March 1, 2023

    

2023 Prospectus

iShares U.S. ETF Trust

•	iShares Gold Strategy ETF | IAUF | CBOE BZX

  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) have not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Table of Contents

Fund Overview	S-1
More Information About the Fund	1
A Further Discussion of Principal Risks	2
A Further Discussion of Other Risks	17
Portfolio Holdings Information	21
Management	21
Shareholder Information	24
Distribution	32
Consolidated Financial Highlights	33
Disclaimers	34

Bloomberg Index Services Limited and its affiliates (collectively, “Bloomberg”) are not affiliated with BlackRock Fund Advisors or its affiliates and do not approve, endorse, review, or recommend the iShares Gold Strategy ETF. Bloomberg and the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index are trademarks or service marks of Bloomberg and have been licensed to BlackRock Fund Advisors or its affiliates. Bloomberg does not guarantee the timeliness, accurateness, or completeness of any data or information relating to the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index and shall not be liable in any way to the BlackRock Fund Advisors or its affiliates, investors in iShares Gold Strategy ETF or other third parties in respect of the use or accuracy of the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index or any data included therein.

iShares^® and BlackRock^® are registered trademarks of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.

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iSHARES^® GOLD STRATEGY ETF

Investment Objective

The iShares Gold Strategy ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of an index that provides exposure, on a total return basis, to the price performance of gold.

Fees and Expenses

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. The investment advisory agreement between iShares U.S. ETF Trust (the “Trust”) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”) (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities, commodities or other financial instruments and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses. The Fund may incur “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.” Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflect the Fund's pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of investing in other investment products. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the total returns of the Fund. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are not included in the calculation of the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund's prospectus (the “Prospectus”). BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to the Fund's investments in other exchange-traded products (“ETPs”) sponsored by BFA or its affiliates and other funds advised by BFA or its affiliates through February 29, 2024, provided that the waiver be no greater than the Fund's management fee of 0.25%. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to February 29, 2024 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.

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

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Performance Information

The bar chart and table that follow show how the Fund has performed on a calendar year basis and provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1 year and since inception compare with the Underlying Index. Prior to March 1, 2021, the Fund operated as a transparent active ETF. Both assume that all dividends and distributions have been reinvested in the Fund. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. If BFA had not waived certain Fund fees during certain periods, the Fund's returns would have been lower.

Year by Year Returns (Years Ended December 31)

The best calendar quarter return during the periods shown above was 11.85% in the 2nd quarter of 2020; the worst was -9.98% in the 1st quarter of 2021. 

Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting our website at www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free). 

Average Annual Total Returns

(for the periods ended December 31, 2022)

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More Information About the Fund

This Prospectus contains important information about investing in the Fund. Please read this Prospectus carefully before you make any investment decisions. Additional information regarding the Fund is available at www.iShares.com.

BFA is the investment adviser to the Fund. Shares of the Fund are listed for trading on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX”). The market price for a share of the Fund may be different from the Fund’s most recent NAV.

ETFs are funds that trade like other publicly-traded securities. The Fund is designed to track an index. Similar to shares of an index mutual fund, each share of the Fund represents an ownership interest in an underlying portfolio of securities and other instruments intended to track a market index. Unlike shares of a mutual fund, which can be bought and redeemed from the issuing fund by all shareholders at a price based on NAV, shares of the Fund may be purchased or redeemed directly from the Fund at NAV solely by Authorized Participants and only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (“Creation Units”). Also unlike shares of a mutual fund, shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange and trade in the secondary market at market prices that change throughout the day.

The Fund invests in a particular segment of the financial markets and seeks to track the performance of an index that is not representative of the market as a whole. The Fund is designed to be used as part of broader asset allocation strategies. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund should not constitute a complete investment program.

An index is a financial calculation, based on a grouping of financial instruments, and is not an investment product, while the Fund is an actual investment portfolio. The performance of the Fund and the Underlying Index may vary for a number of reasons, including transaction costs, non-U.S. currency valuations, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances and differences between the Fund’s portfolio and the Underlying Index resulting from the Fund's use of representative sampling or from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the Fund but not to the Underlying Index. From time to time, the Index Provider may make changes to the methodology or other adjustments to the Underlying Index. Unless otherwise determined by BFA, any such change or adjustment will be reflected in the calculation of the Underlying Index performance on a going-forward basis after the effective date of such change or adjustment. Therefore, the Underlying Index performance shown for periods prior to the effective date of any such change or adjustment will generally not be recalculated or restated to reflect such change or adjustment.

Because the Fund uses a representative sampling indexing strategy, it can be expected to have a larger tracking error than if it used a replication indexing strategy. “Replication” is an indexing strategy in which a fund invests in substantially all of the securities in its underlying index in approximately the same proportions as in the underlying index.

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An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, BFA or any of its affiliates.

The Fund's investment objective and the Underlying Index may be changed without shareholder approval.

A Further Discussion of Principal Risks

The Fund is subject to various risks, including the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s NAV, trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. You could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund could underperform other investments. The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor. The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings daily at www.iShares.com.

Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to other securities, assets or indexes that track other issuers, countries, groups of countries, regions, industries, groups of industries, markets, market segments, asset classes or sectors (including the futures market). Various types of securities or assets may experience cycles of outperformance and underperformance in comparison to the general financial markets depending upon a number of factors including, among other things, inflation, interest rates, productivity, global demand for local products or resources, and regulation and governmental controls. This may cause the Fund to underperform other investment vehicles that invest in different asset classes.

Assets Under Management (AUM) Risk. From time to time, an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser or an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, or a fund may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a specific period of time to allow the Fund to achieve size or scale. There can be no assurance that any such entity would not redeem its investment or that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels, which could negatively impact the Fund.

Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units, Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened because ETFs, such as the Fund, that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that are less widely traded often involve greater settlement and operational issues and capital costs for Authorized Participants, which may limit the availability of Authorized Participants.

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Calculation Methodology Risk. The Index Provider relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components.

Commodity-Linked Derivatives Risk. The value of a commodity-linked derivative instrument typically is based upon the price movements of the underlying commodity or an economic variable linked to such price movements. Therefore, the value of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall economic conditions, interest rates, or factors affecting a particular commodity or industry. The prices of commodity-related investments may fluctuate quickly and dramatically as a result of changes affecting a particular commodity and may or may not correlate to price movements in other asset classes, such as stocks, bonds and cash. Investments in commodity-linked derivatives may be subject to greater volatility than non-derivative based investments because of the leverage inherent in the use of derivatives. A highly liquid secondary market may not exist for certain commodity-linked derivatives, and there can be no assurance that one will develop. Commodity-linked derivatives also may be subject to credit and interest rate risks that in general affect the values of fixed-income securities. Commodity-linked derivatives are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction, the exchange or trading facility on which they trade or the applicable clearing house may default or otherwise fail to perform. In addition, each exchange or trading facility on which derivatives are traded has the right to suspend or limit trading in all futures or other instruments that it lists. The Fund’s use of commodity-linked derivatives can result in large amounts of financial leverage. Although the Fund will not borrow money in order to increase the amount of its trading, the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading permit a high degree of leverage on the investment itself. Accordingly, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. Like other leveraged investments, any trade may result in losses in excess of the amount invested. Each of these factors and events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund.

Commodity Regulatory Risk. The Fund and the Subsidiary are deemed “commodity pools” and BFA is considered a CPO with respect to the Fund under the CEA. BFA is therefore subject to regulation by the SEC and the CFTC. BFA is also subject to regulation by the NFA. The regulatory requirements governing the use of commodity futures, options, certain swaps or certain other investments could change at any time.

The CFTC and the U.S. commodities exchanges impose limits referred to as “speculative position limits” on the maximum net long or net short speculative positions that any person may hold or control in any particular futures contracts (or options thereon) traded on U.S. commodities exchanges. CFTC rules impose position limits on certain futures contracts (and options thereon) and physical commodity swaps that are “economically equivalent” to such contracts. As a result of these position limits, the size or duration of positions available to the Fund may be severely limited.

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Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund's investments are concentrated in the securities and/or other assets of a particular issuer or issuers, representing a particular country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, project types, group of project types, sector, market segment or asset class. The Fund may be more adversely affected by the underperformance of those securities and/or other assets, may experience increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting those securities and/or other assets than a fund that does not concentrate its investments.

Counterparty Risk. Certain commodity-linked derivative instruments, swap agreements and other forms of financial instruments that involve counterparties subject the Fund to the risk that the counterparty could default on its obligations under the agreement, either through the counterparty’s bankruptcy or failure to perform its obligations. In the event of a counterparty default, the Fund could experience lengthy delays in recovering some or all of its assets or obtain no recovery at all. The Fund may deposit funds required to margin open positions in the derivative instruments subject to the CEA with a clearing broker registered as an FCM, which is an entity that solicits or accepts orders to buy or sell commodity futures, options, swaps or forward contracts and accepts money or other assets from customers to support such orders. The FCM could default on an obligation set forth in an agreement between the Fund and the FCM, including the FCM’s obligation to return margin posted in connection with the Fund’s futures contracts. If a counterparty defaults on its payment obligations, the Fund will lose money and the value of an investment in Fund shares may decrease. In addition, the Fund may engage in such investment transactions with a limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk.

Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that the issuer or guarantor of a debt instrument or the counterparty to a derivatives contract, repurchase agreement or loan of portfolio securities will be unable or unwilling to make its timely interest and/or principal payments when due or otherwise honor its obligations. There are varying degrees of credit risk, depending on an issuer’s or counterparty’s financial condition and on the terms of an obligation, which may be reflected in the issuer’s or counterparty’s credit rating. There is the chance that the Fund’s portfolio holdings will have their credit ratings downgraded or will default (i.e., fail to make scheduled interest or principal payments), or that the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may worsen, potentially reducing the Fund’s income level or share price.

Cybersecurity Risk. The Fund, Authorized Participants, service providers and the relevant listing exchange are susceptible to operational, information security and related “cyber” risks both directly and through their service providers. Similar types of cybersecurity risks are also present for issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investment in such issuers to lose value. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. Cyber incidents include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g., through “hacking”

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or malicious software coding) for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Cyberattacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks on websites (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). Recently, geopolitical tensions may have increased the scale and sophistication of deliberate attacks, particularly those from nation-states or from entities with nation-state backing.

Cybersecurity failures by, or breaches of, the systems of the Fund's adviser, distributor and other service providers (including, but not limited to, index and benchmark providers, fund accountants, custodians, transfer agents and administrators), market makers, Authorized Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in: financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, disclosure of confidential trading information, impediments to trading, submission of erroneous trades or erroneous creation or redemption orders, the inability of the Fund or its service providers to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. In addition, cyberattacks may render records of Fund assets and transactions, shareholder ownership of Fund shares, and other data integral to the functioning of the Fund inaccessible, inaccurate or incomplete. Substantial costs may be incurred by the Fund in order to resolve or prevent cyber incidents in the future. While the Fund has established business continuity plans in the event of, and risk management systems to prevent, such cyber incidents, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems, including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified, that prevention and remediation efforts will not be successful or that cyberattacks will go undetected. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by service providers to the Fund, issuers in which the Fund invests, the Index Provider, market makers or Authorized Participants. The Fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result.

Derivatives Risk. The Fund’s use of derivatives may reduce the Fund’s returns or increase volatility. Volatility is defined as the characteristic of a security, a currency, an index or a market to fluctuate significantly in price within a short time period. Derivatives may also be subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligation. Counterparty risk for OTC derivatives is generally higher than that for derivatives traded on an exchange or through a clearing house. A risk of the Fund’s use of derivatives is that the fluctuations in their values may not correlate perfectly with the value of the underlying asset, the performance of the asset class to which the Fund seeks exposure or the performance of the overall markets. The possible lack of a liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting inability of the Fund to sell or otherwise close a derivatives position could expose the Fund to losses and could make derivatives more difficult for the Fund to value accurately. The Fund could also suffer losses related to its derivatives positions as a result of unanticipated market movements, or movements between the time of periodic reallocations of Fund assets, which losses are potentially unlimited. Certain derivatives may give rise to a form of leverage and may expose the Fund to

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greater risk and increase its costs. The impact of U.S. and global regulation of derivatives may make derivatives more costly, may limit the availability of derivatives, may delay or restrict the exercise by the Fund of termination rights or remedies upon a counterparty default under derivatives held by the Fund (which could result in losses), or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. In addition, the Fund's use of derivatives may expose the Fund to risks related to potential operational issues, such as documentation and settlement issues, systems failures, inadequate controls and human error. Derivatives may also involve legal risks, including insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and legality and enforceability of a contract.

Financials Sector Risk. Companies in the financials sector of an economy are subject to extensive governmental regulation and intervention, which may adversely affect the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge, the amount of capital they must maintain and, potentially, their size. The extent to which the Fund may invest in a company that engages in securities-related activities or banking is limited by applicable law. Governmental regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences for companies in the financials sector, including effects not intended by such regulation. Increased risk taking by banks may also result in greater overall risk in the U.S. and global financials sector. The impact of changes in capital requirements, or recent or future regulation in various countries, on any individual financial company or on the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted.

Certain risks may impact the value of investments in the financials sector more severely than those of investments outside this sector, including the risks associated with companies that operate with substantial financial leverage. Companies in the financials sector are exposed directly to the credit risk of their borrowers and counterparties, who may be leveraged to an unknown degree, including through swaps and other derivatives products. Financial services companies may have significant exposure to the same borrowers and counterparties, with the result that a borrower’s or counterparty’s inability to meet its obligations to one company may affect other companies with exposure to the same borrower or counterparty. This interconnectedness of risk may result in significant negative impacts to companies with direct exposure to the defaulting counterparty as well as adverse cascading effects in the markets and the financials sector generally. Companies in the financials sector may also be adversely affected by increases in interest rates and loan losses, decreases in the availability of money or asset valuations, credit rating downgrades and adverse conditions in other related markets. Insurance companies, in particular, may be subject to severe price competition and/or rate regulation, which may have an adverse impact on their profitability. The financials sector is particularly sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates. The financials sector is also a target for cyberattacks, and may experience technology malfunctions and disruptions. Cybersecurity incidents and technology malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent in this sector and have reportedly caused losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the Fund.

Futures Contract Risk. Futures are standardized, exchange-traded contracts that obligate a purchaser to take delivery, and a seller to make delivery, of a specific

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amount of an asset at a specified future date at a specified price. Unlike equities, which typically entitle the holder to a continuing ownership stake in an issuer, futures contracts normally specify a certain date for settlement in cash based on the level of the reference rate. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are: (i) the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by the Fund and the price of the futures contract; (ii) possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a futures contract and the resulting inability to close a futures contract when desired; (iii) losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited; (iv) BFA's inability to predict correctly the direction of prices and other economic factors; and (v) the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations. To the extent that the Fund invests in rolling futures contracts, it may be subject to additional risk. As the futures contracts approach expiration, they may be replaced by similar contracts that have a later expiration. This process is referred to as “rolling.” If the market for these contracts is in “contango,” meaning that the prices of futures contracts in the nearer months are lower than the price of contracts in the distant months, the sale of the near-term month contract would be at a lower price than the longer-term contract, resulting in a cost to “roll” the futures contract. The actual realization of a potential roll cost will be dependent upon the difference in price of the near and distant contracts. The Fund may not “roll” the futures contracts on a predefined schedule as they approach expiration; instead BFA may determine to roll to another futures contract in an attempt to generate maximum yield. There can be no guarantee that such a strategy will produce the desired results.

Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline if yields fall because the Fund may hold a significant portion of short duration securities and/or securities that have floating or variable interest rates. The Fund’s income may decline because the Fund invests in lower yielding bonds as bonds in its portfolio mature, are near maturity or are called, or when the Fund needs to purchase additional bonds.

Index-Related Risk. The Fund seeks to achieve a return that corresponds generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Underlying Index as published by the Index Provider. There is no assurance that the Index Provider or any agents that may act on its behalf will compile the Underlying Index accurately, or that the Underlying Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While the Index Provider provides descriptions of what the Underlying Index is designed to achieve, neither the Index Provider nor its agents provide any warranty or accept any liability in relation to the quality, accuracy or completeness of the Underlying Index or its related data, and they do not guarantee that the Underlying Index will be in line with the Index Provider’s methodology. BFA’s mandate as described in this Prospectus is to manage the Fund consistently with the Underlying Index provided by the Index Provider to BFA. BFA does not provide any warranty or guarantee against the Index Provider’s or any agent’s errors. Errors in respect of the quality, accuracy and completeness of the data used to compile the Underlying Index may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, particularly where the indices are less commonly used as benchmarks by funds or managers. Such errors may negatively or positively impact the Fund and its shareholders. For example, during a period where the Underlying Index contains incorrect constituents, the Fund would have market exposure to such constituents and

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would be underexposed to the Underlying Index’s other constituents. Shareholders should understand that any gains from Index Provider errors will be kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from Index Provider errors will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider, and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance to the Underlying Index. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition. The postponement of a scheduled rebalance could mean that constituents of the Underlying Index that would otherwise be removed at rebalance due to changes in market capitalizations , issuer credit ratings, or other reasons may remain, causing the performance and constituents of the Underlying Index to vary from those expected under normal conditions. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index Provider or its agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the Underlying Index due to reaching certain weighting constraints, unusual market conditions or corporate events or, for example, to correct an error in the selection of index constituents. When the Underlying Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn rebalances its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the Fund’s portfolio and the Underlying Index, any transaction costs and market exposure arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne directly by the Fund and its shareholders. Therefore, errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the Index Provider or its agents to the Underlying Index may increase the costs to and the tracking error risk of the Fund.

Infectious Illness Risk. A widespread outbreak of an infectious illness, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may adversely affect 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 travel restrictions, closed international borders, disruption of healthcare services, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain disruptions, lower consumer demand, temporary and permanent closures of businesses, layoffs, defaults and other significant economic, social and political impacts, as well as general concern and uncertainty.

An infectious illness outbreak may result in extreme volatility, severe losses, credit deterioration of issuers, and disruptions in markets, which could adversely impact the Fund and its investments, including impairing any hedging activity.

