UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM N-CSR
CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES
Investment Company Act file number: 811-02405
Name of Fund: | BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Fund Address: | 100 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19809 |
Name and address of agent for
service: John M. Perlowski, Chief Executive Officer, BlackRock Sustainable
Balanced Fund, Inc., 50 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001
Registrants telephone number, including area code: (800) 441-7762
Date of fiscal year end: 05/31/2024
Date of reporting period: 11/30/2023
Item 1 Report to Stockholders
(a) The Report to Shareholders is attached herewith.
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NOVEMBER 30, 2023 |
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2023 Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited)
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· BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc.
Not FDIC Insured May Lose Value No Bank Guarantee
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Dear Shareholder,
The combination of continued economic growth and cooling inflation provided a supportive backdrop for investors during the 12-month reporting period ended November 30, 2023. Significantly tighter monetary policy helped to rein in inflation, as the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index declined to its long-term average of approximately 3% in November 2023. Meanwhile, real economic growth proved more resilient than many investors anticipated. A moderating labor market also helped ease inflationary pressure, although wages continued to grow. This robust labor market powered further growth in consumer spending, backstopping the economy. On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a horrific attack on Israel. The ensuing war will have a significant humanitarian impact and could lead to heightened economic and market volatility. We see geopolitics as a structural market risk going forward. See our geopolitical risk dashboard at blackrock.com for more details.
Equity returns were solid during the period, as interest rates stabilized, and the economy proved to be more resilient than many investors expected. The U.S. economy continued to show strength, and growth further accelerated in the third quarter of 2023. However, equity returns were uneven, as the performance of a few notable technology companies supported gains among large-capitalization U.S. stocks, while small-capitalization U.S. stocks declined overall. Meanwhile, international developed market equities advanced strongly, while emerging market equities posted modest gains.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose during the reporting period, driving its price down, as investors reacted to elevated inflation and attempted to anticipate interest rate changes. The corporate bond market benefited from improving economic sentiment, although high-yield corporate bond prices fared significantly better than investment-grade bonds as demand from yield-seeking investors remained strong.
The U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed), attempting to manage persistent inflation, raised interest rates five times during the 12-month period, but slowed and then paused its tightening later in the period. The Fed also wound down its bond-buying programs and incrementally reduced its balance sheet by not replacing securities that reach maturity.
Supply constraints appear to have become an embedded feature of the new macroeconomic environment, making it difficult for developed economies to increase production without sparking higher inflation. Geopolitical fragmentation and an aging population risk further exacerbating these constraints, keeping the labor market tight and wage growth high. Although the Fed has decelerated the pace of interest rate hikes and recently opted for several pauses, we believe that the new economic regime means that the Fed will need to maintain high rates for an extended period despite the markets hopes for interest rate cuts, as reflected in the recent rally. Furthermore, ongoing structural changes may mean that the Fed will be hesitant to cut interest rates in the event of faltering economic activity lest inflation accelerate again.
While we favor an overweight position in developed market equities in the long term, we prefer an underweight stance in the near term. Nevertheless, we are overweight on Japanese stocks in the near term as shareholder-friendly policies generate increased investor interest. We also believe that stocks with an AI tilt should benefit from an investment cycle that is set to support revenues and margins. In credit, there are selective opportunities in the near term despite tightening credit and financial conditions. For fixed income investing with a six- to twelve-month horizon, we see the most attractive investments in short-term U.S. Treasuries, U.S. mortgage-backed securities, and hard-currency emerging market bonds.
Overall, our view is that investors need to think globally, position themselves to be prepared for a decarbonizing economy, and be nimble as market conditions change. We encourage you to talk with your financial advisor and visit blackrock.com for further insight about investing in todays markets.
