Fixed Income
An adaptable approach to today’s changing bond markets
A flexible bond strategy can potentially deliver strong performance with low volatility by diversifying across global markets. BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Fund seeks attractive opportunities typically not found in traditional core bond funds.
This article has a related client version.
Performance and positioning update
- The fund posted a negative return in March amidst heightened market uncertainty and rate volatility.
- Over the month, we tactically increased top line duration while we rotated our exposure across developed market rates. That said, the bulk of our duration still remains in the belly part of the curve, while tactically trading Global Credit, Agency Mortgages, and Emerging Market Debt.
Diversified sources of return
Data is since strategy inception 3/31/10 through 3/31/25. Subject to change. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.
Performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Investment returns and principal values may fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. All returns assume reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. Current performance may be lower or higher than that shown. Refer to blackrock.com for most recent month-end performance.
To obtain more information on the fund, including the Morningstar time period ratings and standardized average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter and current month-end, please visit Strategic Income Opportunities Fund.
The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating," is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.
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David Rogal
Managing Director, Multi-sector Mutual Fund Team within Global Fixed Income
David Rogal, Managing Director, is a member of the Multi-Sector Retail & Rates team within BlackRock's Americas Fixed Income Group. He is a portfolio manager on the Multi-Sector Mutual Fund Team.
Rick Rieder
Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income
Rick is BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, and Head of the Global Allocation Investment Team.
Russell Brownback
Head of Global Macro Positioning Team within Global Fixed Income
Russell Brownback, Managing Director, is head of the Global Macro Positioning team. He is a co lead manager of the BlackRock Strategic Global Bond Fund and other flexible global aggregate mandates.
I’m up at 3:45 every morning. I want to know where all the markets are. I work out for an hour then the day really gets going.
I’m Rick Rieder, Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income at BlackRock.
So my job is investing money for clients trying to generate returns using fixed income assets within portfolios. From being in this business for 35 years, you learn you got to be thoughtful, you got to innovate, you got to be different, and then apply that to the experience you have and the research that you’re doing.
Education for me is literally the foundation of everything. I’m chairman of the board of North Star Academy. It’s over 14 charter schools, serving 6,000 kids in the city of Newark. We started an internship program to bring high school kids in to help them with not just understanding markets, the economy, finance, but also understanding how you interface in business. We’re helping to change the future of thousands of underserved kids.
It gives you a real boost to see the difference you can make.
There’s a lot to do in a day, but when you start to see what you can get done, I think it’s safe to say that I won’t look back and wish I had slept more.
Meet Rick Rieder: Morningstar’s 2023 Outstanding Portfolio Manager
Rick Rieder, Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, has been awarded the 2023 Morningstar Award for Investing Excellence, Outstanding Portfolio Manager. Rick Rieder’s consistent approach to managing strategies like Strategic Income Opportunities, Total Return, Global Allocation and more have helped funds deliver long-term success.
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Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
Carefully consider the Funds' investment objectives, risk factors, and charges and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in the Funds' prospectuses or, if available, the summary prospectuses which may be obtained visiting the iShares ETF and BlackRock Mutual Fund prospectus pages. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Stock and bond values fluctuate in price so the value of your investment can go down depending on market conditions.
International investing involves risks, including risks related to foreign currency, limited liquidity, less government regulation and the possibility of substantial volatility due to adverse political, economic or other developments. These risks often are heightened for investments in emerging/ developing markets or in concentrations of single countries.
Fixed income risks include interest-rate and credit risk. Typically, when interest rates rise, there is a corresponding decline in bond values. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the bond issuer will not be able to make principal and interest payments. Non-investment-grade debt securities (high-yield/junk bonds) may be subject to greater market fluctuations, risk of default or loss of income and principal than higher-rated securities. Principal of mortgage- or asset-backed securities normally may be prepaid at any time, reducing the yield and market value of those securities. Obligations of US govt. agencies are supported by varying degrees of credit but generally are not backed by the full faith and credit of the US govt. Securities with floating or variable interest rates may decline in value if their coupon rates do not keep pace with comparable market interest rates. The Fund’s income may decline when interest rates fall because most of the debt instruments held by the Fund will have floating or variable rates.
Mortgage-backed securities ("MBS") and commercial mortgage-backed securities ("CMBS") are subject to prepayment and extension risk and therefore react differently to changes in interest rates than other bonds. Small movements in interest rates may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain mortgage-backed securities.
Collateralized Debt Obligations ("CDOs") carry additional risks including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the risk that the collateral may default or decline in value or be downgraded, if rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization; (iii) the Fund may invest in tranches of CDOs that are subordinate to other tranches; (iv) the lack of a readily available secondary market for CDOs.
Non-investment-grade debt securities (high-yield/junk bonds) may be subject to greater market fluctuations, risk of default or loss of income and principal than higher-rated securities.
Short-selling entails special risks. If the fund makes short sales in securities that increase in value, the fund will lose value. Any loss on short positions may or may not be offset by investing short-sale proceeds in other investments.
The funds may use derivatives to hedge its investments or to seek to enhance returns. Derivatives entail risks relating to liquidity, leverage and credit that may reduce returns and increase volatility.
The opinions expressed are those of the fund's portfolio management team as of April 21, 2025 and may change as subsequent conditions vary. Information and opinions are derived from proprietary and nonproprietary sources deemed by BlackRock to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive and are not guaranteed as to accuracy. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Percent of net assets figures represent the Fund’s exposure based on the economic value of securities adjusted for futures, options, swaps and convertible bonds.
The Funds are distributed by BlackRock Investments, LLC (together with its affiliates, "BlackRock").
BlackRock provides compensation in connection with obtaining or using third-party ratings and rankings
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