Certain local markets may be subject to closures. Any suspension of trading in markets in which the Fund invests will have an impact on the Fund and its investments and will impact the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell securities in such markets. Market or economic disruptions could result in elevated tracking error and increased premiums or discounts to the Fund's NAV. Additionally, an outbreak could impair the operations of the Fund’s service providers, including BFA, which could adversely impact the Fund.

Governmental and quasi-governmental authorities and regulators throughout the world may respond to an outbreak and any resulting economic disruptions with a variety of fiscal and monetary policy changes, including direct capital infusions into companies

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and other issuers, new monetary policy tools, and changes in interest rates. A reversal of these policies, or the ineffectiveness of such policies, is likely to increase market volatility, which could adversely affect the Fund’s investments.

An outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally, which could adversely affect the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund's NAV.

Despite the development of vaccines, the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects cannot be predicted with certainty.

Interest Rate Risk. If interest rates rise, the value of fixed-income securities or other instruments held by the Fund would likely decrease. A measure investors commonly use to determine this price sensitivity is called duration. Fixed-income securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes, usually making their prices more volatile than those of securities with shorter durations. For example, if a bond has a duration of five years and interest rates rise, the price of the bond will likely decline by a greater percentage than if the bond had a one year duration. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer duration, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline significantly, which would adversely affect the value of the Fund. An increase in interest rates may lead to heightened volatility in the fixed-income markets and adversely affect certain fixed-income investments, including those held by the Fund. Because rates on certain floating rate debt securities typically reset only periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected to cause some fluctuations in the net asset value of the Fund to the extent that it invests in floating rate debt securities. In addition, decreases in fixed income dealer market-making capacity may lead to lower trading volume, heightened volatility, wider bid-ask spreads and less transparent pricing in certain fixed-income markets.

The historically low interest rate environment in recent years was created in part by the world’s major central banks keeping their overnight policy interest rates at, near or below zero percent and implementing monetary policy facilities, such as asset purchase programs, to anchor longer-term interest rates below historical levels. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to Fund shareholders. Certain countries have recently experienced negative interest rates on certain fixed-income instruments. Very low or negative interest rates may magnify interest rate risk. Changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, may have unpredictable effects on markets, result in heightened market volatility and detract from the Fund’s performance to the extent the Fund is exposed to such interest rates. Additionally, under certain market conditions in which interest rates are set at low levels and the market prices of portfolio securities have increased, the Fund may have a very low or even negative yield. A low or negative yield would cause the Fund to lose money in certain conditions and over certain time periods. Central banks may increase their short-term policy rates or begin phasing out, or “tapering,” accommodative monetary policy facilities in the future. The timing, coordination, magnitude and effect of such policy changes on

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various markets are uncertain, and such changes in monetary policy may adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments.

Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or assets to which the Fund has exposure. The Fund may be adversely affected if an issuer of underlying securities held by the Fund is unable or unwilling to repay principal or interest when due. Any issuer of these securities or assets may perform poorly, causing the value of its securities or assets to decline. Poor performance may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, changes in technology, expiration of patent protection, disruptions in supply, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, credit deterioration of the issuer or other factors. Changes to the financial condition or credit rating of an issuer of those securities may cause the value of the securities to decline. An issuer may also be subject to risks associated with the countries, states and regions in which the issuer resides, invests, sells products, or otherwise conducts operations.

Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser or an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares or may invest in the Fund and hold their investment for a limited period of time. These shareholders may also pledge or loan Fund shares (to secure financing or otherwise), which may result in the shares becoming concentrated in another party. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment or that the size of the Fund would be maintained. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares by these shareholders may adversely affect the Fund’s liquidity and net assets. To the extent the Fund permits redemptions in cash, these redemptions may force the Fund to sell portfolio securities when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, have a material effect on the market price of the Shares and increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such tax year. The Fund also may be required to sell its more liquid Fund investments to meet a large redemption, in which case the Fund’s remaining assets may be less liquid, more volatile, and more difficult to price. To the extent these large shareholders transact in shares on the secondary market, such transactions may account for a large percentage of the trading volume for the shares of the Fund and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the Fund shares. In addition, large purchases of Fund shares may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would, diluting its investment returns.

Management Risk. Because BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy, the Fund may not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities not included in the Underlying Index. As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that BFA’s

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investment strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results.

Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Market risk arises mainly from uncertainty about future values of financial instruments and may be influenced by price, currency and interest rate movements. It represents the potential loss the Fund may suffer through holding financial instruments in the face of market movements or uncertainty. The value of a security, asset, or other instrument may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV. During a general market or commodity market downturn, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Changes in market conditions and interest rates generally do not have the same impact on all types of securities and instruments.

Market Trading Risk.

Absence of Active Market. Although shares of the Fund are listed for trading on one or more stock exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained by market makers or Authorized Participants.

Risk of Secondary Listings. The Fund's shares may be listed or traded on U.S. and non-U.S. stock exchanges other than the U.S. stock exchange where the Fund's primary listing is maintained, and may otherwise be made available to non-U.S. investors through funds or structured investment vehicles similar to depositary receipts. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s shares will continue to trade on any such stock exchange or in any market or that the Fund’s shares will continue to meet the requirements for listing or trading on any exchange or in any market. The Fund's shares may be less actively traded in certain markets than in others, and investors are subject to the execution and settlement risks and market standards of the market where they or their broker direct their trades for execution. Certain information available to investors who trade Fund shares on a U.S. stock exchange during regular U.S. market hours may not be available to investors who trade in other markets, which may result in secondary market prices in such markets being less efficient.

Secondary Market Trading Risk. Shares of the Fund may trade in the secondary market at times when the Fund does not accept orders to purchase or redeem shares. At such times, shares may trade in the secondary market with more significant premiums or discounts than might be experienced at times when the Fund accepts purchase and redemption orders.

Secondary market trading in Fund shares may be halted by a stock exchange because of market conditions or for other reasons. In addition, trading in Fund shares on a stock exchange or in any market may be subject to trading halts caused by

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extraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules on the stock exchange or market.

Shares of the Fund, similar to shares of other issuers listed on a stock exchange, may be sold short and are therefore subject to the risk of increased volatility and price decreases associated with being sold short. In addition, trading activity in derivative products based on the Fund may lead to increased trading volume and volatility in the secondary market for the shares of the Fund.

Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Shares of the Fund trade on stock exchanges at prices at, above or below the Fund’s most recent NAV. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund's shares fluctuates continuously throughout trading hours based on both market supply of and demand for their shares and the underlying value of their portfolio holdings or NAV. As a result, the trading prices of the Fund’s shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility, including during periods of significant redemption requests or other unusual market conditions. ANY OF THESE FACTORS, AMONG OTHERS, MAY LEAD TO THE FUND'S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV. However, because shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units at NAV, BFA believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of the Fund are not likely to be sustained over the long term (unlike shares of many closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their NAVs). While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it more likely that the Fund’s shares normally will trade on stock exchanges at prices close to the Fund’s next calculated NAV, exchange prices are not expected to correlate exactly with the Fund's NAV due to timing reasons, supply and demand imbalances and other factors. In addition, disruptions to creations and redemptions, including disruptions at market makers, Authorized Participants, or other market participants, and during periods of significant market volatility, may result in trading prices for shares of the Fund that differ significantly from its NAV. Authorized Participants may be less willing to create or redeem Fund shares if there is a lack of an active market for such shares or its underlying investments, which may contribute to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV.

Costs of Buying or Selling Fund Shares. Buying or selling Fund shares on an exchange involves two types of costs that apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling shares of the Fund through a broker, you will likely incur a brokerage commission and other charges. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread”; that is, the difference between what investors are willing to pay for Fund shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which they are willing to sell Fund shares (the “ask” price). The spread, which varies over time for shares of the Fund based on trading volume and market liquidity, is generally narrower if the Fund has more trading volume and market liquidity and wider if the Fund has less trading volume and market liquidity. In addition, increased market volatility may cause wider spreads. There may also be regulatory and other charges that are incurred as a result of trading activity. Because of the costs inherent in buying or selling Fund shares, frequent trading may detract significantly from investment results and an investment in Fund shares may not be

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advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments through a brokerage account.

Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is classified as “non-diversified.” This means that, compared with other funds that are classified as “diversified,” the Fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in securities issued by or representing a small number of issuers or in derivatives with a limited number of counterparties. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to the risks associated with these particular issuers or counterparties or to a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence affecting these issuers or counterparties.

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

Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and may be affected by a general decline in market segments related to the Underlying Index. The Fund invests in securities included in, or representative of, the Underlying Index, regardless of their investment merits. BFA generally does not attempt to invest the Fund's assets in defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets.

Risk of Investing in ETPs. Through the Fund’s investments in ETPs, which may be affiliated or unaffiliated with the Fund, the Fund is subject to the risks associated with the ETPs’ investments, including the possibility that the value of the gold held by or linked to an ETP could decrease. An ETP’s investment in OTC or exchange-traded derivatives on gold bullion will subject the Fund to risks associated with investments in derivatives.

The Fund has no control over the investments and related risks taken by the ETPs in which it invests. Thus, the Fund’s exposure to particular risks of an ETP generally will be proportionate to the Fund’s allocation to the ETP. The ETPs in which the Fund may invest may be passive investment vehicles. In such cases, their shares may be adversely affected by losses that, if actively managed, might have been possible to avoid.