Sincerely,
Rob Kapito
President, BlackRock Advisors, LLC
Rob Kapito
President, BlackRock Advisors, LLC
Total Returns as of November 30, 2023
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6-Month
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12-Month
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|||||||
U.S. large cap equities (S&P 500® Index) |
10.17% | 13.84% | ||||||
U.S. small cap equities (Russell 2000® Index) |
4.24 | (2.57) | ||||||
International equities (MSCI Europe, Australasia, Far East Index) |
5.12 | 12.36 | ||||||
Emerging market equities (MSCI Emerging Markets Index) |
4.60 | 4.21 | ||||||
3-month Treasury bills (ICE BofA 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index) |
2.69 | 4.91 | ||||||
U.S. Treasury securities (ICE BofA 10-Year U.S. Treasury Index) |
(3.98) | (2.27) | ||||||
U.S. investment grade bonds (Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index) |
(0.80) | 1.18 | ||||||
Tax-exempt municipal bonds (Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index) |
2.29 | 4.28 | ||||||
U.S. high yield bonds (Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index) |
5.52 | 8.69 | ||||||
Past performance is not an indication of future results. Index performance is shown for illustrative purposes only. You cannot invest directly in an index. |
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2 | T H I S P A G E I S N O T P A R T O F Y O U R F U N D R E P O R T |
Page | ||||
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2 | ||||
Semi-Annual Report: |
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4 | ||||
6 | ||||
6 | ||||
7 | ||||
Financial Statements: |
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8 | ||||
26 | ||||
28 | ||||
29 | ||||
30 | ||||
35 | ||||
46 | ||||
47 | ||||
49 |
3 |
Fund Summary as of November 30, 2023 | BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Investment Objective
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc.s (the Fund) investment objective is to seek the highest total investment return through a fully managed investment policy utilizing equity, debt (including money market) and convertible securities.
Portfolio Management Commentary
How did the Fund perform?
For the six-month period ended November 30, 2023, all of the Funds share classes outperformed its blended reference benchmark (60% MSCI All Country World Index/ 40% Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index).
What factors influenced performance?
The Funds tactical asset allocation positioning contributed to relative performance. An overweight in U.S. value stocks was a large contributor, as equity markets rallied on continued strength in U.S. economic growth and indications of an end to the Feds interest rate hikes. An underweight to U.S. duration (bond market interest rate sensitivity) was additive in the early part of the reporting period given a tightening of financial conditions over the summer 2023. Security selection strategies also contributed to returns. In equities, positive selection was driven by fundamental valuation insights, which benefited from rising rates. More traditional measures of valuation, such as comparing stocks using sales, research and development expenditures, and other financial metrics, performed best. In fixed income, security selection in mortgage-backed securities was the largest contributor.
There were no material detractors in the Funds tactical asset class positioning. In terms of selection, sentiment measures detracted somewhat in equities. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) insights, particularly those related to green patent issuance, input efficiency, and human capital measures, also detracted. In fixed income, an underweight in the communication services sector hurt results. An underweight in electric utilities, which reflected the poor ESG screening on carbon emissions for many companies in the sector, further weighed on returns given that these defensive issuers outperformed the reference benchmark.
The Fund held derivatives as a part of its investment strategy. The investment adviser used derivatives to manage risk and/or take outright views on equities and interest rates in the Fund. Derivatives held to express active asset allocation views experienced positive returns.
Describe recent portfolio activity.
The Fund entered the period with an overweight in equities (achieved through an overweight in the United States), as well as an underweight in U.S. duration. It maintained this broad positioning over the remainder of the period. The investment adviser increased the extent of the Funds duration underweight in July 2023, largely by expanding its underweight at the long end of the U.S. yield curve. This shift reflected the potential for curve steepening given the possibility that fiscal concerns would prompt investors to demand higher yields on long-dated bonds.
The investment adviser added to the Funds underweight in the U.S. dollar versus a basket of developed market currencies. The Fed indicated a preference for supporting nominal growth and fiscal spending over raising rates to achieve consistent price stability, which the investment adviser believed would be a negative for the U.S. dollar.
In equities, the Fund maintained a preference for technology stocks due in part to the increasing enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence. The investment adviser employed a defensive approach in fixed income, with a tilt toward higher-quality sectors such as technology, banking, insurance, and consumer staples.
Describe portfolio positioning at period end.
The Fund had a pro-cyclical posture, with an overweight in equities and an underweight in bonds. This positioning reflected the investment advisers belief that global growth would remain resilient and financial conditions had further to tighten. U.S. inflation fell since its peak in 2022, but in the investment advisers view, prices may remain stickier than expected and rates could need to stay higher for longer.
The Fund was overweight in the euro, Canadian dollar, and Australian dollar versus the U.S. dollar on the view that the Fed would have to support the governments increased financing needs. In equities, the Fund was overweight in the technology, consumer discretionary, and industrials sectors. In fixed income, the investment adviser maintained overweight positions in investment-grade and high yield corporate bonds.
The views expressed reflect the opinions of BlackRock as of the date of this report and are subject to change based on changes in market, economic or other conditions. These views are not intended to be a forecast of future events and are no guarantee of future results.
