Akiva Dickstein, Managing Director, is a member of the Multi-Sector team within BlackRock’s Global Fixed Income group. Mr. Dickstein is the Head of Customized Multi-Sector Portfolios, Head of Short Duration Fixed Income, and a member of the Global Fixed Income executive team. He is a lead portfolio manager of BlackRock's Core Bond, Low Duration Bond Fund, and iShares Short Duration Bond Active ETF (NEAR). Prior to taking on his current responsibilities, Mr. Dickstein was the lead portfolio manager on BlackRock's mortgage portfolios.

Before joining BlackRock in 2009, Mr. Dickstein spent eight years at Merrill Lynch, where he served as Managing Director and head of the U.S. Rates & Structured Credit Research Group. He was responsible for the team that produced MBS, ABS, CMBS, Treasuries, swaps, and interest rate derivatives research. Mr. Dickstein's publications on MBS strategy included the weekly Mortgage Investor as well as numerous lengthier articles on topics such as optimal loan modifications, the valuation of credit-sensitive MBS and ABS, and the pricing of mortgage derivatives, options, and pass-throughs. In addition, he developed Merrill's prepayment models for fixed rate and hybrid MBS. From 1993 to 2001, Mr. Dickstein was with Lehman Brothers, most recently as a Senior Vice President in Mortgage Derivatives Trading. In this role, he traded mortgage derivatives and developed Lehman's credit default model. He joined Lehman as a mortgage and asset-backed securities analyst and was named to Institutional Investor's All American Fixed Income Research Team in pass-throughs, non-agency mortgages and asset-backed securities.

Mr. Dickstein earned a BA degree in economics, summa cum laude, from Yale University in 1990, and an MA degree in physics from Princeton University in 1993.

Scott MacLellan, CFA, CMT, Managing Director, is a portfolio manager in BlackRock's Global Fixed Income Group. He is the co-lead portfolio manager of BlackRock's Low Duration Bond Fund, BGF USD Short Duration Bond Fund and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR). As a lead portfolio manager on the USD short duration fixed income platform, he also focuses on managing a large number of multi sector fixed income separate accounts. Mr. MacLellan is named as lead portfolio manager for the BlackRock Target Allocation Shares Series P Fund and the lead portfolio manager for four multi-sector BlackRock closed end funds, the BlackRock Core Bond Trust, BlackRock Multi-Sector Income Trust, BlackRock Limited Duration Income Trust and Enhanced Government Fund. He also served on BlackRock's Obsidian hedge fund team.

Mr. MacLellan serves in number of capacities with regard to sustainable investing in the Fundamental Fixed Income Team, including as a member of the Global Fixed Income ESG Leadership Committee and a member of the ESG Advisory Group to the Fundamental Fixed Income Executive Committee.

Prior to assuming his current responsibilities in 2012, Mr. MacLellan was a an account manager in the Global Client Group, covering clients in Asia and the Middle East. Previously, Mr. MacLellan spent four years with Nomura BlackRock Asset Management (NBAM) in Tokyo. Prior to joining NBAM in 2001, Mr. MacLellan spent a year at the Industrial Bank of Japan Leasing in Tokyo, investing in emerging markets.

Mr. MacLellan earned a BA degree, with combined honors, in economics and international development studies from King's College, Dalhousie University in Canada. Mr. MacLellan attended the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego and Tohoku University in Japan. He has received both the Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Market Technician designations. He is proficient in Japanese.

Amanda Liu, CFA, Director, is Deputy Head of the multi-sector team within Core Portfolio Management (CorePM) for BlackRock's Global Fixed Income Group. She is a portfolio manager on the Short Duration team, specializing in risk budgeting, asset allocation and providing customized portfolio construction for separate accounts.

Prior to assuming her current responsibilities in 2015, Ms. Liu was a member of Portfolio Analytics Group, where she led the rollout of Aladdin risk models and analytics tools to clients. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2010, Ms. Liu was an investment accountant at Principal Financial Group.

Ms. Liu earned a Master in Accountancy at Iowa State University in 2008.

Siddharth Mehta, Director, is Head of Customized Core and Core Plus Business within the Global Fixed Income (GFI) group at BlackRock. He is also a portfolio manager on the Short Duration, Total Return, and Core Bond Portfolios. Additionally, he serves as a voting member on a number of private capital investment committees, such as BlackRock’s Commercial Mortgage Loan Investment Committee, and the Securitized Assets Investment Committee.

Prior to taking on his current responsibilities, Mr. Mehta was a portfolio manager on BlackRock's agency mortgage and securitized products portfolios. Mr. Mehta joined the Portfolio Management Group in 2008. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Mehta was a member of BlackRock's Risk and Quantitative Analytics Group, where he was responsible for supporting the mortgage team. Mr. Mehta began his investment career with BlackRock as an analyst in the Portfolio Analytics Group. Mr. Mehta is a member of the Mental Health Ambassador program, serving as a resource to colleagues on issues around mental health.

Mr. Mehta earned a BS degree, magna cum laude, in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in 2005.

Sam Summers, Director, is a portfolio manager in the Global Fixed Income (GFI) group at BlackRock focusing on US multi-sector fixed income and global government bond mandates. He is a portfolio manager for Total Return, Core Bond, Short Duration, and Global Government Portfolios. Mr. Summers focuses on macro directional and relative value investment strategies in interest rates and FX as well as macro positioning and asset allocation in multi-sector and global government bond portfolios.

Mr. Summers joined Blackrock as an analyst after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA degree in economics.