The price of ETP shares is subject to the risks associated with investing in the securities market. This means that the price of ETP shares owned by the Fund may fluctuate, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The value of the Fund’s investment in ETPs is generally based on secondary market prices and, as such, the Fund may suffer losses due to developments in the securities markets, the failure of an active trading market to develop, trading halts or de-listings. The ETPs in which the Fund may invest may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or the price of gold and may trade at prices, above or below their NAV, that fluctuate with changes in the market value of gold. Although ETPs are listed for trading on a market, a lack of an active trading market may result in losses on investment at the time of disposition of ETP shares.

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An investment in the Fund may entail more direct and indirect costs and expenses than a direct investment in an ETP. For example, the Fund may indirectly pay a portion of the expenses (including operating expenses and management fees) incurred by the underlying ETPs in addition to its own expenses. To the extent that the expense ratio of an ETP in which the Fund invests changes or the Fund’s allocation among the ETPs changes from time to time, the weighted average operating expenses borne by the Fund may increase or decrease.

BFA may also receive management or other fees paid by its affiliated ETPs. Because the amount of the fees to be retained by BFA may differ depending upon the ETPs in which the Fund invests, there may be a conflict of interest for BFA in selecting affiliated ETPs. In addition, BFA may have an incentive to take into account the effect on an affiliated ETP in which the Fund may invest in determining whether, and under what circumstances, to purchase or sell shares in that affiliated ETP. BFA may receive greater compensation in connection with an affiliated ETP than with an unaffiliated ETP. Any differential in compensation may create a financial incentive on the part of BFA in selecting an affiliated ETP over an unaffiliated ETP.

Risk of Investing in the Gold Trust. To the extent the Fund invests a portion of its assets in the Gold Trust, which seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of gold, the Fund is subject to the risks associated with the Gold Trust, including the possibility that the market price of its shares could decrease. The value of the Fund’s investment in the Gold Trust may fluctuate, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably.

The value of Gold Trust’s shares may be adversely affected by actual or perceived disruptions or lack of confidence in the gold price benchmark used to value the Gold Trust’s gold. The amount of gold represented by each of its shares will decrease over the life of the Gold Trust due to the sales of gold necessary to pay the fees of the Gold Trust’s sponsor and the Gold Trust’s expenses not otherwise assumed by the Gold Trust’s sponsor. Without increases in the price of gold sufficient to compensate for that decrease, the price of the Gold Trust’s shares will also decline.

The Gold Trust is not registered as an investment company for purposes of federal securities laws and is not a commodity pool for purposes of the CEA. As such, the Fund, as an owner of beneficial interests in the shares of the Gold Trust, does not have the protections normally associated with ownership of shares in an investment company registered under the 1940 Act or the protections afforded by the CEA.

The Gold Trust is sponsored by an affiliate of BFA that receives a fee in exchange for assuming certain administrative and marketing expenses of the Gold Trust, which may create a conflict of interest for BFA in determining whether, and under what circumstances, to purchase or sell shares in the Gold Trust.

Risk of Investing in Gold. The Fund has a substantial exposure to gold through its investments in the Gold Investments. Thus, the Fund’s portfolio may be adversely affected by changes or trends in the price of gold. The price of gold and of gold-related instruments historically has been volatile. Governments, central banks, or other large holders can influence the production and sale of gold, which may adversely affect the supply and price of gold, and thus, the performance of the Fund. Unpredictable economic, financial, social, and political factors may also affect the price of gold.

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Investments related to gold are considered to be speculative. The price of gold may fluctuate sharply over short periods of time due to, among other things: (i) changes in inflation or expectations regarding inflation in various countries; (ii) the availability of supply; (iii) changes in demand; (iv) investment speculation and political uncertainty; and (v) monetary and other economic policies of various governments.

The Fund also invests in gold bullion through ETPs. Gold bullion may depreciate in value and does not generate income, unlike many other investments, which may pay interest or dividends or make other current payments. Also, as compared to other investments, ETPs may have higher custody and transaction costs.

Risk of Investing in the U.S. A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations, inflation and/or an economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S. economy and the securities listed on U.S. exchanges. Proposed and adopted policy and legislative changes in the U.S. are changing many aspects of financial, commercial, public health, environmental, and other regulation and may have a significant effect on U.S. markets generally, as well as on the value of certain securities. Governmental agencies project that the U.S. will continue to maintain elevated public debt levels for the foreseeable future. Although elevated debt levels do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, elevated public debt service costs may constrain future economic growth.

The U.S. has developed increasingly strained relations with a number of foreign countries. If relations with certain countries deteriorate, it could adversely affect U.S. issuers as well as non-U.S. issuers that rely on the U.S. for trade. The U.S. has also experienced increased internal unrest and discord, as well as significant challenges in managing and containing the outbreak of COVID-19. If these trends were to continue, it may have an adverse impact on the U.S. economy and the issuers in which the Fund invests.

Risk of Swap Agreements.Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities because swaps may be leveraged and are subject to counterparty risk (e.g., the risk of a counterparty defaulting on the obligation or bankruptcy), credit risk and pricing risk (i.e., swaps may be difficult to value). Swaps may be subject to illiquidity risk, and it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate a swap position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses. Certain standardized swaps are subject to mandatory central clearing. Central clearing is expected to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity, but central clearing does not make swap transactions risk-free. All swaps require posting of collateral, which may restrict the ability of the Fund to invest the assets in different ways and which involve costs to the Fund. Swaps provide customized contractual terms, which may not, in all cases, provide the hedging or other intended benefits.

Small Fund Risk. When the Fund’s size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange. If the Fund were to be required to delist from the listing exchange, the value of the Fund may rapidly decline and performance may be negatively impacted. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs for the Fund and negative tax consequences for its shareholders.

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Subsidiary Risk. In compliance with Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, the Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary, as determined at the end of each of the Fund’s fiscal quarters. By investing in a Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. The Gold Investments that may be held by the Subsidiary are generally similar to those that are permitted to be held by the Fund and are subject to the same risks that apply to similar investments if held directly by the Fund. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Subsidiary will be achieved. The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act, and, unless otherwise noted in the Prospectus, is not subject to the investor protections of the 1940 Act. The Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) has oversight responsibility for the investment activities of the Fund, including its investment in the Subsidiary, and the Fund’s role as sole shareholder of the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary’s financial statements are consolidated with the Fund’s financial statements that are included in the Fund’s Annual and Semi-Annual Reports to shareholders.

Tax Risk. The Fund invests in commodity-linked derivatives indirectly through the Subsidiary because income from these investments, if made directly, might not be treated as “qualifying income” for purposes of the Fund qualifying as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Based on final regulations issued by the IRS on which taxpayers may rely for taxable years beginning after September 28, 2016, the Fund expects its income with respect to the Subsidiary to be qualifying income. In the future, if the IRS issues new regulations or other guidance, or Congress enacts legislation, limiting the circumstances in which the Fund’s income with respect to the Subsidiary will be considered “qualifying income,” the Fund might be required to make changes to its operations, which could reduce the Fund’s ability to gain investment exposure to commodities. Fund shareholders could also experience adverse tax consequences in such circumstances. Moreover, changes in the laws of the U.S. and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or Subsidiary to operate as described in the Prospectus and in the SAI, and could adversely affect the Fund. For example, the Cayman Islands does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains taxes, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands taxes, Fund shareholders would likely experience decreased investment returns.

Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to “tracking error,” which is the divergence of the Fund ’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities and other instruments held in the Fund ’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing differences (including, as applicable, differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund's valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund's NAV), transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash, differences in timing of the accrual or the valuation of distributions, the requirements to maintain pass-through tax treatment, portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders, acceptance of custom baskets, changes to the Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or existing regulatory requirements, among other reasons. This risk may

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be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying Index does not. INDEX ETFs THAT TRACK INDICES WITH SIGNIFICANT WEIGHT IN FUTURES CONTRACTS ISSUERS MAY EXPERIENCE HIGHER TRACKING ERROR THAN OTHER INDEX ETFs THAT DO NOT TRACK SUCH INDICES.

Valuation Risk. The price the Fund could receive upon the sale of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund's valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology as a result of trade suspensions or for other reasons. Because non-U.S. exchanges may be open on days or during time periods when the Fund does not price its shares, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund's portfolio may change on days or during time periods when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund’s shares. Authorized Participants who purchase or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other instruments may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other instruments not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.

A Further Discussion of Other Risks

The Fund may also be subject to certain other risks associated with its investments and investment strategies. The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor.

Close-Out Risk for Qualified Financial Contracts. Regulations adopted by global prudential regulators require counterparties that are part of U.S. or foreign global systemically important banking organizations to include contractual restrictions on close-out and cross-default in agreements relating to qualified financial contracts. Qualified financial contracts include agreements relating to swaps, currency forwards and other derivatives as well as repurchase agreements and securities lending agreements. The restrictions prevent the Fund from closing out a qualified financial contract during a specified time period if the counterparty is subject to resolution proceedings and also prohibit the Fund from exercising default rights due to a receivership or similar proceeding of an affiliate of the counterparty. These requirements may increase credit risk and other risks to the Fund.

