement for the coming year as compared with the scope of services provided by BFA during prior years. In reviewing the scope of these services, the Board considered BFA’s investment philosophy and experience, noting that BFA and its affiliates have committed significant resources over time, including during the past year, to support the iShares funds and their shareholders and have made significant investments into the iShares business. The Board also considered BFA’s compliance program and its compliance record with respect to the Fund, including related programs implemented pursuant to regulatory requirements. In that regard, the Board noted that BFA reports to the Board about portfolio management and compliance matters on a periodic basis in connection with regularly scheduled meetings of the Board, and on other occasions as necessary and appropriate, and has provided information and made relevant officers and other employees of BFA (and its affiliates) available as needed to provide further assistance with these matters. The Board also reviewed the background and experience of the persons responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund, as well as the resources available to them in managing the Fund. In addition to the above considerations, the Board reviewed and considered detailed presentations regarding BFA’s investment performance, investment and risk management processes and strategies provided at the May 2, 2023 meeting and throughout the year, and matters related to BFA’s portfolio compliance program and other compliance programs and services.

Based on review of this information, and the performance information discussed above, the Board concluded that the nature, extent and quality of services provided to the Fund under the Advisory Agreement supported the Board’s approval of the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for the coming year.

Costs of Services Provided to the Fund and Profits Realized by BFA and its Affiliates: The Board reviewed information about the estimated profitability to BlackRock in managing the Fund, based on the fees payable to BFA and its affiliates (including fees under the Advisory Agreement), and other sources of revenue and expense to BFA

 

 

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Board Review and Approval of Investment Advisory Contract (continued)

 

and its affiliates from the Fund’s operations for the last calendar year. The Board reviewed BlackRock’s methodology for calculating estimated profitability of the iShares funds, noting that the 15(c) Committee and the Board had focused on the methodology and profitability presentation. The Board recognized that profitability may be affected by numerous factors, including, among other things, fee waivers by BFA, the types of funds managed, expense allocations and business mix. The Board thus recognized that calculating and comparing profitability at individual fund levels is challenging. The Board discussed with management the sources of direct and ancillary revenue, including the revenues to BTC, a BlackRock affiliate, from securities lending by the Fund. The Board also discussed BFA’s estimated profit margin as reflected in the Fund’s profitability analysis and reviewed information regarding potential economies of scale (as discussed below).

Based on this review, the Board concluded that the information considered with respect to the profits realized by BFA and its affiliates under the Advisory Agreement and from other relationships between the Fund and BFA and/or its affiliates, if any, as well as the other factors considered at the meeting, supported the Board’s approval of the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for the coming year.

Economies of Scale: The Board reviewed information and considered the extent to which economies of scale might be realized as the assets of the Fund increase, noting that the issue of potential economies of scale had been focused on by the 15(c) Committee and the Board during their meetings and addressed by management. The 15(c) Committee and the Board received information regarding BlackRock’s historical estimated profitability (as discussed above), including BFA’s and its affiliates’ estimated costs in providing services. The estimated cost information distinguished, among other things, between fixed and variable costs, and showed how the level and nature of fixed and variable costs may impact the existence or size of scale benefits, with the Board recognizing that potential economies of scale are difficult to measure. The 15(c) Committee and the Board reviewed information provided by BFA regarding the sharing of scale benefits with the iShares funds through various means, including, as applicable, through relatively low fee rates established at inception, breakpoints, waivers, or other fee reductions, as well as through additional investment in the iShares business and the provision of improved or additional infrastructure and services to the iShares funds and their shareholders. The Board noted that the Advisory Agreement for the Fund did not provide for breakpoints in the Fund’s investment advisory fee rate as the assets of the Fund increase. However, the Board noted that it would continue to assess the appropriateness of adding breakpoints in the future.

The Board concluded that this review of potential economies of scale and the sharing of related benefits, as well as the other factors considered at the meeting, supported the Board’s approval of the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for the coming year.