4 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Fund Summary as of November 30, 2023 (continued) | BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Performance
Average Annual Total Returns(a)(b) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1 Year | 5 Years | 10 Years | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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6-Month Total Returns |
Without Sales Charge |
With Sales Charge |
Without Sales Charge |
With Sales Charge |
Without Sales Charge |
With Sales Charge |
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Institutional |
5.42 | % | 8.50 | % | N/A | 8.04 | % | N/A | 7.83 | % | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
Investor A |
5.24 | 8.20 | 2.52 | % | 7.76 | 6.60 | % | 7.53 | 6.96 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
Investor C |
4.85 | 7.42 | 6.42 | 6.94 | 6.94 | 6.88 | 6.88 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Class K |
5.44 | 8.57 | N/A | 8.11 | N/A | 7.87 | N/A | |||||||||||||||||||||
Class R |
5.05 | 7.78 | N/A | 7.36 | N/A | 7.15 | N/A | |||||||||||||||||||||
60% MSCI All Country World Index/40% Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index(c) |
4.65 | 7.69 | N/A | 5.99 | N/A | 5.31 | N/A | |||||||||||||||||||||
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index(d) |
(0.80 | ) | 1.18 | N/A | 0.71 | N/A | 1.37 | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||
MSCI All Country World Index(e) |
8.28 | 12.01 | N/A | 9.07 | N/A | 7.60 | N/A |
(a) | Assuming maximum sales charges, if any. Average annual total returns with and without sales charges reflect reductions for distribution and service fees. See About Fund Performance for a detailed description of share classes, including any related sales charges and fees, and how performance was calculated for certain share classes. |
(b) | Under normal circumstances, the Fund intends to invest at least 25% of its assets in equity securities and at least 25% of its assets in senior fixed income securities, such as U.S. government debt securities, corporate debt securities, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. The Funds total returns for the period prior to April 8, 2022 are the returns of the Fund when it followed different investment strategies and investment processes under the name BlackRock Balanced Capital Fund, Inc. |
(c) | A customized weighted index comprised of the returns of the MSCI All Country World Index (60%) and Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (40%). |
(d) | A broad-based flagship benchmark that measures the investment grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market. |
(e) | An index that captures large- and mid-cap representation across certain developed and emerging markets. |
N/A - Not applicable as share class and index do not have a sales charge.
Past performance is not an indication of future results.
Performance results may include adjustments made for financial reporting purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
Expense Example
Actual | Hypothetical 5% Return | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Beginning Account Value (06/01/23) |
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Ending Account Value (11/30/23) |
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Expenses Paid During the Period |
(a) |
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Beginning Account Value (06/01/23) |
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Ending Account Value (11/30/23) |
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Expenses Paid During the Period |
(a) |
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Annualized Expense Ratio |
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Institutional |
$ | 1,000.00 | $ | 1,054.20 | $ | 2.78 | $ | 1,000.00 | $ | 1,022.29 | $ | 2.73 | 0.54 | % | ||||||||||||||
Investor A |
1,000.00 | 1,052.40 | 4.06 | 1,000.00 | 1,021.04 | 3.99 | 0.79 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Investor C |
1,000.00 | 1,048.50 | 8.05 | 1,000.00 | 1,017.14 | 7.92 | 1.57 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Class K |
1,000.00 | 1,054.40 | 2.43 | 1,000.00 | 1,022.64 | 2.38 | 0.47 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Class R |
1,000.00 | 1,050.50 | 6.00 | 1,000.00 | 1,019.15 | 5.91 | 1.17 |
(a) | For each class of the Fund, expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio for the class, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/366 (to reflect the one-half year period shown). |
See Disclosure of Expenses for further information on how expenses were calculated.