European Economic Risk. The Economic and Monetary Union (the “eurozone”) of the European Union (the “EU”) requires compliance by member states that are members of the eurozone with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, interest rates and debt levels, as well as fiscal and monetary controls, each of which may significantly affect every country in Europe, including those countries that are not members of the eurozone. Additionally, European countries outside of the eurozone may present economic risks that are independent of the indirect effects that eurozone policies have on them. In particular, the United Kingdom's (the “U.K.”) economy may be affected by global economic, industrial and financial shifts. Changes in imports or exports, changes in governmental or EU regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the euro (the

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common currency of eurozone countries), the default or threat of default by an EU member state on its sovereign debt and/or an economic recession in an EU member state may have a significant adverse effect on the economies of other EU member states and their trading partners. The European financial markets have historically experienced volatility and adverse trends due to concerns about economic downturns or government debt levels in several European countries, including, but not limited to, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine. These events have affected and may in the future adversely affect the exchange rate of the euro and may significantly affect European countries.

Responses to financial problems by European governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not produce the desired results, may result in social unrest, may limit future growth and economic recovery or may have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and other entities of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world. In addition, one or more countries may abandon the euro and/or withdraw from the EU. The U.K. left the EU (“Brexit”) on January 31, 2020. The U.K. and EU reached an agreement on the terms of their future trading relationship effective January 1, 2021, which principally relates to the trading of goods rather than services, including financial services. Further discussions are to be held between the U.K. and the EU in relation to matters not covered by the trade agreement, such as financial services. The Fund faces risks associated with the potential uncertainty and consequences that may follow Brexit, including with respect to volatility in exchange rates and interest rates. Brexit could adversely affect European or worldwide political, regulatory, economic or market conditions and could contribute to instability in global political institutions, regulatory agencies and financial markets. Brexit has also led to legal uncertainty and could lead to politically divergent national laws and regulations as a new relationship between the U.K. and EU is defined and the U.K. determines which EU laws to replace or replicate. Any of these effects could adversely affect any of the companies to which the Fund has exposure and any other assets in which the Fund invests. The political, economic and legal consequences of Brexit are not yet fully known. In the short term, financial markets may experience heightened volatility, particularly those in the U.K. and Europe, but possibly worldwide. The U.K. and Europe may be less stable than they have been in recent years, and investments in the U.K. and the EU may be difficult to value or subject to greater or more frequent volatility. In the longer term, there is likely to be a period of significant political, regulatory and commercial uncertainty as the U.K. continues to negotiate the terms of its future trading relationships.

Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain and the independence movement in Scotland, as well as governmental or other responses to such movements, may also create instability and uncertainty in the region. In addition, the national politics of countries in the EU have been unpredictable and subject to influence by disruptive political groups and ideologies. The governments of EU countries may be subject to change and such countries may experience social and political unrest. Unanticipated or sudden political or social developments may result in sudden and significant investment losses. The occurrence of terrorist incidents throughout Europe or war in the region could also impact financial markets. The impact

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of these events is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund's investments.

Russian Invasion of Ukraine. 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, including declines in its stock markets and the value of the ruble against the U.S. dollar, are impossible to predict, but could be significant. Disruptions caused by Russian military action or other actions (including cyberattacks and espionage) or resulting actual and threatened responses to such activity, including purchasing and financing restrictions, boycotts or changes in consumer or purchaser preferences, sanctions, import and export restrictions, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Russian government, Russian companies or Russian individuals, including politicians, may impact Russia's economy and Russian issuers of securities in which the Fund invests. Actual and threatened responses to Russian military action may also impact the markets for certain Russian commodities, such as oil and natural gas, as well as other sectors of the Russian economy, and are likely to have collateral impacts on such sectors globally.

Illiquid Investments Risk. The Fund may not acquire any illiquid investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment is any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without significantly changing the market value of the investment. Liquid investments may become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. There can be no assurance that a security or instrument that is deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid for as long as it is held by the Fund, and any security or instrument held by the Fund may be deemed an illiquid investment pursuant to the Fund’s liquidity risk management program. To the extent the Fund holds illiquid investments, the illiquid investments may reduce the returns of the Fund because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices. An investment may be illiquid due to, among other things, the reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in securities or instruments or the lack of an active market for such securities or instruments. To the extent that the Fund invests in securities or instruments with substantial market and/or credit risk, the Fund will tend to have increased exposure to the risks associated with illiquid investments. Illiquid investments may be harder to value, especially in changing markets. If the Fund is forced to sell underlying investments at reduced prices or under unfavorable conditions to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the Fund may suffer a loss. This may be magnified in a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where redemptions from the Fund may be greater than normal. Other market participants may be attempting to liquidate holdings at the same time as the Fund, causing increased supply of the Fund’s underlying investments in the market and contributing to illiquid investments risk and downward pricing pressure. In addition, if the Fund is limited in its ability to sell illiquid investments during periods when shareholders are redeeming their shares, the Fund will need to sell liquid securities to meet redemption requests and illiquid securities will become a larger portion of the Fund’s holdings. During periods of market volatility, liquidity in the market for the Fund’s shares may be impacted by the liquidity in the

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market for the underlying securities or instruments held by the Fund, which could lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to the Fund's NAV.

Non-U.S. Issuers Risk. Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers have different risks from securities issued by U.S. issuers. These risks include differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation, adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations, political instability which could affect U.S. investments in non-U.S. countries, uncertainties of transnational litigation, and potential restrictions on the flow of international capital, including the possible seizure or nationalization of the securities issued by non-U.S. issuers held by the Fund. Non-U.S. issuers may be subject to less governmental regulation than U.S. issuers. Moreover, individual non-U.S. economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payment positions. Unfavorable political, economic or governmental developments in non-U.S. countries could affect the payment of a security’s principal and interest. Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers may also be less liquid than, and more difficult to value than, securities of U.S. issuers. In addition, the value of these securities may fluctuate due to changes in the exchange rate of the issuer’s local currency against the U.S. dollar.

Risk of Investing in Developed Countries. Investment in developed country issuers may subject the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated with developed countries.Developed countries generally tend to rely on services sectors (e.g., the financial services sector) as the primary means of economic growth. A prolonged slowdown in one or more services sectors is likely to have a negative impact on economies of certain developed countries, although economies of individual developed countries can be impacted by slowdowns in other sectors. In the past, certain developed countries have been targets of terrorism, and some geographic areas in which the Fund invests have experienced strained international relations due to territorial disputes, historical animosities, defense concerns and other security concerns. These situations may cause uncertainty in the financial markets in these countries or geographic areas and may adversely affect the performance of the issuers to which the Fund has exposure. Heavy regulation of certain markets, including labor and product markets, may have an adverse effect on certain issuers. Such regulations may negatively affect economic growth or cause prolonged periods of recession. Many developed countries are heavily indebted and face rising healthcare and retirement expenses. In addition, price fluctuations of certain commodities and regulations impacting the import of commodities may negatively affect developed country economies.

Threshold/Underinvestment Risk. If certain aggregate and/or fund-level ownership thresholds are reached through transactions undertaken by BFA, its affiliates or the Fund, or as a result of third-party transactions or actions by an issuer or regulator, the ability of BFA and its affiliates on behalf of clients (including the Fund) to purchase or dispose of investments, or exercise rights or undertake business transactions, may be restricted by regulation or otherwise impaired. The capacity of the Fund to make investments in certain securities may be affected by the relevant threshold limits, and

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such limitations may have adverse effects on the liquidity and performance of the Fund’s portfolio holdings.

For example, in certain circumstances where the Fund invests in securities issued by companies that operate in certain regulated industries or in certain emerging or international markets, is subject to corporate or regulatory ownership restrictions, or invests in certain futures or other derivative transactions, there may be limits on the aggregate and/or fund-level amount invested or voted by BFA and its affiliates for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts (including the Fund) that may not be exceeded without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate consent or, if exceeded, may cause BFA and its affiliates, the Fund or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions.

Portfolio Holdings Information

A description of the Trust's policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities and other assets is available in the Fund's SAI. The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings daily at www.iShares.com. Fund fact sheets provide information regarding the Fund's top holdings and may be requested by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).

Management

Investment Adviser. As investment adviser, BFA has overall responsibility for the general management and administration of the Fund. BFA provides an investment program for the Fund and manages the investment of the Fund’s assets. In managing the Fund, BFA may draw upon the trading, research and expertise of its asset management affiliates for portfolio decisions and management with respect to portfolio securities and other assets. In seeking to achieve the Fund's investment objective, BFA uses teams of portfolio managers, investment strategists and other investment specialists. This team approach brings together many disciplines and leverages BFA’s extensive resources.

Pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement between BFA and the Trust (entered into on behalf of the Fund), BFA is responsible for substantially all expenses of the Fund, except the management fees, interest expenses, taxes, expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities, commodities or other financial instruments and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, distribution fees or expenses, and litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses (as determined by a majority of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust). For the avoidance of doubt, extraordinary expenses do not include expenses related to the organization of any subsidiary for the Fund or the ongoing corporate expenses of maintaining such subsidiary.