Fees and Services Provided for Other Comparable Funds/Accounts Managed by BFA and its Affiliates: The Board received and considered information regarding the investment advisory/management fee rates for other funds/accounts in the U.S. for which BFA (or its affiliates) provides investment advisory/management services, including open-end funds registered under the 1940 Act (including sub-advised funds), collective trust funds and institutional separate accounts (collectively, the “Other Accounts”). The Board acknowledged BFA’s representation that the iShares funds are fundamentally different investment vehicles from the Other Accounts.

The Board received detailed information regarding how the Other Accounts generally differ from the Fund, including in terms of the types of services and generally more extensive services provided to the Fund, as well as other significant differences. In that regard, the Board considered that the pricing of services to institutional clients is typically based on a number of factors beyond the nature and extent of the specific services to be provided and often depends on the overall relationship between the client and its affiliates and the adviser and its affiliates. In addition, the Board considered the relative complexity and inherent risks and challenges of managing and providing other services to the Fund, as a publicly traded investment vehicle, as compared to the Other Accounts, particularly those that are institutional clients, in light of differing regulatory requirements and client-imposed mandates. The Board noted that BFA and its affiliates do not manage Other Accounts with substantially the same investment objective and strategy as the Fund and that track the same index as the Fund. The Board also acknowledged management’s assertion that, for certain iShares funds, and for client segmentation purposes, BlackRock has launched an iShares fund that may provide a similar investment exposure at a lower investment advisory fee rate.

The Board considered the “all-inclusive” nature of the Fund’s advisory fee structure, and the Fund’s expenses borne by BFA under this arrangement and noted that the investment advisory fee rate under the Advisory Agreement for the Fund was generally higher than the investment advisory/management fee rates for certain of the Other Accounts (particularly institutional clients) and concluded that the differences appeared to be consistent with the factors discussed.

Other Benefits to BFA and/or its Affiliates: The Board reviewed other benefits or ancillary revenue received by BFA and/or its affiliates in connection with the services provided to the Fund by BFA, both direct and indirect, including, but not limited to, payment of revenue to BTC, the Fund’s securities lending agent, for loaning portfolio securities, as applicable (which was included in the profit margins reviewed by the Board pursuant to BFA’s estimated profitability methodology), payment of advisory fees or other fees to BFA (or its affiliates) in connection with any investments by the Fund in other funds for which BFA (or its affiliates) provides investment advisory services or other services, and BlackRock’s profile in the investment community. The Board further considered other direct benefits that might accrue to BFA, including the potential for reduction in the Fund’s expenses that are borne by BFA under the “all-inclusive” management fee arrangement, due in part to the size and scope of BFA’s investment operations servicing the Fund (and other funds in the iShares complex) as well as in response to a changing market environment. The Board also reviewed and considered information provided by BFA concerning authorized participant primary market order processing services that are provided by BlackRock Investments, LLC (“BRIL”), an affiliate of BFA, and paid for by authorized participants under the ETF Servicing Platform. The Board also noted the revenue received by BFA and/or its affiliates pursuant to an agreement that permits a service provider to use certain portions of BlackRock’s technology platform to service accounts managed by BFA and/or its affiliates, including the iShares funds. The Board noted that BFA generally does not use soft dollars or consider the value of research or other services that may be provided to BFA (including its affiliates) in selecting brokers for portfolio transactions for the Fund. The Board concluded that any such ancillary benefits would not be disadvantageous to the Fund and thus would not alter the Board’s conclusion with respect to the appropriateness of approving the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for the coming year.

Conclusion: Based on a review of the factors described above, as well as such other factors as deemed appropriate by the Board, the Board, including all of the Independent Board Members, determined that the Fund’s investment advisory fee rate under the Advisory Agreement does not constitute a fee that is so disproportionately large as to bear no reasonable relationship to the services rendered and that could not have been the product of arm’s-length bargaining, and concluded to approve the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for the coming year.

