Expenses for Institutional shares: Total 0.30%; Net, Including Investment Related Expenses (dividend expense, interest expense, acquired fund fees and expenses and certain other fund expenses) 0.29%. For Investor A shares: Total 0.55%; Net, Including Investment Related Expenses 0.54%. Institutional and Investor A shares have contractual waivers with an end date of 06/30/2025 terminable upon 90 days' notice. For certain share classes, BlackRock may voluntarily agree to waive certain fees and expenses in which the adviser may discontinue at any time without notice. Expenses stated as of the fund's most recent prospectus. Data 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 Investment Management & Financial Services | BlackRock for most recent month-end performance. Investment returns reflect total fund operating expenses, net of all fees, waivers and/or expense reimbursements. Index performance is shown for illustrative purposes only. It is not possible to invest directly in an unmanaged index. Share classes have different sales charges, fees and other features. Returns with sales charge reflect deduction of current maximum initial sales charge of 4% for Investor A shares. Institutional shares have no front- or back-end load. Institutional shares have limited availability and may be purchased at various minimums. See prospectus for details. Net Expenses Excluding Investment Related Expenses for Institutional shares: 0.29%; for Investor A shares: 0.54%.

The fund posted returns of 5.78% (Institutional shares) and 5.71% (Investor A shares, without sales charge) for the third quarter of 2024. Asset allocation and global rates were the main drivers of the fund's positive performance relative to its benchmark during the quarter. The fund maintained its overweight credit exposure via long positions in investment grade, high yield, and high-quality securitized credit as risk markets remained resilient. Given a sharp reversal in the market's inflation pricing and extreme interest rate cut expectations, we moved to a short duration position (low interest rate sensitivity).

Fixed income total returns were strong during the quarter as markets priced in more interest rate cuts due to moderating economic data and dovish commentary from the Federal Reserve (Fed). The quarter started off with soft economic data and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's Senate testimony indicating a shift in policymakers' focus from inflation toward labor markets. This prompted a trend reversal shift that was evident throughout the rest of the quarter, as markets mirrored the Fed's greater focus on labor data. The big news in September was the Fed's 50-basis-point rate cut, which kick-started its monetary policy easing cycle and prompted a bear steepening of the yield curve (where long-term yields increase more quickly than short-term rates) and a rally in risk assets.

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