For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, BFA was paid a management fee from the Fund, as a percentage of the Fund's average daily net assets, net of any applicable waivers, at the annual rate of 0.17%. BFA also serves as investment adviser to the Subsidiary. No fee will be paid to BFA for the advisory services that it provides to the Subsidiary. BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to the

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Fund's investments in other ETPs sponsored by BFA or its affiliates and other funds advised by BFA or its affiliates through February 29, 2024, provided that the waiver be no greater than the Fund's management fee of 0.25%. The fee waiver information provided in the annual fund operating expenses table reflects the fees that will be waived consistent with the contractual waiver. It is not necessarily identical to the amount of fees that had been waived by BFA as shown in the financial highlights of the Fund's Annual Report. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to February 29, 2024 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA. In addition, BFA may from time to time voluntarily waive and/or reimburse fees or expenses in order to limit total annual fund operating expenses (excluding Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any). Any such voluntary waiver or reimbursement may be eliminated by BFA at any time.

BFA is located at 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. It is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (“BlackRock”). As of December 31, 2022, BFA and its affiliates provided investment advisory services for assets in excess of $8.6 trillion. BFA and its affiliates trade and invest for their own accounts in the actual securities and types of securities in which the Fund may also invest, which may affect the price of such securities. BFA is considered a CPO with respect to the Fund under the CEA and is therefore subject to regulation by the SEC and the CFTC with respect to the Fund.

A discussion regarding the basis for the approval by the Board of the Investment Advisory Agreement with BFA is available in the Fund's Annual Report for the period ended October 31.

From time to time, a manager, analyst, or other employee of BlackRock or its affiliates may express views regarding a particular asset class, company, security, industry, or market sector. The views expressed by any such person are the views of only that individual as of the time expressed and do not necessarily represent the views of BlackRock or any other person within the BlackRock organization. Any such views are subject to change at any time based upon market or other conditions and BlackRock disclaims any responsibility to update such views. These views may not be relied on as investment advice and may not be relied on as an indication of trading intent on behalf of the Fund.

Portfolio Managers. Richard Mejzak, Orlando Montalvo, Greg Savage and Paul Whitehead are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. The Portfolio Managers are responsible for various functions related to portfolio management, including, but not limited to, developing and implementing the Fund’s investment process and investment strategy, researching and reviewing investment strategy and overseeing members of their respective portfolio management teams who have more limited responsibilities.

Richard Mejzak has been with BlackRock since 1990, including his years with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, which was acquired by BlackRock in 2006. Mr. Mejzak became a portfolio manager for BFA in 2012. Mr. Mejzak has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2018.

Orlando Montalvo has been employed by BFA or its affiliates as a senior portfolio manager since 2009. Prior to that, Mr. Montalvo was a senior portfolio manager from

22

2005 to 2009 for Barclays Global Fund Advisors (“BGFA”). Mr. Montalvo has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2023.

Greg Savage has been employed by BFA or its affiliates as a senior portfolio manager since 2006. Prior to that, Mr. Savage was a portfolio manager from 2001 to 2006 for BGFA. Mr. Savage has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2018.

Paul Whitehead has been with BlackRock since 1996, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (“BGI”), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. Mr. Whitehead has been employed by BlackRock as a Managing Director since 2010 and a Director from 2009 to 2010. Mr. Whitehead was employed by BGI as Principal from 2002 to 2009. Mr. Whitehead has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2022.

The Fund's SAI provides additional information about the Portfolio Managers' compensation, other accounts managed by the Portfolio Managers and the Portfolio Managers' ownership (if any) of shares in the Fund.

Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent. State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”) is the administrator, custodian and transfer agent for the Fund. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. serves as custodian for the Fund in connection with certain securities lending activities.

Conflicts of Interest. The investment activities of BFA and its affiliates (including BlackRock and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Affiliates”)), and their respective directors, officers or employees, in the management of, or their interest in, their own accounts and other accounts they manage, may present conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. BFA and its Affiliates provide investment management services to other funds and discretionary managed accounts that may follow investment programs similar to that of the Fund. BFA and its Affiliates are involved worldwide with a broad spectrum of financial services and asset management activities and may engage in the ordinary course of business in activities in which their interests or the interests of their clients may conflict with those of the Fund. BFA or one or more Affiliates act, or may act, as an investor, research provider, investment manager, commodity pool operator, commodity trading advisor, financier, underwriter, adviser, trader, lender, index provider, agent and/or principal, and have other direct and indirect interests in securities, currencies, commodities, derivatives and other instruments in which the Fund may directly or indirectly invest. The Fund may invest in securities of, or engage in other transactions with, companies with which an Affiliate has significant debt or equity investments or other interests. The Fund may also invest in issuances (such as structured notes) by entities for which an Affiliate provides and is compensated for cash management services relating to the proceeds from the sale of such issuances. The Fund also may invest in securities of, or engage in other transactions with, companies for which an Affiliate provides or may in the future provide research coverage. An Affiliate may have business relationships with, and purchase or distribute or sell services or products from or to, distributors, consultants or others who recommend the Fund or who engage in transactions with or for the Fund, and may receive compensation for such services. BFA or one or more Affiliates may engage in proprietary trading and advise accounts and funds that have investment objectives similar to those of the Fund and/or that engage in and compete for transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and other instruments as the

23

Fund. This may include transactions in securities issued by other open-end and closed-end investment companies (which may include investment companies that are affiliated with the Fund and BFA, to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act). The trading activities of BFA and these Affiliates are carried out without reference to positions held directly or indirectly by the Fund and may result in BFA or an Affiliate having positions in certain securities that are senior or junior to, or have interests different from or adverse to, the securities that are owned by the Fund.

Neither BlackRock nor any Affiliate is under any obligation to share any investment opportunity, idea or strategy with the Fund. As a result, an Affiliate may compete with the Fund for appropriate investment opportunities. The results of the Fund's investment activities, therefore, may differ from those of an Affiliate and of other accounts managed by BlackRock or an Affiliate, and it is possible that the Fund could sustain losses during periods in which one or more Affiliates and other accounts achieve profits on their trading for proprietary or other accounts. The opposite result is also possible.

In addition, the Fund may, from time to time, enter into transactions in which BFA or an Affiliate or its or their directors, officers, employees or clients have an adverse interest. Furthermore, transactions undertaken by clients advised or managed by BFA or its Affiliates may adversely impact the Fund. Transactions by one or more clients or by BFA or its Affiliates or their directors, officers or employees may have the effect of diluting or otherwise disadvantaging the values, prices or investment strategies of the Fund.

The Fund's activities may be limited because of regulatory restrictions applicable to BFA or one or more Affiliates and/or their internal policies designed to comply with such restrictions.

It is also possible that, from time to time, BlackRock and/or its advisory clients (including other funds and separately managed accounts) may, subject to compliance with applicable law, purchase and hold shares of the Fund. The price, availability, liquidity, and (in some cases) expense ratio of the Fund may be impacted by purchases and sales of the Fund by BlackRock and/or its advisory clients.

The activities of BFA and its Affiliates and their respective directors, officers or employees may give rise to other conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. BFA has adopted policies and procedures designed to address these potential conflicts of interest. See the SAI for further information.

Shareholder Information

Additional shareholder information, including how to buy and sell shares of the Fund, is available free of charge by calling toll-free: 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or visiting our website at www.iShares.com.

Buying and Selling Shares. Shares of the Fund may be acquired or redeemed directly from the Fund only in Creation Units or multiples thereof, as discussed in the Creations and Redemptions section of this Prospectus. Only an Authorized Participant may

24

engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. Once created, shares of the Fund generally trade in the secondary market in amounts less than a Creation Unit.

Shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange for trading during the trading day. Shares can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like shares of other publicly-traded companies. The Trust does not impose any minimum investment for shares of the Fund purchased on an exchange or otherwise in the secondary market. The Fund's shares trade under the ticker symbol “IAUF.”

Buying or selling Fund shares on an exchange or other secondary market involves two types of costs that may apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling shares of the Fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission and other charges. The commission is frequently a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell small amounts of shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price. The spread varies over time for shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size). The Fund's spread may also be impacted by the liquidity of the underlying securities or other assets held by the Fund, particularly for newly launched or smaller funds or in instances of significant volatility of the underlying securities or other assets.

The Fund does not impose restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions of Fund shares directly with the Fund. The Board determined not to adopt policies and procedures designed to prevent or monitor for frequent purchases and redemptions of Fund shares because the Fund generally sells and redeems its shares directly through transactions that are in-kind and/or for cash, with a deadline for placing cash-related transactions no later than the close of the primary markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities. However, the Fund has taken certain measures (e.g., imposing transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units and reserving the right to reject purchases of Creation Units under certain circumstances) to minimize the potential consequences of frequent cash purchases and redemptions by Authorized Participants, such as increased tracking error, disruption of portfolio management, dilution to the Fund, and/or increased transaction costs. Further, the vast majority of trading in Fund shares occurs on the secondary market, which does not involve the Fund directly, and such trading is unlikely to cause many of the harmful effects of frequent cash purchases or redemptions of Fund shares.

The national securities exchange on which the Fund's shares are listed is open for trading Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends and the following holidays (or the days on which they are observed): New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Fund’s primary listing exchange is Cboe BZX.

Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act generally restricts investments by investment companies, including foreign and unregistered investment companies, in the securities

25

of other investment companies. For example, a registered investment company (the “Acquired Fund”), such as the Fund, may not knowingly sell or otherwise dispose of any security issued by the Acquired Fund to any investment company (the “Acquiring Fund”) or any company or companies controlled by the Acquiring Fund if, immediately after such sale or disposition: (i) more than 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of the Acquired Fund is owned by the Acquiring Fund and any company or companies controlled by the Acquiring Fund, or (ii) more than 10% of the total outstanding voting stock of the Acquired Fund is owned by the Acquiring Fund and other investment companies and companies controlled by them. However, registered investment companies are permitted to invest in the Fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in SEC rules. In order for a registered investment company to invest in shares of the Fund beyond the limitations of Section 12(d)(1) in reliance on Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act, the registered investment company must, among other things, enter into an agreement with the Trust. Foreign investment companies are permitted to invest in the Fund only up to the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to any applicable SEC no-action relief.

Book Entry. Shares of the Fund are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of, and holds legal title to, all outstanding shares of the Fund.

Investors owning shares of the Fund are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for shares of the Fund. DTC participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other securities that you hold in book-entry or “street name” form.

Share Prices. The trading prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV and are affected by market forces such as the supply of and demand for ETF shares and underlying securities or assets held by the Fund, economic conditions and other factors.

Determination of Net Asset Value. The NAV of the Fund normally is determined once daily Monday through Friday, generally as of the close of regular trading hours of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on each day that the NYSE is open for trading, based on prices at the time of closing, provided that any Fund assets or liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more data service providers. The NAV of the Fund is calculated by dividing the value of the net assets of the Fund (i.e., the value of its total assets less total liabilities) by the total number of outstanding shares of the Fund, generally rounded to the nearest cent.

The value of the securities and other assets and liabilities held by the Fund is determined pursuant to BFA’s valuation policies and procedures. BFA has been

26

designated by the Board as the valuation designee for the Fund pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the Investment Company Act.

The Fund values fixed-income portfolio securities using last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by the Fund's approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with BFA's valuation policies and procedures. Pricing services may use matrix pricing or valuation models that utilize certain inputs and assumptions to derive values. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but the Fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. An amortized cost method of valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less remaining to maturity unless BFA determines in good faith that such method does not represent fair value.

Generally, trading in non-U.S. securities and money market instruments is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of regular trading hours of the NYSE. The values of such securities and other assets used in computing the NAV of the Fund are determined as of such times.

When market quotations are not readily available or are believed by BFA to be unreliable, BFA will fair value the Fund’s investments in accordance with its policies and procedures. BFA may conclude that a market quotation is not readily available or is unreliable if a security or other asset or liability does not have a price source due to its lack of trading or other reasons, if a market quotation differs significantly from recent price quotations or otherwise no longer appears to reflect fair value, where the security or other asset or liability is thinly traded, when there is a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation, or if the trading market on which a security is listed is suspended or closed and no appropriate alternative trading market is available. A “significant event” is deemed to occur if BFA determines, in its reasonable business judgment prior to or at the time of pricing the Fund’s assets or liabilities, that the event is likely to cause a material change to the last exchange closing price or closing market price of one or more assets held by, or liabilities of, the Fund.

Fair value represents a good faith approximation of the value of an asset or liability. The fair value of an asset or liability held by the Fund is the amount the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from the current sale of that asset or the cost to extinguish that liability in an arm’s-length transaction. Valuing the Fund’s investments using fair value pricing will result in prices that may differ from current market valuations and that may not be the prices at which those investments could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used. Use of fair value prices and certain current market valuations could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate the Fund’s NAV and the prices used by the Underlying Index, which, in turn, could result in a difference between the Fund’s performance and the performance of the Underlying Index.

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Dividends and Distributions

General Policies. Dividends from net investment income, if any, generally are declared and paid at least once a year by the Fund. Distributions of net realized securities gains, if any, generally are declared and paid once a year, but the Trust may make distributions on a more frequent basis for the Fund. The Trust reserves the right to declare special distributions if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve its status as a RIC or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income or realized gains.

Dividends and other distributions on shares of the Fund are distributed on a pro rata basis to beneficial owners of such shares. Dividend payments are made through DTC participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners then of record with proceeds received from the Fund.

Dividend Reinvestment Service. No dividend reinvestment service is provided by the Trust. Broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by beneficial owners of the Fund for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Beneficial owners should contact their broker to determine the availability and costs of the service and the details of participation therein. Brokers may require beneficial owners to adhere to specific procedures and timetables. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole shares of the Fund purchased in the secondary market.

Taxes. As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in shares of the Fund will be taxed. The tax information in this Prospectus is provided as general information, based on current law. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in shares of the Fund.

Unless your investment in Fund shares is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement account, such as an IRA, in which case your distributions generally will be taxable when withdrawn, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions or you sell Fund shares.

Taxes on Distributions. Distributions from the Fund’s net investment income (other than qualified dividend income), including distributions out of the Fund’s net short-term capital gains, if any, are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions by the Fund of net long-term capital gains, if any, in excess of net short-term capital losses (capital gain dividends) are taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of how long you have held the Fund’s shares. Distributions by the Fund that qualify as qualified dividend income are taxable to you at long-term capital gain rates.However, given the Fund's investment objective and strategies, the Fund generally does not expect its distributions to be treated as qualified dividend income. Long-term capital gains and qualified dividend income are generally eligible for taxation at a maximum rate of 15% or 20% for non-corporate shareholders, depending on whether their income exceeds certain threshold amounts. Because the Fund may have a higher portfolio turnover than funds that seek to replicate the performance of an index, the Fund may, in comparison to such other funds, realize and distribute a higher amount of taxable realized capital gain. In addition, a 3.8% U.S. federal Medicare contribution tax is

28

imposed on “net investment income,” including, but not limited to, interest, dividends, and net gain, of U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 (or $250,000 if married and filing jointly) and of estates and trusts.

In general, your distributions are subject to U.S. federal income tax for the year when they are paid. Certain distributions paid in January, however, may be treated as paid on December 31 of the prior year. Certain states and localities may exempt from tax distributions attributable to interest from U.S. federal government obligations.

If the Fund’s distributions exceed current and accumulated earnings and profits, all or a portion of the distributions made in the taxable year may be recharacterized as a return of capital to shareholders. Distributions in excess of the Fund’s minimum distribution requirements, but not in excess of the Fund’s earnings and profits, will be taxable to shareholders and will not constitute nontaxable returns of capital. A return of capital distribution generally will not be taxable but will reduce the shareholder’s cost basis and result in a higher capital gain or lower capital loss when those shares on which the distribution was received are sold. Once a shareholder's cost basis is reduced to zero, further distributions will be treated as capital gain, if the shareholder holds shares of the Fund as capital assets.

Dividends, interest and capital gains earned by the Fund with respect to securities issued by non-U.S. issuers may give rise to withholding, capital gains and other taxes imposed by non-U.S. countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the total assets of the Fund at the close of a year consists of non-U.S. stocks or securities (generally, for this purpose, depositary receipts, no matter where traded, of non-U.S. companies are treated as “non-U.S.”), generally the Fund may “pass through” to you certain non-U.S. income taxes (including withholding taxes) paid by the Fund. This means that you would be considered to have received as an additional dividend your share of such non-U.S. taxes, but you may be entitled to either a corresponding tax deduction in calculating your taxable income, or, subject to certain limitations, a credit in calculating your U.S. federal income tax.

For purposes of foreign tax credits for U.S. shareholders of the Fund, foreign capital gains taxes may not produce associated foreign source income, limiting the availability of such credits for U.S. persons.

If you are neither a resident nor a citizen of the U.S. or if you are a non-U.S. entity (other than a pass-through entity to the extent owned by U.S. persons), the Fund’s ordinary income dividends (which include distributions of net short-term capital gains) will generally be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax, unless a lower treaty rate applies, provided that withholding tax will generally not apply to any gain or income realized by a non-U.S. shareholder in respect of any distributions of long-term capital gains or upon the sale or other disposition of shares of the Fund.

Separately, a 30% withholding tax is currently imposed on U.S.-source dividends, interest and other income items paid to (i) foreign financial institutions, including non-U.S. investment funds, unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders and (ii) certain other foreign entities, unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to (i) enter into

29

agreements with the IRS that state that they will provide the IRS information, including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders, comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts, report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained, agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information, and determine certain other information concerning their account holders, or (ii) in the event that an applicable intergovernmental agreement and implementing legislation are adopted, provide local revenue authorities with similar account holder information. Other foreign entities may need to report the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or provide certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain exceptions apply.

If you are a resident or a citizen of the U.S., by law, backup withholding at a 24% rate will apply to your distributions and proceeds if you have not provided a taxpayer identification number or social security number and made other required certifications.

Taxes When Shares Are Sold. Currently, any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares is generally treated as a long-term gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares held for one year or less is generally treated as short-term gain or loss, except that any capital loss on the sale of shares held for six months or less is treated as long-term capital loss to the extent that capital gain dividends were paid with respect to such shares. Any such capital gains, including from sales of Fund shares or from capital gain dividends, are included in “net investment income” for purposes of the 3.8% U.S. federal Medicare contribution tax mentioned above.

