Investment advisor: BlackRock Fund Advisors
Launch date: June 28, 2016
Expense ratio: 0.20%
Investment objective*:
The iShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of large- and mid-capitalization developed market equities, excluding the U.S. and Canada that have positive environmental, social and governance characteristics as identified by the index provider while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the parent index.
Fundamental investment strategy:
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index (the “Underlying Index”), which has been developed by MSCI Inc. (the “Index Provider” or “MSCI”). The Underlying Index is an optimized index that is designed to reflect the equity performance of developed market companies (excluding the U.S. and Canada) that have favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics (as determined by the Index Provider), while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the MSCI EAFE Index (the “Parent Index”).
Using a sector-specific key issue weighting model, companies are rated and ranked in comparison to their industry peers. As of August 31, 2022, the Underlying Index consisted of securities from the following 21 developed market countries or regions: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”). The Underlying Index includes large- and mid-capitalization companies and may change over time. As of August 31, 2022, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the financials and industrials industries or sectors.
The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.
BFA uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, 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 90% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of the Underlying Index (i.e., depositary receipts representing securities of the Underlying Index) and may invest up to 10% 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 sponsored by MSCI, 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.
Sustainable investing approach:
The Index Provider begins with the Parent Index and excludes securities of companies involved in the business of tobacco, companies involved with controversial weapons, producers and retailers of civilian firearms, and companies involved in certain fossil fuels-related activity such as the production of thermal coal, thermal coal-based power generation and extraction of oil sands based on revenue or percentage of revenue thresholds for certain categories (e.g., $20 million or 5%) and categorical exclusions for others (e.g., controversial weapons). The Index Provider also excludes companies that are directly involved in very severe, ongoing business controversies (in each case as determined by the Index Provider), and then follows a quantitative process that is designed to determine optimal weights for securities to maximize exposure to securities of companies with higher ESG ratings, subject to maintaining risk and return characteristics similar to the Parent Index. For each industry, the Index Provider identifies key ESG issues that can lead to unexpected costs for companies in the medium to long term. The Index Provider then calculates the size of each company’s exposure to each key issue based on the company’s business segment and geographic risk and analyzes the extent to which companies have developed robust strategies and programs to manage ESG risks and opportunities.
*Index returns through May 31, 2018 reflect the performance of the MSCI EAFE ESG Focus Index. Index returns beginning on June 1, 2018 reflect the performance of the MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index, which, effective as of June 1, 2018, replaced the MSCI EAFE ESG Focus Index as the Underlying Index of the Fund.
Notes of Explanation: For mutual funds, expense ratio may vary by share class and launch date applies to the launch date of the earliest share class. Sources: Fund prospectus or other offering document, as disclosed.
« Back to Funds Directory