BONDS / FIXED INCOME

Total Return Fund

Diversification at the core

A diversified core bond strategy can help your portfolio deliver more consistent performance through market cycles. BlackRock Total Return Fund seeks returns in a variety of fixed income sectors.

This article has a related client version.

View client article to share

Performance and positioning update

  • The fund posted a positive return for the month of January, driven by strong spread performance across securitized and credit markets.
  • We increased top-line duration, and now hold a slight underweight. We are neutral along the US curve and despite the recent back-up in long-end rates, we remain hesitant from extending duration as we see room for further widening. We increased our position in Non-US Credit, US High Yield Credit, and slightly in Emerging Market Debt while reducing our positions in Non-US Sovereign Debt, US Investment Grade Credit, and Agency Mortgages.

View fund commentary

 

Diversified sources of return

Diversified sources of return

Source: BlackRock. Active return contribution represents above-benchmark performance. One basis point is one hundredth of one percent (0.01%). Return attribution is based on gross returns of the fund’s Institutional share class. Macro strategy is how the portfolio management team implements thematic and macro-economic investment views through duration, yield curve and foreign-currency positioning. Residual: This non-attributable portion of the fund’s total return is derived from trading and allocation effects across the fund’s investment strategies.

Subscribe to Total Return Fund insights

Get timely market outlooks and portfolio positioning insights delivered to your inbox each month.
Please try again
First Name *
Please enter a valid first name
Last Name *
Please enter a valid last name
Email Address *
Please enter a valid email
Country *
This field is mandatory
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you for your subscription
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.
Chi Chen
Director, Multi sector Mutual Fund Team within Global Fixed Income
Chi Chen, Director, is a Portfolio Manager in BlackRock's Global Fixed Income Investment Group, focusing on US multi sector fixed income mandates and global government bond mandates. She is co-manager of BlackRock's Total Return Fund, Core Bond Fund, US Dollar Bond Fund, and Global Government Bond Fund.

Access exclusive tools and content

Obtain exclusive insights, CE courses, events, model allocations and portfolio analytics powered by Aladdin® technology.

Get access now

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 Total Return 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.