BlackRock Model Portfolios

This website and the related documents are exclusively directed at Qualified Investors as defined in the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act of 23 June 2006, as amended from time to time (“CISA”). By clicking “Accept” you certify that you fulfil the requirements of Article 10 para 3 of CISA, at the exclusion of qualified investors with an opting-out pursuant to Art. 5 (1) of the Swiss Federal Act on Financial Services ("FinSA").

• These Terms are only suitable for Qualified Investors that wish to use the Models as guidance. Should You require investment advice or an investment manager service, please contact Your BlackRock representative.
• By agreeing to these Terms, you hereby agree to provide Us with quarterly reports setting out the BlackRock Products and number of shares or units held by You and/or Your End Investors (clause 3.7).
• By agreeing to these Terms, You hereby agree to comply with the Marketing Rules of the Road which will be provided to you with the Models.
• By agreeing to these Terms, You hereby agree to provide Us with any marketing materials that contain any reference to the MPS Assets, BlackRock or iShares, prior to their release or publication.

A. BlackRock Asset Management Schweiz AG (“BlackRock”, “We”, “Us”, “Our”, ) and its affiliates (BlackRock and its affiliates together referred to as “BlackRock Group”) is willing to make available to you (“You” or “Your”) certain standardised model portfolios, factsheets, commentary relating to the models (the “MPS Assets”) to be used pursuant to these Terms. MPS Assets include Models, Developed Material and Information Materials.

B. When making the MPS Assets available to You, BlackRock is not providing any investment advice, recommendation or investment management services to You or to any End Investors. For the avoidance of any doubt, End Investors are Your clients and are not BlackRock’s clients. We are not endorsing any investment decision or recommendation made by You or any service or product provided by You.

C. You agree that when You use any information from the MPS Assets for any End Investor or apply the Models to the account or investment of any End Investor:
For the meaning of defined terms, please see “Definitions”.

1. WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH THE MPS ASSETS?

1a) This is what You can do with the data from the Models and the Information Materials that are made available to You:

1. You can formulate Your own portfolio strategies for the purpose of developing marketing, managing, issuing, selling and distributing Your Services for End Investors in the Territory;
2. You can use the Models in formulating Your own portfolio strategies for use by Your advisory business in the Territory;
3. You can develop and produce Developed Materials to market Your Services to End Investors, and
4. You have discretion to determine whether You will use the Models and/or invest the portfolio of End Investors in accordance with the asset allocations of the Models.

1b) This is what You cannot do with the data from the Models and the Information Materials that are made available to you:

1. You cannot convey to any End Investor or to any other third party that the above constitutes investment advice, recommendation or investment management services provided by the BlackRock Group;
2. You cannot convey to any End Investor or to any other third party that the BlackRock Group is constructing or providing Models or Information Materials to, or for, End Investors;
3. You cannot use the name “BlackRock” or “iShares” in the name of Your Services or products or in the names of the portfolio strategies provided to End Investors. You may refer to “BlackRock” or “iShares” trademarks only in the context of describing that Your portfolio strategies comprise asset allocations into BlackRock Products, to the extent that this is accurate, and provided that You have entered into a BlackRock and iShares Trademark Licence Agreement with US affiliates of BlackRock which own the rights to such marks. Kindly contact Your usual BlackRock representative for a copy of the Trademark License Agreement;
4. You cannot circulate or forward the Information Materials (including factsheets produced by Us) to any End Investor. You acknowledge that the Informational Materials are not prepared for, nor are they suitable to be distributed to, End Investors, especially Non-Qualified Investors; and
5. You are strictly prohibited from branding or co-branding the Models as “BlackRock” Model Portfolios or “iShares” Model Portfolios when implementing, distributing and/or marketing the Model Portfolios.

For the avoidance of doubt, BlackRock is not constructing or providing the Models directly for the use of the End Investors.

(together the “Permitted Use”).

2. WHAT ARE OUR OBLIGATIONS?

2.1) If You agree to these Terms, We will make available the Models to You. However, we do not have any obligation to continue making the Models available to You and may cease Your access at any time.

2.2) We shall be under no obligation to update, edit, and/or rebalance the Models or the Materials (a “Rebalancing”). However, if a Rebalancing occurs, if is up to You to determine whether to use the Models that have undergone Rebalancing. We will not be liable for any notification delay to You.

