return
each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
|
1
Year
|
3
Years
|
5
Years
|
10
Years
|
Investor
A Shares
|
$695
|
$1,224
|
$1,778
|
$3,281
|
Investor
C Shares
|
$355
|
$
967
|
$1,702
|
$3,643
|
Institutional
Shares
|
$155
|
$
564
|
$1,000
|
$2,211
|
You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem
your shares:
|
1
Year
|
3
Years
|
5
Years
|
10
Years
|
Investor
C Shares
|
$255
|
$967
|
$1,702
|
$3,643
|
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual
fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the period May 16, 2013 (commencement of operations) through October 31, 2013, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 12% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
Under normal circumstances, the Fund seeks to invest at least
80% of its net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes in equity and debt instruments and related derivative instruments issued by, or tied economically to, companies or other issuers located in emerging markets. This is a non-fundamental
policy of the Fund and may be changed with 60 days’ prior notice to shareholders. BlackRock considers an emerging market country to include any country that is: 1) generally recognized to be an emerging market country by the international
financial community, including the World Bank; 2) classified by the United Nations as a developing country; or 3) included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index
SM
. BlackRock determines that an
investment is tied economically to an emerging market if such investment satisfies one or more of the following conditions: 1) the issuer’s primary trading market is in an emerging market; 2) the issuer is organized under the laws of, derives
at least 50% of its revenue from, or has at least 50% of its assets in emerging markets; 3) the investment is included in an index representative of emerging markets; and 4) the investment is exposed to the economic risks and returns of emerging
markets.
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment
objective by investing in a broad range of asset classes, such as equity securities, fixed- and floating-rate debt instruments, derivatives, other investment companies, including affiliated and unaffiliated mutual funds and ETFs, currency- and
commodity-related instruments and structured products. The Fund has flexibility in the relative weighting of each asset class and expects to vary the percentages of assets invested in each asset category from time to time. The Fund may invest in
securities of companies of any market capitalization and may take both long and short positions in a variety of global instruments.
The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in
affiliated and unaffiliated equity, money-market and fixed income mutual funds and affiliated and unaffiliated ETFs. Unless otherwise indicated or the context requires otherwise, references to the Fund’s investments and related risk factors in
this prospectus and the SAI include investments by any underlying mutual funds and ETFs in which the Fund may invest.
With respect to the Fund’s equity investments, the Fund
may invest in common stock, preferred stock, securities convertible into common and preferred stock and non-convertible preferred stock. From time to time, the Fund may invest in shares of companies through initial public offerings
(“IPOs”). The Fund may invest in securities of both U.S. or non-U.S. issuers, which can be U.S. dollar based or non-U.S. dollar based and may be currency hedged or unhedged.
With respect to the Fund’s fixed income investments, the
Fund may invest in a variety of instruments such as government obligations, corporate bonds and notes, including bonds and notes convertible into equity securities, mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, floating or variable rate
obligations, municipal obligations, zero coupon debt securities and bank loans. The Fund may also invest significantly in non-investment grade bonds (high yield bonds or distressed securities), non-investment grade bank loans, and non-dollar
denominated bonds. The Fund’s non-dollar denominated bonds may be on a currency hedged or unhedged basis. The average portfolio duration of the fixed income portion of the Fund will vary based on the management team’s forecast of
interest rates and there are no limits regarding portfolio duration or average maturity.