The short takeaway from these observations is that delivering attractive investment outcomes may be more challenging and more complicated moving forward. Which leads me to my last point—one thing I’ll never compromise despite trickier market dynamics: a risk-first approach.
In the Multi-Asset Income Fund, we’re investing in both traditional and less conventional assets to help to deliver competitive income and attractive risk-adjusted returns. We’re willing to own riskier asset classes, we’ll actively move the portfolio around, and we won’t be immune to market risk. But we’re always thinking of how the average income-oriented investor is seeking steady, consistent results without undue risk, and that’s exactly how we manage the fund.
In many ways, the last 10 years were a time of profound change for the financial system, during which many of the conventional wisdoms of investing were up upended. We’ve had to adapt but we continue to uphold our responsibilities to our investors, understanding their financial goals are the same and more important than ever.
Michael Fredericks is head of income investing for BlackRock’s Multi-Asset Strategies & Solutions Team and lead portfolio manager of the BlackRock Multi-Asset Income Fund (BIICX).