2.3) You acknowledge and agree that the MPS Assets are provided “as-is,” without any warranty or representation that the Models, will produce any particular investment outcome for any person, including any End Investors.

3. WHAT ARE YOUR OBLIGATIONS?

3.1) You acknowledge and agree that You:

1. are solely responsible for any obligation to provide investment advice, personal recommendations and/or investment management services to Your End Investors; and
2. will comply with all Applicable Law in Your use of the Models and/or the Materials.

3.2) It is Your responsibility to:
3.3.) You acknowledge and agree that any past performance or future projection contained in any of the Models and/or Materials is not indicative of future results and that such information is subject to change; You also acknowledge and agree that any investments made in accordance with, or otherwise in connection with, the Models involve risk (the amount of which may vary significantly).

3.4) You are responsible for ensuring that the particular investment marketed, sold or recommended to an End Investor or in which an End Investor’s account is invested, can be marketed to such End Investor under applicable financial promotion and other securities laws and regulations. When you use any Model and provide the investment strategy of any Model to an End Investor, You will not make any changes to the description of the investment strategy without Our prior approval.

3.5) If You make any reference to “BlackRock” or “iShares” in any of Your Developed Materials, you must include the following rubric and, upon Our request, You will furnish a copy of Your Developed Materials to Us:

[Licensee’s name]‘s [model] portfolios are advised and provided by [Licensee’s name] and utilise asset allocation guidance provided to [Licensee] by BlackRock. BlackRock does not provide any service or product to you and has not considered the suitability of its asset allocation against individual needs, objectives and risk tolerances for investors. As such, BlackRock’s assets allocations do not constitute investment advice or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

And also (i) the following if the Developed Materials will refer to both “iShares” and “BlackRock”:

iShares® and BlackRock® are registered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates (“BlackRock”) and are used under license. Further, BlackRock is not affiliated with [the Licensee] and its affiliates. BlackRock makes no representations or warranties regarding the advisability of investing in any product or service offered by [the Licensee] or any of its affiliates. BlackRock has no obligation or liability in connection with the operation, marketing, trading or sale of any product or service offered by [the Licensee] or any of its affiliates nor does BlackRock have any obligation or liability to any client or customer of [the Licensee].”

Or (ii) the following if the Developed Materials will refer to “BlackRock” but not “iShares”:

“BlackRock® is a registered trademark of BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates (“BlackRock”) and is used under license. BlackRock is not affiliated with [the Licensee] and therefore makes no representations or warranties regarding the advisability of investing in any product or service offered by [the Licensee]. BlackRock has no obligation or liability in connection with the operation, marketing, trading or sale of such product or service nor does BlackRock have any obligation or liability to any client or customer of [the Licensee].

Where You issue Your Developed Materials that are intended for End Investors, including both Qualified and Non-Qualified Investors, which discloses the arrangements under these Terms or displays any logo or trademark of any member of the BlackRock Group in such Developed Materials, in addition to including the disclaimers required by this Section 3.5 in the disclaimer section at the end of the Developed Materials, You shall also incorporate the following short-form explanatory note (using appropriate wording and form) into the text of Your Developed Materials:

“[Licensee’s name]’s [name of services / products] are [managed] [advised] and provided to you by [Licensee s name] and utilise [asset allocation guidance / asset allocation insights] provided by BlackRock. BlackRock does not provide any service or product to you.”

We may amend the above rubric, in Our sole discretion, from time to time.

3.6) Information on the Models and Information Materials contained in Developed Materials issued by You shall be disclosed in a way that is fair, clear and not misleading.

3.7) You shall implement the Models for End Investors using BlackRock Products where available, save where prohibited under Applicable Law and subject to Your duty to Your clients. In addition, You will provide reports to Us within 14 calendar days of the end of each calendar quarter (ending on the last day of March, June, September and December) (“Quarter”) setting out the BlackRock Products and number of shares or units held by You and/or End Investors as at the last day of the relevant Quarter. Reports must be sent to Your BlackRock representative.

