2019 Annual Report

MARCH31, 2019 2019 ANNUAL REPORT iShares Trust ᮣ iShares Russell Top 200 ETF | IWL | NYSE Arca ᮣ iShares Russell Top 200 Growth ETF | IWY | NYSE Arca ᮣ iShares Russell Top 200 Value ETF | IWX | NYSE Arca ᮣ iShares Russell 1000 ETF | IWB | NYSE Arca ᮣ iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF | IWF | NYSE Arca ᮣ iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | IWD | NYSE Arca ᮣ iShares Russell 2000 ETF | IWM | NYSE Arca ᮣ iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF | IWO | NYSE Arca ᮣ iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF | IWN | NYSE Arca Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of each Fund’s shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports from your financial intermediary, such as a broker-dealer or bank. Instead, the reports will be made available on a website, and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report. You may elect to receive all future reports in paper free of charge. Ifyou hold accounts throughafinancial intermediary, you can follow the instructions included with this disclosure, if applicable, or contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue to receive paper copies ofyour shareholder reports. Please note that not all financial intermediaries may offer this service. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds held with your financial intermediary. Ifyou already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive electronic delivery of shareholder reports and other communications by contactingyour financial intermediary. Please note that not all financial intermediaries may offer this service. Table ofContents Page Market Overview ................................................................................................................................ ............................ 5 Fund Summary ................................................................................................................................ .............................. 6 About Fund Performance ................................................................................................................................ .................... 24 Shareholder Expenses................................................................................................................................ ....................... 24 Schedules of Investments................................................................................................................................ .................... 25 Financial Statements Statements of Assets and Liabilities................................................................................................................................ ........ 61 Statements ofOperations ................................................................................................................................ ................. 64 Statements ofChanges in Net Assets ................................................................................................................................ ...... 67 Financial Highlights................................................................................................................................ .......................... 72 Notes to Financial Statements................................................................................................................................ ................ 81 Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm . .................................................................................................................... 94 Important Tax Information (Unaudited) ................................................................................................................................ ........ 95 Supplemental Information ................................................................................................................................ .................... 96 Trustee and Officer Information................................................................................................................................ ............... 100 General Information ................................................................................................................................ ......................... 103 Glossary of Terms Used in this Report ................................................................................................................................ ........ 104 THIS PAGEINTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. Market Overview iShares Trust Domestic Market Overview United States (“U.S.”) stocks rose for the 12 months ended March 31, 2019 (“reporting period”). The Russell 3000ா Index, a broad measure of U.S. equity market performance, returned 8.77%. The reporting period was characterized by significant volatility as the stock market reached a record high in September 2018, before falling sharply late in the year. In fact, December 2018 was the worst month for stocks since the Great Depression. However, stocks rebounded in early 2019 with the highest quarterly return since 2009. The volatility reflected changing perceptions of economic conditions, corporate profits, interest rates, and broader political risks. In terms of the economy, the pace ofgrowth decelerated from a 4.2% to a 2.2% annualized rate from the second to fourth quarters of 2018. Similarly, a broad range of underlying economic indicators decelerated sharply in late 2018 or early 2019. For example, consumer spending, which accounts for approximately 70% of economic growth, slowed as the year-over-year growth in retail sales peaked at 6.6% in July 2018 and reached a low of 1.6% in December 2018. Nevertheless, the labor market remained healthy; the unemployment rate ended the reporting period at 3.8%, and average hourly earnings increased 3.2%year-over-year through March 2019. Akeyfactor in slowing economic growth was the decreasing effect of the fiscal stimulus — a combination of tax cuts and a significant increase in government spending.The stimulus initially improved the economy but eventually led to a nearly 20% increase in the federal budget deficit duringfiscal year 2018. Other political developments weighing on the economy in late 2018 were the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and a potential trade war with China. To the economy’s benefit, the shutdown ended in January 2019, and the financial press reported expectations that trade tensions with China would ease. As economic conditions changed, so too did the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank (“Fed”) interest rate policy. The Fed increased interest rates three times during the first three quarters of the reporting period. In early January 2019, the Fed announced that moderating economic conditions would allow a slowing of future rate increases. One reason the Fed could afford to stop raising rates is that inflation declined from a 2.9% annual rate in July 2018 to 1.9% by March 2019. Commodities prices followed the trajectory of stocks as oil prices increased through September 2018, declined precipitously during the fourth quarter of 2018, and then rebounded for the remainder of the reporting period. Moderatinggrowth and inflation meant declining intermediate- and long-term Treasuryyields. Consequently, late in the reporting period, short-term yields briefly exceeded long-term yields for the first time in a decade. This weighed on stocks, as this relationship between yields is often associated with an impending recession. Slowing economic growth and the fading effect of tax cuts also influenced corporate profits, which increased rapidly beginning in the first quarter of 2018. However, by the first quarter of 2019, analyst estimates of corporate earnings had been revised down by the largest margin in three years. In that environment, growth-oriented stocks outperformed value-oriented stocks across all capitalization ranges, reflecting investor concerns about the health of the economy. Stocks of large companies outperformed those of mid- and small-size companies, which performed particularly poorly in the fourth quarter of 2018. M ARKET O V ERVIEW 5 Fund Summary as of March 31, 2019 iSharesா Russell Top 200 ETF Investment Objective The iShares Russell Top 200 ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of large-capitalization U.S. equities, as represented by the Russell Top 200ா Index (the “Index”). The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. Due to the use of representative sampling, the Fund may or may not hold all of the securities that are included in the Index. Performance Average Annual Total Returns Cumulative Total Returns Since Since 1 Year 5 Years Inception 1 Year 5 Years Inception Fund NAV......................................................................................... 10.27% 11.22% 12.94% 10.27% 70.20% 218.74% Fund Market ...................................................................................... 10.20 11.22 12.9410.20 70.15 218.72 Index ............................................................................................. 10.43 11.39 13.13 10.43 71.48 223.80 GROWTH OF $10,000 INVESTMENT (SINCE INCEPTION AT NET ASSETVALUE) $35,000 $32,380 $31,874 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000

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