Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are
not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 31% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the S&P 500 Growth
IndexTM (the “Underlying Index”), which measures the performance of the large-capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market. It is a subset of the S&P 500® (the “Parent Index”) and consists of those stocks in the
Parent Index exhibiting the strongest growth characteristics, as determined by S&P Dow Jones Indices
LLC (the “Index
Provider” or “SPDJI”), a subsidiary of S&P Global, Inc. The growth characteristics used by the Index Provider include three-year change in earnings per
share over price per share, three-year sales-per-share growth rate and momentum (12-month percentage share
price change). To the extent that earnings, sales and price data is not available for the above-listed time
periods, the Index Provider will use shorter time periods in accordance with the Index Provider’s methodology. The Underlying Index represented approximately 51.67% of the market capitalization of the Parent Index as of March 31, 2025.
As of March 31, 2025, stocks must have a market capitalization of at least $20.5 billion for initial
inclusion in the Parent Index; this threshold and constituents' market capitalization may fluctuate
depending on the overall level of the equity markets.
The Underlying Index uses a capping methodology at each quarterly rebalance, that limits the weight of any single
company to a maximum of 23% of the Underlying Index weight, and the sum of all companies with a weight
above 4.8% to an aggregate of 50% of the Underlying Index weight. Additionally, if, on the third to last
business day of March, June, September, or December a company has an index weight greater than 24% or the
sum of the companies with weights greater than 4.8% exceeds 50%, a secondary reweighting is triggered with
the rebalancing effective date after the close of the last business day of the month.
As of March 31, 2025, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the technology industry or sector. The components of the Underlying Index
are likely to change over time.
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce
some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower
costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively
managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling
indexing strategy to manage the Fund. “Representative sampling” is an indexing
strategy that
involves investing in a representative sample of securities that
collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The securities
selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as
market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the
securities in the Underlying Index.
The Fund generally will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of its Underlying Index and may
invest up to 20% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents,
including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates, as well as in securities not
included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.
Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that
position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The
Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the
Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the
value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is a product of SPDJI, which is independent of the
Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the securities in the
Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated.
For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and
instrumentalities) and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not
considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Diversification Policy. The Fund intends to be diversified in approximately the same proportion as the Underlying Index is diversified. The Fund may become “non-diversified,” as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of the Underlying Index. Shareholder approval will not be sought if the Fund
becomes
“non-diversified” due solely to a change in the relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of the Underlying Index. The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings and weightings at www.iShares.com.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain
risks, including the principal risks noted below any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset
value per share
(“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others