3.8) You shall submit to Us, for Our prior review, all Developed Materials that are produced, issued, published, operated or maintained by You, or on Your behalf, for the launch and initial marketing of the Services and portfolio strategies developed, advised, provided or offered by Us which either (i) refer to the Models, the BlackRock Group or any of its members and/or the arrangements under these Terms, and/or (ii) display a BlackRock or iShares logo or trademark. Subsequent to the launch of the Services and portfolio strategies referred to above, at Our request from time to time, You shall provide to Us copies of the Developed Materials which either: (i) refer to the Models, the BlackRock Group or any of its members and/or the arrangements under these Terms; and/or (ii) display a BlackRock or iShares logo or trademark. For the avoidance of doubt, any review undertaken by Us of the Developed Materials shall be limited solely to a review of the reference to the Models, the BlackRock Group or any of its members, the arrangements under these Terms and the use of the BlackRock or iShares logo or trademark, and We shall have no responsibility to review, or liability for, the content of the Developed Materials. Upon Our request, You hereby agree to provide Us with an attestation, in writing, that You are in compliance with these Terms.

3.9) You acknowledge that: (i) neither BlackRock nor any member of the BlackRock Group is providing the Model Portfolio and asset allocation services as a “Benchmark” or “Input Data” as defined in the Regulation 2016/1011 of the European Parliament and of the Council as amended or suspended from time to time; and (ii) neither BlackRock nor any member of the BlackRock Group intend any Model Portfolio and asset allocation services to be used, and You agree not to use them, as “Benchmark” or “Input Data”.


3.10) You acknowledge and agree that:

1. We do not present the Models, or Our Materials, as being suitable for You, any End Investor or any third party and We have not considered the circumstances of any such persons including Your investment objectives, risk tolerance or financial circumstances or of any other person, including any third party (which includes, but is not limited to, End Investors);
2. We are only providing the Models and Information Materials to You to use as guidance in formulating Your portfolio strategies for the Services;
3. We do not have any relationship with or obligation to any of Your clients (including to End Investors); and
4. We may provide you with information and disclosures in a durable medium. You are responsible for keeping Your e-mail address and other contact details with Us up to date.

3.11) Whilst You acknowledge that the Models and Information Materials are provided to You without charge, You will be responsible for all costs and expenses incurred in connection with Your use of the MPS Assets, and We will not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred by You in connection with Your receipt and use of the MPS Assets.

4. WHAT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG?

1. any loss or diminution in value of any shares, assets, holdings in any investment funds or the value of any underlying assets held by any investment fund;
2. any loss of data, loss of profits, loss of business or anticipated savings, loss of goodwill;
3. any indirect, consequential or special loss, liability or damages;
4. any Losses arising out of the way You use, or any End Investors' use, non-use or inability to use any or all of the MPS Assets in any way;
5. for the performance of the Models or any of their constituents, or for the Models or their constituents generating a performance that is in line with the relevant investment strategy; or
6. for any Losses arising out of or related to the implementation of the Models and/or any investment, advisory, trading or other activities engaged in by You, or any other person, including a third party, in connection with these Terms.

4.2) You will indemnify Us for:

You will indemnify, defend and hold Us (for Our benefit and the benefit of the BlackRock Group) harmless from and against any and all Losses arising out of or related to Your breach of Your obligations under these Terms (save to the extent that such Losses arise directly out of the fraud or wilful misconduct of BlackRock or the BlackRock Group), including but not limited to any claims from End Investors, including claims relating to non-compliance by You with suitability assessment requirements, financial promotion and/or other securities laws and/or You misrepresenting the Models or Your investment strategies or the role of BlackRock to End Investors. Any such Losses incurred by the BlackRock Group will be deemed to be Our Losses and We will be entitled to make a claim on the indemnity pursuant to this Clause on behalf of any member of the BlackRock Group.

4.3) Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute or claim in connection with them shall be governed by Swiss law and You and Us agree to submit to the jurisdiction of Zurich, Switzerland.

5. WHAT IF WE WANT TO TERMINATE OUR RELATIONSHIP OR IF WE WANT TO AMEND THESE TERMS?

5.1) We reserve the right, at Our sole discretion, to terminate these Terms with immediate effect and to cease sending You any further Models or related Information Materials, and we will use reasonable endeavours to inform You of such termination.

5.2) Upon termination, all rights granted to You shall revert to Us and You shall destroy and refrain from further use of or reference to any BlackRock IPR, directly or indirectly, or anything deemed by Us to be substantially similar to the BlackRock IPR, in connection with provision of any Service or other services to End Investors in the Territory.

5.3) In the event that any End Investor remains invested in accordance with the Models or any End Investor hold any materials relating to the Models after termination, these Terms shall survive termination and shall continue to apply to the use of such Models and Materials.