 

 

B O A R D  R E V I E W  A N D  A P P R O V A L  O F  I N V E S T M E N T  A D V I S O R Y  C O N T R A C T

  41


Supplemental Information (unaudited)

 

Tailored Shareholder Reports for Open-End Mutual Funds and ETFs

Effective January 24, 2023, the SEC adopted rule and form amendments to require open-end mutual funds and ETFs to transmit concise and visually engaging streamlined annual and semiannual reports to shareholders that highlight key information. Other information, including financial statements, will no longer appear in a streamlined shareholder report but must be available online, delivered free of charge upon request, and filed on a semiannual basis on Form N-CSR. The rule and form amendments have a compliance date of July 24, 2024. At this time, management is evaluating the impact of these amendments on the shareholder reports for the Funds.

Premium/Discount Information

Information on the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads can be found at iShares.com.

 

 

 

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Trustee and Officer Information (unaudited)

 

The Board of Trustees has responsibility for the overall management and operations of the Funds, including general supervision of the duties performed by BFA and other service providers. Each Trustee serves until he or she resigns, is removed, dies, retires or becomes incapacitated. Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualifies or until his or her death, resignation or removal. Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust are referred to as independent trustees (“Independent Trustees”).

The registered investment companies advised by BFA or its affiliates (the “BlackRock-advised Funds”) are organized into one complex of open-end equity, multi-asset, index and money market funds and ETFs (the “BlackRock Multi-Asset Complex”), one complex of closed-end funds and open-end non-index fixed-income funds (including ETFs) (the “BlackRock Fixed-Income Complex”) and one complex of ETFs (“Exchange-Traded Fund Complex”) (each, a “BlackRock Fund Complex”). Each Fund is included in the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Each Trustee also serves as a Director of iShares, Inc. and a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and, as a result, oversees all of the funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex, which consists of 387 funds as of August 31, 2023. With the exception of Robert S. Kapito, Salim Ramji and Aaron Wasserman, the address of each Trustee and officer is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. The address of Mr. Kapito, Mr. Ramji and Mr. Wasserman is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 50 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001. The Board has designated John E. Kerrigan as its Independent Board Chair. Additional information about the Funds’ Trustees and officers may be found in the Funds’ combined Statement of Additional Information, which is available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).

Interested Trustees

 

       

Name

(Year of

Birth)

   Position(s)   

Principal Occupation(s)

During Past 5 Years

   Other Directorships Held by Trustee

Robert S.

Kapito(a)

(1957)

   Trustee (since 2009).    President, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management Group (since its formation in 1998) and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities (since 1988); Trustee, University of Pennsylvania (since 2009); President of Board of Directors, Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund (since 2002).    Director of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2009); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Salim Ramji(b) (1970)    Trustee (since 2019).    Senior Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Global Head of BlackRock’s ETF and Index Investments Business (since 2019); Head of BlackRock’s U.S. Wealth Advisory Business (2015-2019); Global Head of Corporate Strategy, BlackRock, Inc. (2014-2015); Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company (2010-2014).    Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2019); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2019).

 

(a)

Robert S. Kapito is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.

(b)

Salim Ramji is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.

Independent Trustees

 

       

Name

(Year of

Birth)

   Position(s)   

Principal Occupation(s)

During Past 5 Years

   Other Directorships Held by Trustee

John E.

Kerrigan

(1955)

   Trustee (since 2005); Independent Board Chair (since 2022).    Chief Investment Officer, Santa Clara University (since 2002).    Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Independent Board Chair of iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2022).

Jane D. Carlin

(1956)

   Trustee (since 2015); Risk Committee Chair (since 2016).    Consultant (since 2012); Member of the Audit Committee (2012-2018), Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee (2017-2018) and Director of PHH Corporation (mortgage solutions) (2012-2018); Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Holding Company Governance & Assurance and the Global Head of Operational Risk Management of Morgan Stanley (2006-2012).    Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2015); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2015); Member of the Audit Committee (since 2016), Chair of the Audit Committee (since 2020) and Director of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (since 2016).

