iShares Launches an ETF to Access Colombia, The ‘New Brazil’

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) announced today that its iShares Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) business, the world’s largest manager of ETFs1, has launched the iShares MSCI Colombia Capped ETF (NYSE: ICOL). The new fund complements the iShares Latin and South American ETF line-up, which is the largest in terms of number of funds in the U.S.

“Colombia has been referred to as the ‘new Brazil.’ Institutional and retail investors now have an efficient means to access one of the world’s most exciting economies, whether implementing a short-term tactical strategy or building a long-term diversified global portfolio,” said Patrick Dunne, Head of iShares Global Markets and Investments at BlackRock.

According to the IMF2, Colombia has the third largest population among Latin and South American countries, with a growing educated and entrepreneurial middle class and a higher realized GDP growth than Brazil due to demand for its oil, natural gas and coal. According to the World Bank3, there is an increasing amount of foreign investment in Colombia because of strong fiscal management, gradually declining debt, positive trading ties with the world and business-friendly economic policies focused on deregulation.

The iShares MSCI Colombia Capped ETF is designed to track the MSCI All Colombia Capped Index, which is a broad-based Colombia equity market index. The index includes companies that are headquartered or listed in Colombia and have the majority of their operations based in Colombia. The index applies certain investment constraints that are imposed on regulated investment companies, or RICs, under the current U.S. Internal Revenue Code, where no single group entity can exceed 25% of the index weight and all group entities with weights above 5% cannot exceed 50% of the index weight. The Barra Optimizer is utilized to calculate the capped index weights through an optimization function which is aimed at minimizing index turnover, tracking error and extreme deviation from the uncapped index.

As of May 29, 2013, the largest sector weightings of the index included financials (34.17%), energy (31.58%) and utilities (14.99%).

About BlackRock

BlackRock is a leader in investment management, risk management and advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. At March 31, 2013, BlackRock’s AUM was $3.936 trillion. BlackRock helps clients meet their goals and overcome challenges with a range of products that include separate accounts, mutual funds, iShares®(exchange-traded funds), and other pooled investment vehicles. BlackRock also offers risk management, advisory and enterprise investment system services to a broad base of institutional investors through BlackRock Solutions®. Headquartered in New York City, as of March 31, 2013, the firm has approximately 10,600 employees in 30 countries and a major presence in key global markets, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East and Africa. For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.blackrock.com.

About iShares

iShares is a global product leader in exchange traded funds with over 600 funds globally across equities, fixed income and commodities, which trade on 20 exchanges worldwide. The iShares Funds are bought and sold like common stocks on securities exchanges. The iShares Funds are attractive to many individual and institutional investors and financial intermediaries because of their relative low cost, tax efficiency and trading flexibility. Investors can purchase and sell shares through any brokerage firm, financial advisor, or online broker, and hold the funds in any type of brokerage account. The iShares customer base consists of the institutional segment of pension plans and fund managers, as well as the retail segment of financial advisors and high net worth individuals.

Carefully consider the funds' investment objectives, risk factors, and charges and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in the funds' prospectuses, which may be obtained by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or by visiting www.iShares.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.

In addition to the normal risks associated with investing, international investments may involve risk of capital loss from unfavorable fluctuation in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles or from economic or political instability in other nations. Emerging markets involve heightened risks related to the same factors as well as increased volatility and lower trading volume.

Transactions in shares of the iShares Funds will result in brokerage commissions and will generate tax consequences. iShares Funds are obliged to distribute portfolio gains to shareholders. Shares of the iShares Funds may be sold throughout the day on the exchange through any brokerage account. However, shares may only be redeemed directly from a Fund by Authorized Participants, in very large creation/redemption units.

The iShares Funds are distributed by BlackRock Investments, LLC (together with its affiliates, “BlackRock”). The iShares Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, issued, sold or promoted by MSCI, and MSCI does not make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Funds. BlackRock licenses the use of MSCI indices and is not affiliated with MSCI.

* Not FDIC Insured * No Bank Guarantee * May Lose Value

1 Source: BlackRock ETP Landscape Report, May 31, 2013
2 Source: IMF as of Q2 2012.
3 Source: World Bank as of Q2 2012.