Portfolio Information
TEN LARGEST HOLDINGS
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Security(a) | Percent of Net Assets |
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U.S. Treasury Notes, 0.25%, 09/30/2025 |
3.4% | |||
Apple Inc. |
3.0 | |||
Microsoft Corp. |
2.8 | |||
U.S. Treasury Notes, 2.50%, 03/31/2027 |
2.2 | |||
iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF |
2.0 | |||
Amazon.com, Inc. |
1.6 | |||
U.S. Treasury Bonds, 2.25%, 02/15/2052 |
1.3 | |||
NVIDIA Corp. |
1.3 | |||
U.S. Treasury Notes, 2.38%, 05/15/2029 |
1.0 | |||
U.S. Treasury Notes, 1.88%, 02/28/2029 |
0.9 | |||
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PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION
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Asset Type | Percent of Total Investments(b) |
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Common Stocks |
56.8% | |||
Corporate Bonds |
19.6 | |||
U.S. Treasury Obligations |
12.7 | |||
U.S. Government Sponsored Agency Securities |
8.3 | |||
Investment Companies |
2.3 | |||
Preferred Securities |
0.3 | |||
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(a) | Excludes short-term securities. |
(b) | Total investments exclude short-term securities and TBA sale commitments. |
F U N D S U M M A R Y |
5 |
Institutional and Class K Shares are not subject to any sales charge. These shares bear no ongoing distribution or service fees and are available only to certain eligible investors. Class K Shares performance shown prior to the Class K Shares inception date of January 25, 2018 is that of Institutional Shares. The performance of the Funds Class K Shares would be substantially similar to Institutional Shares because Class K Shares and Institutional Shares invest in the same portfolio of securities and performance would only differ to the extent that Class K Shares and Institutional Shares have different expenses. The actual returns of Class K Shares would have been higher than those of the Institutional Shares because Class K Shares have lower expenses than the Institutional Shares.
Investor A Shares are subject to a maximum initial sales charge (front-end load) of 5.25% and a service fee of 0.25% per year (but no distribution fee). Certain redemptions of these shares may be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) where no initial sales charge was paid at the time of purchase. These shares are generally available through financial intermediaries.
Investor C Shares are subject to a 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within one year of purchase. In addition, these shares are subject to a distribution fee of 0.75% per year and a service fee of 0.25% per year. These shares are generally available through financial intermediaries. These shares automatically convert to Investor A Shares after approximately eight years.
Class R Shares are not subject to any sales charge. These shares are subject to a distribution fee of 0.25% per year and a service fee of 0.25% per year. These shares are available only to certain employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Past performance is not an indication of future results. Financial markets have experienced extreme volatility and trading in many instruments has been disrupted. These circumstances may continue for an extended period of time and may continue to affect adversely the value and liquidity of the Funds investments. As a result, current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Refer to blackrock.com to obtain performance data current to the most recent month-end. Performance results do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of Fund shares. Figures shown in the performance table assumes reinvestment of all distributions, if any, at net asset value (NAV) on the ex-dividend date or payable date, as applicable. Investment return and principal value of shares will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Distributions paid to each class of shares will vary because of the different levels of service, distribution and transfer agency fees applicable to each class, which are deducted from the income available to be paid to shareholders.
BlackRock Advisors, LLC (the Manager), the Funds investment adviser, has contractually and/or voluntarily agreed to waive and/or reimburse a portion of the Funds expenses. Without such waiver(s) and/or reimbursement(s), the Funds performance would have been lower. With respect to the Funds voluntary waiver(s), if any, the Manager is under no obligation to waive and/or reimburse or to continue waiving and/or reimbursing its fees and such voluntary waiver(s) may be reduced or discontinued at any time. With respect to the Funds contractual waiver(s), if any, the Manager is under no obligation to continue waiving and/or reimbursing its fees after the applicable termination date of such agreement. See the Notes to Financial Statements for additional information on waivers and/or reimbursements.
Shareholders of the Fund may incur the following charges: (a) transactional expenses, such as sales charges; and (b) operating expenses, including investment advisory fees, service and distribution fees, including 12b-1 fees, acquired fund fees and expenses, and other fund expenses. The expense example shown (which is based on a hypothetical investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held through the end of the period) is intended to assist shareholders both in calculating expenses based on an investment in the Fund and in comparing these expenses with similar costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The expense example provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. Annualized expense ratios reflect contractual and voluntary fee waivers, if any. In order to estimate the expenses a shareholder paid during the period covered by this report, shareholders can divide their account value by $1,000 and then multiply the result by the number corresponding to their share class under the heading entitled Expenses Paid During the Period.
The expense example also provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Funds actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. In order to assist shareholders in comparing the ongoing expenses of investing in the Fund and other funds, compare the 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in shareholder reports of other funds.
The expenses shown in the expense example are intended to highlight shareholders ongoing costs only and do not reflect transactional expenses, such as sales charges, if any. Therefore, the hypothetical example is useful in comparing ongoing expenses only, and will not help shareholders determine the relative total expenses of owning different funds. If these transactional expenses were included, shareholder expenses would have been higher.
