Strategy. The Fund invests primarily in non-investment grade bonds with maturities of ten years or less. The Fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in high yield bonds. The high yield securities (commonly called junk bonds) acquired by the Fund will generally be in the lower rating categories of the major rating agencies (BB or lower by S&P Global Ratings or Fitch Ratings, Inc. or Ba or lower by Moodys Investor Services) or will be determined by the Fund management team to be of similar quality. Split rated bonds and other fixed-income securities (securities that receive different ratings from two or more rating agencies) are considered to have the … Show more… The Fund invests primarily in non-investment grade bonds with maturities of ten years or less. The Fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in high yield bonds. The high yield securities (commonly called junk bonds) acquired by the Fund will generally be in the lower rating categories of the major rating agencies (BB or lower by S&P Global Ratings or Fitch Ratings, Inc. or Ba or lower by Moodys Investor Services) or will be determined by the Fund management team to be of similar quality. Split rated bonds and other fixed-income securities (securities that receive different ratings from two or more rating agencies) are considered to have the median credit rating if three agencies rate the security and the lower credit rating if two agencies rate the security. High yield securities generally pay more interest than higher rated securities. The higher yield is an incentive to investors who otherwise may be hesitant to purchase the debt of a low-rated issuer. The Fund may invest in securities of any rating, and may invest up to 10% of its assets (measured at the time of investment) in distressed securities that are in default or the issuers of which are in bankruptcy. To determine the Funds investable universe, Fund management will first seek to screen out certain issuers based on ESG criteria determined by BlackRock, subject to the considerations noted below. Such screening criteria principally includes: (i) issuers that derive more than zero percent of revenue from the production of controversial weapons; (ii) issuers that derive more than zero percent of revenue from the production of civilian firearms; (iii) issuers that derive more than zero percent of revenue from the production of tobacco-related products; (iv) issuers that derive more than five percent of revenue from thermal coal generation, unless such issuers either (a) have made certain commitments to reduce climate impact or (b) derive at least fifty percent of revenue from alternative energy sources; (v) issuers that derive more than five percent of revenue from thermal coal mining; (vi) issuers that derive more than five percent of revenue from oil sands extraction, unless the issuers have set certain targets to reduce climate impact; (vii) issuers identified as violators of the United Nations Global Compact, which are globally accepted principles covering corporate behavior in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption; and (viii) issuers receiving an ESG rating of CCC (or equivalent) by recognized third-party rating agencies. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Fund may invest in green bonds of issuers that exceed the thresholds stated in (iv), (v), and (vi) above. The Fund relies on one or more third-party ratings agencies to identify issuers for purposes of the above screening criteria. Third-party rating agencies may base the above screening criteria on an estimate when revenue for a covered business activity is not disclosed by the issuer or publicly available. The Funds screening criteria is measured at the time of investment and is dependent upon information and data that may be incomplete, inaccurate, unavailable or estimated. Where the Funds criteria looks solely to third-party ratings or data, issuers are only screened to the extent such ratings or data have been assigned or made available by the third parties. This screening criteria is subject to change over time at BlackRocks discretion. BlackRock utilizes a proprietary sustainability scoring system, fundamental sector research and third-party ESG data in constructing the Funds portfolio. Fund management identifies top-down investment themes and determines sector, industry and security weights. The management team evaluates sectors of the high yield market and individual bonds within these sectors. Securities are purchased for the Fund when Fund management determines that they have the potential for above-average total return. If a securitys credit rating declines, the management team will decide whether to continue to hold the security. A security will be sold if, in the opinion of Fund management, the risk of continuing to hold the security is unacceptable when compared to its total return potential. Fund management also selects and weights securities based on an issuers ability to manage the ESG risks to which its business is exposed, as determined by BlackRock. Fund management makes such determinations based on BlackRocks ESG research, which includes due diligence of the ESG risks and opportunities facing an issuer, as well as third-party ESG ratings. BlackRock researches and develops investment insights related to economic transition, which include target carbon transition readiness and climate opportunities. The Fund seeks to maintain certain ESG characteristics, climate risk exposure and climate opportunities relative to the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index (the Benchmark). Specifically, with respect to the Funds investments in high yield bonds, the Fund generally seeks to invest in a portfolio that, in BlackRocks view, (i) has an aggregate ESG assessment that is better than that of the Benchmark, (ii) has an aggregate carbon emissions assessment that is lower than that of the Benchmark, and (iii) in the aggregate, includes issuers that BlackRock believes are better positioned to capture climate opportunities relative to the issuers in the Benchmark. The Fund may invest in other sectors that are not included in such assessments. While Fund management considers ESG characteristics as well as climate risk exposure and climate opportunities, only one or two of these categories may be considered with respect to a particular investment or sector, and categories may be weighted differently according to the type of investment being considered. In addition, the Fund may gain indirect exposure (through, including but not limited to, derivatives and investments in other investment companies) to issuers with exposures that are inconsistent with the ESG-related criteria used by Fund management. The Fund may invest up to 30% of its assets in foreign issuers, including securities and currencies in both developed and emerging markets and non-dollar denominated bonds of issuers located outside of the United States. The Funds investment in non-dollar denominated bonds may be on a currency hedged or unhedged basis. The Fund may also invest in convertible and preferred securities. Convertible debt securities will be counted toward the Funds 80% policy to the extent they have ratings or equivalent quality characteristics similar to the securities included within that policy as described above. Convertible securities generally are debt securities or preferred stock that may be converted into common stock. Convertible securities typically pay current income as either interest (debt security convertibles) or dividends (preferred stock convertibles). A convertible securitys value usually reflects both the stream of current income payments and the market value of the underlying stock. Preferred securities are a class of stock that often pays dividends at a specified rate and has preference over common stock in dividend payments and liquidation of assets. To add diversification, the management team can invest in a wide range of securities including investment grade corporate bonds, mezzanine investments, collateralized bond obligations, bank loans and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. Mezzanine investments are subordinated debt securities that receive payments of interest and principal after other more senior security holders are paid. They are generally issued in private placements in connection with an equity security. Collateralized bond obligations are securities backed by a diversified pool of high yield securities. Bank loans are fixed and floating rate loans arranged through private negotiations between a company or a non-U.S. government and one or more financial institutions. The Fund considers such investments to be debt securities. There is a wide variety of mortgage-backed securities involving commercial or residential, fixed rate or adjustable rate mortgages and mortgages issued by banks or government agencies. Asset-backed securities are bonds that are backed by a pool of assets, usually loans such as installment sale contracts or credit card receivables. The Fund may buy or sell options or futures on a security or an index of securities, or enter into credit default swaps and interest rate or foreign currency transactions, including swaps (collectively, commonly known as derivatives). The Fund may use derivative instruments to hedge its investments or to seek to enhance returns. The Fund may seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques (such as reverse repurchase agreements or dollar rolls). The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities to achieve its principal investment strategies. Show less