Richard L.

Fagnani

(1954)

   Trustee (since 2017); Audit Committee Chair (since 2019).    Partner, KPMG LLP (2002-2016); Director of One Generation Away (since 2021).    Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).

 

 

T R U S T E E  A N D  O F F I C E R   I N F O R M A T I O N

  43


Trustee and Officer Information (unaudited) (continued)

 

Independent Trustees (continued)

 

       

Name

(Year of

Birth)

   Position(s)   

Principal Occupation(s)

During Past 5 Years

   Other Directorships Held by Trustee

Cecilia H.

Herbert

(1949)

   Trustee (since 2005); Nominating and Governance and Equity Plus Committee Chairs (since 2022).    Chair of the Finance Committee (since 2019) and Trustee and Member of the Finance, Audit and Quality Committees of Stanford Health Care (since 2016); Trustee of WNET, New York’s public media company (since 2011) and Member of the Audit Committee (since 2018), Investment Committee (since 2011) and Personnel Committee (since 2022); Member of the Wyoming State Investment Funds Committee (since 2022); Director of the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts (since 2021); Trustee of Forward Funds (14 portfolios) (2009-2018); Trustee of Salient MF Trust (4 portfolios) (2015-2018).    Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).

Drew E.

Lawton

(1959)

   Trustee (since 2017); 15(c) Committee Chair (since 2017).    Senior Managing Director of New York Life Insurance Company (2010-2015).    Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017); Director of Jackson Financial Inc. (since 2021).

John E

. Martinez

(1961)

   Trustee (since 2003); Securities Lending Committee Chair (since 2019).    Director of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. (since 2005); Director of Cloudera Foundation (2017-2020); and Director of Reading Partners (2012-2016).    Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2003); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).

Madhav V.

Rajan

(1964)

   Trustee (since 2011); Fixed-Income Plus Committee Chair (since 2019).    Dean, and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business (since 2017); Advisory Board Member (since 2016) and Director (since 2020) of C.M. Capital Corporation; Chair of the Board for the Center for Research in Security Prices, LLC (since 2020); Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2001-2017); Professor of Law (by courtesy), Stanford Law School (2005-2017); Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of MBA Program, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2010-2016).    Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2011); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).

Officers

 

     

Name (Year

of Birth)

   Position(s)   

Principal Occupation(s)

During Past 5 Years

Dominik Rohé

(1973)

   President (since 2023).    Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2005); Head of Americas ETF and Index Investments (since 2023); Head of Latin America (2019-2023).

Trent Walker

(1974)

   Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (since 2020).    Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since September 2019); Chief Financial Officer of iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, BlackRock Funds, BlackRock Funds II, BlackRock Funds IV, BlackRock Funds V and BlackRock Funds VI (since 2021); Executive Vice President of PIMCO (2016-2019); Senior Vice President of PIMCO (2008-2015); Treasurer (2013-2019) and Assistant Treasurer (2007-2017) of PIMCO Funds, PIMCO Variable Insurance Trust, PIMCO ETF Trust, PIMCO Equity Series, PIMCO Equity Series VIT, PIMCO Managed Accounts Trust, 2 PIMCO-sponsored interval funds and 21 PIMCO-sponsored closed-end funds.

Aaron

Wasserman

(1974)

   Chief Compliance Officer (iShares, Inc. and iShares Trust, since 2023; iShares U.S. ETF Trust, since 2023).    Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2018); Chief Compliance Officer of the BlackRock Multi-Asset Complex, the BlackRock Fixed-Income Complex and the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex (since 2023); Deputy Chief Compliance Officer for the BlackRock Multi-Asset Complex, the BlackRock Fixed-Income Complex and the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex (2014-2023).