6 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Derivative Financial Instruments
The Fund may invest in various derivative financial instruments. These instruments are used to obtain exposure to a security, commodity, index, market, and/or other assets without owning or taking physical custody of securities, commodities and/or other referenced assets or to manage market, equity, credit, interest rate, foreign currency exchange rate, commodity and/or other risks. Derivative financial instruments may give rise to a form of economic leverage and involve risks, including the imperfect correlation between the value of a derivative financial instrument and the underlying asset, possible default of the counterparty to the transaction or illiquidity of the instrument. Pursuant to Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act, among other things, the Fund must either use derivative financial instruments with embedded leverage in a limited manner or comply with an outer limit on fund leverage risk based on value-at-risk. The Funds successful use of a derivative financial instrument depends on the investment advisers ability to predict pertinent market movements accurately, which cannot be assured. The use of these instruments may result in losses greater than if they had not been used, may limit the amount of appreciation the Fund can realize on an investment and/or may result in lower distributions paid to shareholders. The Funds investments in these instruments, if any, are discussed in detail in the Notes to Financial Statements.
D E R I V A T I V E F I N A N C I A L I N S T R U M E N T S |
7 |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks |
||||||||
Aerospace & Defense 0.6% | ||||||||
Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. |
44,000 | $ | 73,013 | |||||
Axon Enterprise, Inc.(a) |
1,577 | 362,505 | ||||||
BAE Systems PLC |
124,945 | 1,657,686 | ||||||
CAE, Inc.(a) |
4,494 | 89,353 | ||||||
Curtiss-Wright Corp. |
7,386 | 1,579,865 | ||||||
Dassault Aviation SA |
388 | 77,060 | ||||||
Embraer SA(a) |
16,808 | 73,590 | ||||||
Kongsberg Gruppen ASA |
4,198 | 180,259 | ||||||
RTX Corp. |
19,988 | 1,628,622 | ||||||
Saab AB, Class B |
24,233 | 1,245,336 | ||||||
Textron, Inc. |
11,072 | 848,780 | ||||||
Thales SA |
2,858 | 427,064 | ||||||
Woodward, Inc. |
649 | 87,732 | ||||||
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8,330,865 | ||||||||
Air Freight & Logistics 0.1% | ||||||||
CJ Logistics Corp. |
10,044 | 876,401 | ||||||
DSV A/S |
508 | 76,427 | ||||||
FedEx Corp. |
690 | 178,592 | ||||||
Hyundai Glovis Co. Ltd. |
616 | 82,668 | ||||||
JD Logistics, Inc.(a)(b) |
20,800 | 25,511 | ||||||
Nippon Express Holdings, Inc. |
6,300 | 343,667 | ||||||
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1,583,266 | ||||||||
Automobile Components 0.0% | ||||||||
HL Mando Co. Ltd. |
1,057 | 29,141 | ||||||
Hyundai Mobis Co. Ltd. |
427 | 75,519 | ||||||
Hyundai Wia Corp. |
871 | 40,203 | ||||||
Lear Corp. |
2,656 | 355,240 | ||||||
Magna International, Inc. |
894 | 48,200 | ||||||
Tong Yang Industry Co. Ltd. |
12,000 | 28,553 | ||||||
Valeo SE |
4,123 | 59,868 | ||||||
Visteon Corp.(a) |
196 | 23,259 | ||||||
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659,983 | ||||||||
Automobiles 1.7% | ||||||||
BYD Co. Ltd., Class A |
197,100 | 5,486,078 | ||||||
BYD Co. Ltd., Class H |
1,000 | 26,877 | ||||||
Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. |
467,000 | 508,134 | ||||||
General Motors Co. |
177,297 | 5,602,585 | ||||||
Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Class N |
94,434 | 6,140,037 | ||||||
Tesla, Inc.(a) |
32,270 | 7,747,381 | ||||||
Yadea Group Holdings Ltd.(b) |
70,000 | 131,631 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
