Investment objective & strategy
As of Feb. 23, 2026 · prospectusObjective. The iShares J.P. Morgan EM High Yield Bond ETF (the Fund ) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated, emerging market high yield sovereign and corporate bonds.
Strategy. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets High Yield Bond Index (the Underlying Index ), which tracks the performance of below investment-grade U.S. dollar-denominated, emerging market fixed and floating-rate debt securities issued by corporate, sovereign, and quasi-sovereign entities. The Underlying Index includes securities that are classified as below investment-grade, also referred to as high yield (as determined by JPMorgan Chase & Co. or its affiliates (the Index Provider or J.P. Morgan )), in the established J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified Core and J.P. Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified Core indices, and combines them with a market value based weighting. High yield bonds are also known as junk bonds. An instrument is classified as … The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets High Yield Bond Index (the Underlying Index ), which tracks the performance of below investment-grade U.S. dollar-denominated, emerging market fixed and floating-rate debt securities issued by corporate, sovereign, and quasi-sovereign entities. The Underlying Index includes securities that are classified as below investment-grade, also referred to as high yield (as determined by JPMorgan Chase & Co. or its affiliates (the Index Provider or J.P. Morgan )), in the established J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified Core and J.P. Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified Core indices, and combines them with a market value based weighting. High yield bonds are also known as junk bonds. An instrument is classified as high yield when the middle rating from Moodys Investors Service, Inc. ( Moodys ), S&P Global Ratings, and Fitch Ratings, Inc. ( Fitch ) (each a Credit Rating Agency and collectively, the Credit Rating Agencies ) is below investment-grade. When a credit rating is only available from two Credit Rating Agencies, the lower of the two must be below investment-grade. When only one Credit Rating Agency rates an instrument, that rating is used. All instruments included in the Underlying Index are selected according to rules-based inclusion criteria regarding amount outstanding, issuer type, and maturity, among others. The securities included in the Underlying Index are rebalanced on the last business day of each month. Bonds are eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index if (i) the issuer is headquartered in an emerging market country, (ii) the issue is 100% guaranteed by an entity within an emerging market economy, or (iii) 100% of the issuers operating assets are located within emerging market economies. Corporate instruments with a current face amount outstanding of $500 million or more and with at least 2.5 years until maturity are considered for inclusion. Corporate entities must be domiciled within Africa, Asia (excluding Japan), Eastern Europe, the Middle East, or Latin America. Sovereign and quasi-sovereign instruments with a current face amount outstanding of $1 billion or more and with at least 2.5 years until maturity are considered for inclusion. Quasi-sovereign entities are defined by the Index Provider as an entity that is 100% guaranteed or 100% government owned. All eligible component securities may remain in the Underlying Index until one year before maturity. The J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified Core and J.P. Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified Core indices employ a diversification methodology, as determined by the Index Provider, which limits the weights of those index countries with larger debt stock by only including a specified portion of such countries eligible current face amounts of debt outstanding. The methodology is designed to distribute the weights of issuers in each country within the J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified Core and J.P. Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified Core indices by limiting the weights of countries with higher debt outstanding and reallocating this excess to issuers in countries with lower debt outstanding. As of October 31, 2025, the Underlying Index included issuers located in 59 countries. As of October 31, 2025, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by sovereign and quasi-sovereign obligations and securities of issuers in the financial services and industrials industries or sectors. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time. The Fund will invest in privately issued securities, including those that are normally purchased pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act ). BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Funds investment objective. 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 or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration ( i.e. , an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index. The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index, and the Fund will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types 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 J.P. Morgan, which is ? independent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of 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), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Top holdings
As of Jan. 31, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock Cash Funds: Institutional, SL Agency Shares | BISXX | $50.19M | 8.75% |
| ARGENTINA | — | $11.45M | 2.00% |
| REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA SR UNSECURED 07/30 VAR | ARGENT | $6.88M | 1.20% |
| BlackRock Cash Funds: Treasury, SL Agency Shares | — | $6.20M | 1.08% |
| ARGENTINA | — | $6.17M | 1.08% |
| ARGENTINA | — | $5.41M | 0.94% |
| Petroleos Mexicanos | — | $5.00M | 0.87% |
| PETROLEOS MEXICANOS SR UNSEC SF 6.7% 02-16-32 | PEMEX | $4.69M | 0.82% |
| REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR 6.900000% 07/31/2035 | ECUA | $4.28M | 0.75% |
| Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd | — | $4.27M | 0.75% |
Portfolio moves
Oct 31, 2025 → Jan 31, 2026How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF · EMB | 43% | 0.39% |
| iShares J.P. Morgan EM Corporate Bond ETF · CEMB | 35% | 0.50% |
| State Street(R) SPDR(R) Bloomberg Emerging Markets USD Bond ETF · EMHC | 34% | 0.23% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| BlackRock Fund Advisors | Adviser |
| BlackRock International Limited | Sub-adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of February 23, 2026, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of January 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
- Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. As reported in the fund's prospectus performance bar chart.
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