5.4) We reserve the right, in Our sole discretion, to amend the terms on which We make available the Models and Information Materials to You by updating these Terms without notice and such amendment to these Terms shall automatically apply to You. By continuing to receive the Models and Information Materials from Us after the effective date for any amendment to these Terms, You will be deemed to have consented to the amendments.

6. MISCELLANEOUS:

6.1) Relationship of the Parties

Neither You nor Us intend to create any agency, partnership, or joint venture relationship. Neither You nor Us will incur any obligation or liability on behalf of the other party.

6.2) Licence Matters

The Models may be based on third party indices and data, in particular, if the Models comprise asset allocations into index tracking products (including, but not limited to, iShares exchange traded products). The BlackRock Group may not, and do not purport to, sub-licence to You such third party indices and data. It is Your responsibility to obtain any relevant licences from third party index and data providers to enable You to use the MPS Assets in the way You intended to use them.

6.3) Compliance with Applicable Law

You acknowledge and agree that it will be Your obligation to ensure that You can continue to accept the Models and Information Materials under these Terms in accordance with any Applicable Law, including, but not limited to, ensuring that the receipt and use of the Models by You in accordance with these Terms will serve to enhance the quality of the relevant service You provide to Your End Investors. If You are not able to receive the Models and Information Materials for any reason and at any time, please notify us immediately in writing to cease providing You with such materials.

6.4) Confidentiality

You may not circulate or forward any materials from Us to any third party.

You will notify Us promptly following discovery of any unauthorised use or disclosure of the MPS Materials and will cooperate with Us in every reasonable way to prevent any further unauthorised use or disclosure of the MPS Materials as well as take such steps as We may reasonably require in order to remedy or mitigate the effects of such breach.

6.5) Confirmation

These Terms apply each time You receive and use the Models and Information Materials made available by Us, including any materials made available by Us by e-mail or any other means outside of this website.

By clicking “Accept”, You represent that You have full power, authority and capacity to enter into these Terms and that these Terms constitute Your legal, valid and binding obligations. You also represent that You are a Qualified Investor based in Switzerland. You agree to notify Us immediately in writing if You become aware that any of these representations cease to be true.


The following expressions shall mean:

1. “Applicable Law” means all applicable laws, rules and regulations and any applicable rules and regulations of any self-regulatory organisation. This includes but is not limited to, the Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes of 23 June 2006, as amended, ("CISA") and the Federal Act on Financial Services of 15 June 2018 (“FinSA”).
2. “BlackRock Group” means the BlackRock and its affiliates.
3. "BlackRock IPR" means (i) the Models, (ii) the Information Materials, and related intellectual property owned by a member of the BlackRock Group.
4. “BlackRock Products” means any collective investment scheme (including any sub-funds) and/or any other products developed, issued, listed and/or managed by the BlackRock Group.
5. “Developed Material” shall, where relevant, mean any brochure, fact sheet, commentary and any other document produced by or for You which relates to the Models and/or products or services developed by You pursuant to the Permitted Use and intended to be used by You in undertaking its arrangements with Your End Investors, in each case excluding Information Materials but including information materials rebranded by You using Your name.
6. “Effective Date” means the date You have accepted these Terms.
7. “End Investors” means Your clients and any other investors and potential investors to whom You makes available information from the MPS Assets.
8. “Information Materials” means any brochure, fact sheet, commentary and any other document relating to the Models developed by Us or provided by Us to You for the purposes of: (a) aiding You understanding of the composition and construction methodology of the Models; and (b) providing updates to the composition of the respective Models.
9. "Losses" means direct or indirect claims, demands, liabilities, obligations, costs, expenses (including reasonable legal fees and expenses), losses or damages.
10. “Materials” means the Developed Materials and the Information Materials.
11. “Models” or “Model Portfolios” means the model portfolios, developed by the BlackRock Group comprising BlackRock Products, which will be sent to You by email.
12. “MPS Assets” means Models, Developed Material, the Information Materials and other related materials as may be agreed between us from time to time.
13. “Non-Qualified Investor” means non-qualified investor as defined in the Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes of 23 June 2006, as amended ("CISA").
14. “Qualified Investor” means qualified investor as defined in the Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes Act of 23 June 2006, as amended ("CISA").
15. “Services” means the services (which use, incorporate or otherwise reference data from one or more of the Models) to be developed and provided by You to End Investors in the Territory pursuant to the Permitted Use.
16. “Territory” shall mean Switzerland and any other European country where the underlying funds composing the Models are registered or passported for sale to the public.