Fund Description: iShares iBoxx $ High Yield ex Oil & Gas Corporate Bond ETF is an exchange-traded index fund or Index ETF which is a separate investment portfolio of the iShares Trust, an open-end investment management company. INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE: The iShares iBoxx $ High Yield ex Oil & Gas Corporate Bond ETF seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield ex-Oil & Gas. INDEX DESCRIPTION: The Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield ex-Oil & Gas is designed to provide a broad representation of the U.S. dollar-denominated high yield corporate bond market excluding those issued by companies in the Oil and Gas sector. The Index is a modified market-value weighted index with a cap on each issuer of 3%. The bonds eligible for inclusion in the Index are U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds that: (i) are issued by companies domiciled in countries classified as developed markets by the index provider based primarily on quantitative economic criteria established by the index provider; (ii) have an average rating of below-investment grade; (iii) are from issuers with at least $1 billion outstanding face value; (iv) have an original maturity date of less than 15 years; (v) have at least one year to maturity; and (vi) are not issued by companies whose primary activities are in the oil and gas sector. The Index may include large-, mid-, or small-capitalization companies. Components of the Index primarily include consumer services, industrials, and telecommunications companies which may change over time. FUND STRATEGY: A passive or indexing approach is used to try to achieve the Fund's investment objective. Unlike many investment companies the Fund does not try to beat the Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued. Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform its 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 keeping portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that is used which involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to the 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 the Index. A Fund may or may not hold all of the securities in the Index. The Fund generally will invest at least 90% of its assets in the component securities of the 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. From time to time when conditions warrant, however, the Fund may invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Index and may invest up to 20% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of BlackRock Cash Funds, as well as in securities not included in the Index. FUND MANAGEMENT: BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund.