BlackRock Systematic Multi-Strategy ESG Screened Fund

The fund is a single manger, multi-strategy alternative that seeks to provided upside participation and downside risk mitigation. The fund employs a systematic investment approach that balances diversified return sources by allocating across three uncorrelated strategies: Directional Asset Allocation, Macro and Defensive Equity Long/Short. Directional Asset Allocation (50% risk budget) aims to deliver income to the portfolio whilst maintaining a defensive bias during sell-offs. It comprises a long-only portfolio of Government Debt, IG and HY Credit, Agency Mortgage and Dividend equities. The Macro allocation tactically adjust to shorter-term market dislocations by employing a relative value approach across global rates markets. The Defensive Equity Long/Short sleeve predominately applies ‘credit insights’ (together with other traditional factors, e.g. momentum, quality, etc) to equity selection seeking to generate defensive returns. The strategy was originally launched in 2015 (40 Act), with the UCITS fund launched in 2021.