Capital at Risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

The fund invests a large portion of assets which are denominated in other currencies; hence changes in the relevant exchange rate will affect the value of the investment. The fund invests in fixed interest securities issued by companies which, compared to bonds issued or guaranteed by governments, are exposed to greater risk of default in the repayment of the capital provided to the company or interest payments due to the fund. The fund invests in fixed interest securities such as corporate or government bonds which pay a fixed or variable rate of interest (also known as the ‘coupon’) and behave similarly to a loan. These securities are therefore exposed to changes in interest rates which will affect the value of any securities held. The fund investments may be subject to liquidity constraints, which means that shares may trade less frequently and in small volumes, for instance smaller companies. As a result, changes in the value of investments may be more unpredictable. In certain cases, it may not be possible to sell the security at the last market price quoted or at a value considered to be fairest. The Fund utilises derivatives as part of its investment strategy. Compared to a fund which only invests in traditional instruments such as stocks and bonds, derivatives are potentially subject to a higher level of risk and volatility. The strategies utilized by the Fund involve the use of derivatives to facilitate certain investment management techniques including the establishment of both ‘long’ and ‘synthetic short’ positions and creation of market leverage for the purposes of increasing the economic exposure of a Fund beyond the value of its net assets. The use of derivatives in this manner may have the effect of increasing the overall risk profile of the Fund. The Fund may be exposed to finance sector companies, as a service provider or as counterparty for financial contracts. Liquidity in the financial markets has been severely restricted, causing a number of firms to withdrawn from the market, or in some extreme cases, becoming insolvent. This may have an adverse affect on the activities of the fund.

The value of your investment and the income from it will vary and your initial investment amount is not guaranteed. Overseas investments will be affected by movements in currency exchange rates.

All currency hedged share classes of this fund use derivatives to hedge currency risk. The use of derivatives for a share class could pose a potential risk of contagion (also known as spill-over) to other share classes in the fund. The fund’s management company will ensure appropriate procedures are in place to minimise contagion risk to other share class. Using the drop down box directly below the name of the fund, you can view a list of all share classes in the fund – currency hedged share classes are indicated by the word “Hedged” in the name of the share class. In addition, a full list of all currency hedged share classes is available on request from the fund’s management company

To the extent the Fund undertakes securities lending to reduce costs, the Fund will receive 62.5% of the associated revenue generated and the remaining 37.5% will be received by BlackRock as the securities lending agent. As securities lending revenue sharing does not increase the costs of running the Fund, this has been excluded from the ongoing charges.