Marisa

Rolland

(1980)

   Secretary (since 2022).    Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2023); Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2018-2022); Vice President, BlackRock, Inc. (2010-2017).

Rachel

Aguirre

(1982)

   Executive Vice President (since 2022).    Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2018); Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2009-2018); Head of U.S. iShares Product (since 2022); Head of EII U.S. Product Engineering (since 2021); Co-Head of EII’s Americas Portfolio Engineering (2020-2021); Head of Developed Markets Portfolio Engineering (2016-2019).

Jennifer Hsui

(1976)

   Executive Vice President (since 2022).    Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Co-Head of Index Equity (since 2022).

 

 

 

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Trustee and Officer Information (unaudited) (continued)

 

Officers (continued)

 

     

Name (Year

of Birth)

   Position(s)   

Principal Occupation(s)

During Past 5 Years

James Mauro

(1970)

  

Executive Vice

President (since

2022).

  

Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2010); Head of Fixed Income Index Investments in the Americas and Head of San Francisco Core Portfolio Management (since 2020).

 

 Effective March 30, 2023, Dominik Rohé replaced Armando Senra as President.

 

 Effective July 1, 2023, Aaron Wasserman replaced Charles Park as Chief Compliance Officer.

 

 

T R U S T E E  A N D  O F F I C E R   I N F O R M A T I O N

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General Information

 

Electronic Delivery

Shareholders can sign up for e-mail notifications announcing that the shareholder report or prospectus has been posted on the iShares website at iShares.com. Once you have enrolled, you will no longer receive prospectuses and shareholder reports in the mail.

To enroll in electronic delivery:

 

   

Go to icsdelivery.com.

   

If your brokerage firm is not listed, electronic delivery may not be available. Please contact your broker-dealer or financial advisor.

Householding

Householding is an option available to certain fund investors. Householding is a method of delivery, based on the preference of the individual investor, in which a single copy of certain shareholder documents and Rule 30e-3 notices can be delivered to investors who share the same address, even if their accounts are registered under different names. Please contact your broker-dealer if you are interested in enrolling in householding and receiving a single copy of prospectuses and other shareholder documents, or if you are currently enrolled in householding and wish to change your householding status.

Availability of Quarterly Schedule of Investments

The Funds file their complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year as an exhibit to their reports on Form N-PORT. The Funds’ Forms N-PORT are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. Additionally, each Fund makes its portfolio holdings for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year available at iShares.com/fundreports.

Availability of Proxy Voting Policies and Proxy Voting Records

A description of the policies and procedures that the iShares Funds use to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information about how the iShares Funds voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ending June 30 is available without charge, upon request (1) by calling toll-free 1-800-474-2737; (2) on the iShares website at iShares.com; and (3) on the SEC website at sec.gov.

A description of the Trust’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the Fund Prospectus. The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings daily and provides information regarding its top holdings in Fund fact sheets at iShares.com.

 

 

 

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2 0 2 3  I S H A R E S   A N N U A L  R E P O R TT O  S H A R E H O L D E R S


Glossary of Terms Used in this Report

 

Portfolio Abbreviation

 

ADR    American Depositary Receipt
CPO    Certificates of Participation (Ordinary)
GDR    Global Depositary Receipt
NVDR    Non-Voting Depositary Receipt
NVS    Non-Voting Shares
PJSC    Public Joint Stock Company
REIT    Real Estate Investment Trust

 

 

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Want to know more?

iShares.com | 1-800-474-2737

This report is intended for the Funds’ shareholders. It may not be distributed to prospective investors unless it is preceded or accompanied by the current prospectus.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.

The iShares Funds are distributed by BlackRock Investments, LLC (together with its affiliates, “BlackRock”).

The iShares Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, issued, sold or promoted by MSCI Inc., nor does this company make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the iShares Funds. BlackRock is not affiliated with the company listed above.

©2023 BlackRock, Inc. All rights reserved. iSHARES and BLACKROCK are registered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

iS-AR-820-0823

 

 

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