XMM iShares MSCI Min Vol Emerging Markets Index ETF

BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect,
wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc., today announced that its iShares
business is launching a suite of minimum volatility exchange traded funds (ETFs)
to the Canadian marketplace. This is the first time investors in Canada have
access to the full broad market suite of minimum volatility ETFs including
Canada, U.S., developed international, global and emerging markets. All five of
the iShares ETFs will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today. 


"With the uncertainty in today's markets, investors want to capture potential
market upside but still protect their assets," said Mary Anne Wiley, Managing
Director, Head of iShares, BlackRock Canada. "To help investors get off the
sidelines, we have introduced the new iShares Minimum Volatility Funds which
offer investors a unique opportunity to retain equity exposure in their
portfolio while seeking to reduce the overall equity risk in these turbulent
times. It's a compelling option for investors looking for a contrast or
complement to other portfolio management strategies and will also optimize
risk-adjusted returns over the long term."


This new offering is in direct response to investor demand and extends iShares
current line-up of market-cap and fundamentally-weighted broad market product
suites. The new iShares Minimum Volatility Funds can help investors reduce
overall portfolio risk while retaining exposure to the equity marketplace. These
funds optimize risk adjusted returns over the long term and recent studies have
shown that, historically, minimum volatility portfolios have performed equally
well, if not better, than the market while potentially lowering risk. While the
typical market portfolio seeks to balance risk by including exposures to higher
and lower risk equities, minimum volatility ETFs seek to provide steady
performance that helps insulate against spikes in returns.  




The new ETFs are:                                                           
                                                                            
iShares MSCI Canada Minimum Volatility Index Fund (XMV)                     
iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility Index Fund (XMU)                        
iShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility Index Fund (XMI)                       
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Minimum Volatility Index Fund (XMM)           
iShares MSCI All Country World Minimum Volatility Index Fund (XMW)          



The ETFs track minimum volatility indexes created by MSCI. These indexes are
constructed by optimizing the respective parent MSCI indexes, which are
capitalization-weighted, by determining weights for securities in the indexes
that result in portfolios with the lowest total risk. Index constraints such as
country, sector and style exposures are applied to the optimization to ensure
diversification and investability, while broadly matching the profile of the
corresponding cap-weighted MSCI index. The new funds can help provide a
portfolio with downside protection while seeking to maintain some exposure to
the upside price movement.  


"Minimum volatility ETFs are not just a tool to help shield investors from wild
market swings, they can be used as a holding strategy in order to generate
steady long-term growth," said Oliver McMahon, Head of iShares Product
Management at BlackRock Canada. "In general, we expect our suite of minimum
volatility funds to deliver similar total returns to the underlying marketplace,
but with lower volatility along the way. This suite of products is another
innovative option within our family that increases investor's flexibility and
choice." 


For more information about the new iShares funds, please visit www.iShares.ca.

All other inquiries: 1-866-iShares (1-866-474-2737) or email
iSharesCanada@blackrock.com. 


About BlackRock

BlackRock is a leader in investment management, risk management and advisory
services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. At June 30, 2012,
BlackRock's AUM was $3.560 trillion. BlackRock offers products that span the
risk spectrum to meet clients' needs, including active, enhanced and index
strategies across markets and asset classes. Products are offered in a variety
of structures including separate accounts, mutual funds, iShares(R) (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(R). Headquartered in New
York City, as of June 30, 2012, the firm has approximately 9,900 employees in 27
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 ETFs

iShares is the global product leader in exchange traded funds with over 500
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.


iShares(R) Funds are managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited and
BlackRock Investments Canada Inc. Commissions, management fees and expenses all
may be associated with investing in iShares Funds. Please read the relevant
prospectus before investing. The indicated rates of return are the historical
annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment
of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption,
distribution or operational charges or income taxes payable by any
securityholder that would have reduced returns. The ETFs are not guaranteed,
their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Tax,
investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with
guidance from a qualified professional.

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