The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the consequences under current U.S. federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. You may also be subject to state and local taxation on Fund distributions and sales of shares. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in shares of the Fund under all applicable tax laws.

Creations and Redemptions. Prior to trading in the secondary market, shares of the Fund are “created” at NAV by market makers, large investors and institutions only in block-size Creation Units or multiples thereof. Each “creator” or authorized participant (an “Authorized Participant”) has entered into an agreement with the Fund's distributor, BlackRock Investments, LLC (the “Distributor” or “BRIL”), an affiliate of BFA. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows such member or participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of Creation Units.

A creation transaction, which is subject to acceptance by the Distributor and the Fund, generally takes place when an Authorized Participant deposits into the Fund a designated portfolio of securities, assets or other positions (a “creation basket”), and an amount of cash (including any cash representing the value of substituted securities, assets or other positions), if any, which together approximate the holdings of the Fund in exchange for a specified number of Creation Units. Similarly, shares can be redeemed only in Creation Units, generally for a designated portfolio of securities,

30

assets or other positions (a “redemption basket”) held by the Fund and an amount of cash (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted). The Fund generally offers Creation Units partially for cash, but may, in certain circumstances, offer Creation Units solely for cash or solely in-kind. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares are not redeemable by the Fund. Creation and redemption baskets may differ and the Fund may accept “custom baskets.” More information regarding custom baskets is contained in the Fund's SAI.

The prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next calculation of NAV after a creation or redemption order is received in an acceptable form under the authorized participant agreement.

Only an Authorized Participant may create or redeem Creation Units with the Fund. Authorized Participants may create or redeem Creation Units for their own accounts or for customers, including, without limitation, affiliates of the Fund.

In the event of a system failure or other interruption, including disruptions at market makers or Authorized Participants, orders to purchase or redeem Creation Units either may not be executed according to the Fund's instructions or may not be executed at all, or the Fund may not be able to place or change orders.

To the extent the Fund engages in in-kind transactions, the Fund intends to comply with the U.S. federal securities laws in accepting securities for deposit and satisfying redemptions with redemption securities by, among other means, assuring that any securities accepted for deposit and any securities used to satisfy redemption requests will be sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” as such term is defined in Rule 144A under the 1933 Act, will not be able to receive restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A.

Creations and redemptions must be made through a firm that is either a member of the Continuous Net Settlement System of the National Securities Clearing Corporation or a DTC participant that has executed an agreement with the Distributor with respect to creations and redemptions of Creation Unit aggregations. Information about the procedures regarding creation and redemption of Creation Units (including the cut-off times for receipt of creation and redemption orders) is included in the Fund's SAI.

Because new shares may be created and issued on an ongoing basis, at any point during the life of the Fund a “distribution,” as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may be occurring. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner that could render them statutory underwriters subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the 1933 Act. Any determination of whether one is an underwriter must take into account all the relevant facts and circumstances of each particular case.

Broker-dealers should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted to ordinary secondary transactions), and thus dealing with shares that are part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the 1933 Act, would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act. For

31

delivery of prospectuses to exchange members, the prospectus delivery mechanism of Rule 153 under the 1933 Act is available only with respect to transactions on a national securities exchange.

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 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.

Distribution

The Distributor or its agent distributes Creation Units for the Fund on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in shares of the Fund. The Distributor has no role in determining the policies of the Fund or the securities that are purchased or sold by the Fund. The Distributor’s principal address is 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540.

BFA or its affiliates make payments to broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks or other intermediaries (together, “intermediaries”) related to marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, data provision services, or their making shares of the Fund and certain other iShares funds available to their customers generally and in certain investment programs. Such payments, which may be significant to the intermediary, are not made by the Fund. Rather, such payments are made by BFA or its affiliates from their own resources, which come directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the iShares funds complex. Payments of this type are sometimes referred to as revenue-sharing payments. A financial intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it recommends or makes available, or the level of services provided, to its customers based on the payments or other financial incentives it is eligible to receive. Therefore, such payments or other financial incentives offered or made to an intermediary create conflicts of interest between the intermediary and its customers and may cause the intermediary to recommend the Fund or other iShares funds over another investment. More information regarding these payments is contained in the Fund's SAI. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments his or her firm may receive from BFA or its affiliates.

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Consolidated Financial Highlights

The consolidated financial highlights table is intended to help investors understand the Fund’s financial performance since inception. Certain information reflects financial results for a single share of the Fund. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund, assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, whose report is included, along with the Fund's financial statements, in the Fund's Annual Report (available upon request).

Consolidated Financial Highlights

(For a share outstanding throughout each period)

	iShares Gold Strategy ETF
	Year Ended 10/31/22		Year Ended 10/31/21		Year Ended 10/31/20		Year Ended 10/31/19		Period From 06/06/18(a) to 10/31/18
Net asset value, beginning of period	$54.54		$62.75		$57.41		$46.76		$50.00
Net investment income (loss)(b)	0.38		(0.07)		0.13		0.82		0.27
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(c)	(5.24)		(3.67)		10.47		10.20		(3.51)
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations	(4.86)		(3.74)		10.60		11.02		(3.24)
Distributions from net investment income(d)	—		(4.47)		(5.26)		(0.37)		—
Net asset value, end of period	$49.68		$54.54		$62.75		$57.41		$46.76
Total Return(e)
Based on net asset value	(8.92)%		(6.21)%		20.64%		23.74%		(6.48)%(f)
Ratios to Average Net Assets(g)
Total expenses	0.25%		0.25%		0.25%		0.25%		0.25%(h)
Total expenses after fees waived	0.17%		0.13%		0.13%		0.18%		0.19%(h)
Net investment income (loss)	0.69%		(0.12)%		0.22%		1.58%		1.45%(h)
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of period (000)	$34,773		$29,996		$21,964		$8,612		$4,676
Portfolio turnover rate(i)	52%		121%		77%		47%		13%
(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.

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Disclaimers

Bloomberg and the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index are trademarks or service marks of Bloomberg Index Services Limited and its affiliates (collectively, “Bloomberg”). Bloomberg or Bloomberg's licensors own all proprietary right in the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index. Bloomberg does not guarantee the timeliness, accuracy or completeness of any data or information relating to the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index. Bloomberg makes no warranty, express or implied, as to the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index or any data or values relating thereto or results to be obtained therefrom, and expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect thereto. Bloomberg reserves the right to change the methods of calculation or publication, or to cease the calculation or publication, of the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index, and Bloomberg shall not be liable for any miscalculation of or any incorrect, delayed or interrupted publication with respect to the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Back-tested performance is not actual performance. To the maximum extent allowed by law, Bloomberg, its licensors, and its and their respective employees, contractors, agents, suppliers and vendors shall have no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any injury or damages - whether direct, indirect, consequential, incidental, punitive or otherwise - arising in connection with the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index or any data or values relating thereto - whether arising from their negligence or otherwise. Nothing in Bloomberg Composite Gold Index shall constitute or be construed as an offering of financial instruments or as investment advice or investment recommendations (i.e., recommendations as to whether or not to “buy,”“sell,”“hold,” or to enter or not to enter into any other transaction involving any specific interest or interests) by Bloomberg or its affiliates or a recommendation as to an investment or other strategy by Bloomberg or its affiliates. Data and other information available via the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index should not be considered as information sufficient upon which to base an investment decision. All information provided by the Bloomberg Composite Gold Index is impersonal and not tailored to the needs of any person, entity or group of persons. Bloomberg and its affiliates do not express an opinion on the future or expected value of any security or other interest and do not explicitly or implicitly recommend or suggest an investment strategy of any kind.

Shares of the Fund are not sponsored, endorsed or promoted by Cboe BZX. Cboe BZX makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of shares of the Fund or any member of the public regarding the ability of the Fund to track the total return performance of the Underlying Index or the ability of the Underlying Index to track market performance. Cboe BZX is not responsible for, nor has it participated in, the determination of the compilation or the calculation of the Underlying Index, nor in the determination of the timing of, prices of, or quantities of shares of the Fund to be issued, nor in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the shares are

34

redeemable. Cboe BZX has no obligation or liability to owners of shares of the Fund in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the shares of the Fund.

Cboe BZX does not guarantee the accuracy and/or the completeness of the Underlying Index or any data included therein. Cboe BZX makes no warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by the Trust on behalf of the Fund as licensee, licensee’s customers and counterparties, owners of shares of the Fund, or any other person or entity from the use of the Underlying Index or any data included therein in connection with the rights licensed as described herein or for any other use.

Cboe BZX makes no express or implied warranties and hereby expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to the Underlying Index or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall Cboe BZX have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.

The past performance of the Underlying Index is not a guide to future performance. BFA and its affiliates do not guarantee the accuracy or the completeness of the Underlying Index or any data included therein and BFA and its affiliates shall have no liability for any errors, omissions or interruptions therein. BFA and its affiliates make no warranty, express or implied, to the owners of shares of the Fund or to any other person or entity, as to results to be obtained by the Fund from the use of the Underlying Index or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall BFA or its affiliates have any liability for any special, punitive, direct, indirect, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits), even if notified of the possibility of such damages.

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