25,642,723 | ||||||||
Banks 3.8% | ||||||||
ABN AMRO Bank NV, CVA(b) |
19,026 | 255,697 | ||||||
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA |
332,161 | 3,092,174 | ||||||
Banco Santander SA |
6,547 | 27,139 | ||||||
Bancolombia SA |
6,422 | 50,725 | ||||||
Bank Central Asia Tbk PT |
2,000,700 | 1,157,973 | ||||||
Bank Hapoalim BM |
17,605 | 148,734 | ||||||
Bank Negara Indonesia Persero Tbk PT |
213,300 | 72,573 | ||||||
Bank of America Corp. |
314,751 | 9,596,758 | ||||||
Bank of Nova Scotia |
16,311 | 729,635 | ||||||
Bank Polska Kasa Opieki SA |
9,895 | 347,635 | ||||||
Bank Rakyat Indonesia Persero Tbk PT |
1,128,600 | 384,090 | ||||||
Barclays PLC |
291,714 | 521,580 | ||||||
BAWAG Group AG(b) |
23,488 | 1,225,156 | ||||||
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce |
45,015 | 1,861,042 | ||||||
Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Ltd. |
46,125 | 26,272 | ||||||
China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd., Class H |
91,500 | 319,337 | ||||||
Citigroup, Inc. |
95,184 | 4,387,982 |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Banks (continued) | ||||||||
CTBC Financial Holding Co. Ltd. |
50,000 | $ | 43,762 | |||||
DBS Group Holdings Ltd. |
23,100 | 548,733 | ||||||
DNB Bank ASA |
170,586 | 3,252,027 | ||||||
E.Sun Financial Holding Co. Ltd. |
152,491 | 124,882 | ||||||
Erste Group Bank AG |
7,291 | 294,858 | ||||||
First Financial Holding Co. Ltd. |
38,110 | 33,769 | ||||||
Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV, Class O |
61,535 | 572,605 | ||||||
ING Groep NV |
513,343 | 7,211,949 | ||||||
Intesa Sanpaolo SpA |
937,639 | 2,702,836 | ||||||
JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
6,735 | 1,051,199 | ||||||
KakaoBank Corp. |
3,365 | 68,179 | ||||||
KB Financial Group, Inc. |
4,915 | 198,728 | ||||||
KBC Group NV |
317 | 18,173 | ||||||
Lloyds Banking Group PLC |
44,256 | 24,398 | ||||||
Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario SpA |
35,738 | 419,518 | ||||||
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. |
300,300 | 2,558,757 | ||||||
Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. |
266,100 | 4,515,632 | ||||||
NatWest Group PLC |
80,619 | 212,093 | ||||||
Postal Savings Bank of China Co. Ltd., Class H(b) |
51,000 | 22,625 | ||||||
Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank Ltd. |
16,099 | 23,206 | ||||||
Shinhan Financial Group Co. Ltd. |
657 | 18,741 | ||||||
Société Générale SA |
58,801 | 1,479,819 | ||||||
Standard Chartered PLC |
16,097 | 133,253 | ||||||
Swedbank AB, A Shares |
254,360 | 4,662,486 | ||||||
Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co. Ltd. |
113,400 | 97,678 | ||||||
UniCredit SpA |
74,774 | 2,039,447 | ||||||
Wells Fargo & Co. |
448 | 19,976 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
56,553,831 | ||||||||
Beverages 1.5% | ||||||||
Ambev SA |
290,076 | 802,092 | ||||||
Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC Ltd.(b) |
253,900 | 448,284 | ||||||
Coca-Cola Co. (The) |
144,143 | 8,423,717 | ||||||
Coca-Cola Femsa SAB de CV |
27,398 | 231,681 | ||||||
Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd. |
114,300 | 1,615,806 | ||||||
Molson Coors Beverage Co., Class B |
1,370 | 84,310 | ||||||
PepsiCo, Inc. |
48,429 | 8,150,116 | ||||||
Pernod Ricard SA |
11,716 | 2,024,060 | ||||||
Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd., Class H |
4,000 | 26,432 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
21,806,498 | ||||||||
Biotechnology 0.8% | ||||||||
3SBio, Inc.(b) |
295,000 | 273,990 | ||||||
AbbVie, Inc. |
26,155 | 3,724,211 | ||||||
Alkermes PLC(a) |
902 | 21,774 | ||||||
Amgen, Inc. |
8,652 | 2,332,925 | ||||||
BeiGene Ltd.(a) |
2,500 | 35,876 | ||||||
Biogen, Inc.(a) |
216 | 50,561 | ||||||
Celltrion, Inc. |
458 | 57,685 | ||||||
CSL Ltd. |
3,674 | 637,464 | ||||||
Genmab A/S(a) |
2,211 | 695,394 | ||||||
Gilead Sciences, Inc. |
11,968 | 916,749 | ||||||
Incyte Corp.(a) |
10,473 | 569,103 | ||||||
Innovent Biologics, Inc.(a)(b) |
59,500 | 348,459 | ||||||
Mural Oncology PLC(a) |
90 | 325 | ||||||
Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.(a) |
5,031 | 586,564 | ||||||
PharmaEssentia Corp.(a) |
1,000 | 11,650 | ||||||
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(a) |
909 | 748,843 | ||||||
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(a) |
4,451 | 1,579,260 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
12,590,833 | ||||||||
Broadline Retail 2.2% | ||||||||
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.(a) |
265,300 | 2,466,073 | ||||||
Amazon.com, Inc.(a) |
164,943 | 24,096,523 |
8 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Broadline Retail (continued) | ||||||||
Dollarama, Inc. |
244 | $ | 17,721 | |||||
eBay, Inc. |
120,276 | 4,932,519 | ||||||
JD.com, Inc., Class A |
57,800 | 788,398 | ||||||
momo.com, Inc. |
2,200 | 36,454 | ||||||
Pan Pacific International Holdings Corp. |
1,200 | 25,997 | ||||||
Poya International Co. Ltd. |
4,040 | 66,034 | ||||||
Shinsegae, Inc. |
720 | 94,640 | ||||||
Woolworths Holdings Ltd. |
7,666 | 27,449 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
32,551,808 | ||||||||
Building Products 0.0% | ||||||||
Owens Corning |
1,608 | 218,013 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Capital Markets 1.3% | ||||||||
Haitong Securities Co. Ltd., Class H |
34,400 | 19,278 | ||||||
Macquarie Group Ltd. |
35,749 | 3,982,301 | ||||||
Moodys Corp. |
18,358 | 6,699,936 | ||||||
S&P Global, Inc. |
20,581 | 8,558,197 | ||||||
XP, Inc., Class A |
25,882 | 602,792 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
19,862,504 | ||||||||
Chemicals 0.5% | ||||||||
Axalta Coating Systems Ltd.(a) |
985 | 30,998 | ||||||
BASF SE |
31,711 | 1,475,114 | ||||||
Ecolab, Inc. |
3,737 | 716,495 | ||||||
Hanwha Solutions Corp.(a) |
10,347 | 266,748 | ||||||
Jinan Acetate Chemical Co. Ltd. |
5,155 | 146,555 | ||||||
KCC Corp. |
1,221 | 196,320 | ||||||
Kolon Industries, Inc. |
826 | 27,523 | ||||||
LG Chem Ltd. |
1,183 | 457,661 | ||||||
LyondellBasell Industries NV, Class A |
3,742 | 355,864 | ||||||
Nitto Denko Corp. |
1,600 | 113,705 | ||||||
Novozymes A/S, B Shares |
25,654 | 1,330,312 | ||||||
Nutrien Ltd. |
942 | 50,385 | ||||||
Orica Ltd. |
12,330 | 126,901 | ||||||
PPG Industries, Inc. |
2,632 | 373,718 | ||||||
RPM International, Inc. |
1,994 | 205,242 | ||||||
Shanghai Putailai New Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Class A |
11,905 | 38,246 | ||||||
Sherwin-Williams Co. (The) |
2,432 | 678,042 | ||||||
SK IE Technology Co. Ltd.(a)(b) |
895 | 49,002 | ||||||
SKC Co. Ltd. |
344 | 25,718 | ||||||
Solvay SA |
6,432 | 745,083 | ||||||
Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. |
134,400 | 343,201 | ||||||
Yara International ASA |
8,991 | 305,022 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
8,057,855 | ||||||||
Commercial Services & Supplies 0.1% | ||||||||
Tetra Tech, Inc. |
10,932 | 1,728,896 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Communications Equipment 0.1% | ||||||||
Accton Technology Corp. |
12,000 | 204,167 | ||||||
BYD Electronic International Co. Ltd. |
11,500 | 52,490 | ||||||
Sercomm Corp. |
22,000 | 87,529 | ||||||
Wistron NeWeb Corp. |
32,146 | 140,502 | ||||||
Zhongji Innolight Co. Ltd., Class A |
16,500 | 219,345 | ||||||
ZTE Corp., Class A |
218,000 | 781,959 | ||||||
ZTE Corp., Class H |
82,200 | 179,192 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,665,184 | ||||||||
Construction & Engineering 0.8% | ||||||||
AECOM |
61,599 | 5,473,687 | ||||||
Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd.(a) |
33,024 | 118,659 | ||||||
Eiffage SA |
5,948 | 603,012 | ||||||
EMCOR Group, Inc. |
10,657 | 2,264,826 | ||||||
Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. |
2,055 | 56,965 |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Construction & Engineering (continued) | ||||||||
JGC Holdings Corp. |
12,200 | $ | 137,474 | |||||
Stantec, Inc. |
30,580 | 2,278,823 | ||||||
Worley Ltd. |
50,385 | 563,623 | ||||||
WSP Global, Inc. |
1,175 | 162,644 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
11,659,713 | ||||||||
Construction Materials 0.0% | ||||||||
James Hardie Industries PLC(a) |
3,483 | 111,228 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Consumer Finance 0.7% | ||||||||
American Express Co. |
48,850 | 8,342,115 | ||||||
Lufax Holding Ltd., ADR |
6,549 | 5,559 | ||||||
Synchrony Financial |
55,778 | 1,804,976 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
10,152,650 | ||||||||
Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail 0.7% | ||||||||
Aeon Co. Ltd. |
8,000 | 165,467 | ||||||
Cia Brasileira de Distribuicao(a) |
47,244 | 32,251 | ||||||
Empire Co. Ltd. |
12,394 | 336,852 | ||||||
Lawson, Inc. |
43,400 | 2,143,069 | ||||||
Marks & Spencer Group PLC |
74,188 | 236,274 | ||||||
Metro, Inc. |
3,092 | 154,970 | ||||||
Ping An Healthcare and Technology Co. |
5,600 | 12,494 | ||||||
Shoprite Holdings Ltd. |
11,905 | 162,396 | ||||||
Sysco Corp. |
2,098 | 151,413 | ||||||
Target Corp. |
27,381 | 3,663,852 | ||||||
Tesco PLC |
419,968 | 1,517,768 | ||||||
Tsuruha Holdings, Inc. |
17,800 | 1,495,305 | ||||||
Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB de CV |
5,507 | 21,681 | ||||||
Walmart, Inc. |
2,736 | 425,968 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
10,519,760 | ||||||||
Containers & Packaging 0.0% | ||||||||
AptarGroup, Inc. |
2,545 | 322,935 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Diversified Consumer Services 0.1% | ||||||||
Cogna Educacao(a) |
1,462,731 | 959,889 | ||||||
New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc.(a) |
16,300 | 132,574 | ||||||
YDUQS Participacoes SA |
98,777 | 404,777 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,497,240 | ||||||||
Diversified Telecommunication Services 0.2% | ||||||||
Deutsche Telekom AG, Registered Shares |
74,246 | 1,779,548 | ||||||
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. |
1,088,900 | 1,274,281 | ||||||
Telkom Indonesia Persero Tbk PT |
1,196,400 | 290,912 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
3,344,741 | ||||||||
Electric Utilities 0.6% | ||||||||
Acciona SA |
3,279 | 462,822 | ||||||
CPFL Energia SA |
35,121 | 261,799 | ||||||
Enel SpA |
893,835 | 6,316,588 | ||||||
Energisa SA |
11,257 | 119,956 | ||||||
Iberdrola SA |
117,512 | 1,452,330 | ||||||
NextEra Energy, Inc. |
4,816 | 281,784 | ||||||
Orsted AS(b) |
3,576 | 168,386 | ||||||
SSE PLC |
6,295 | 145,858 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
9,209,523 | ||||||||
Electrical Equipment 0.7% | ||||||||
ABB Ltd., Registered Shares |
195,303 | 7,766,919 | ||||||
Goldwind Science & Technology Co. Ltd., Class A |
420,000 | 511,144 | ||||||
Legrand SA |
3,151 | 303,911 | ||||||
LS Electric Co. Ltd. |
1,569 | 91,768 | ||||||
Nordex SE(a) |
13,621 | 150,864 | ||||||
Schneider Electric SE |
4,569 | 840,937 | ||||||
Signify NV(b) |
10,181 | 296,258 |
S C H E D U L E O F I N V E S T M E N T S |
9 |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Electrical Equipment (continued) | ||||||||
Voltronic Power Technology Corp. |
1,000 | $ | 51,383 | |||||
Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. Ltd., Class H |
77,000 | 35,283 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
10,048,467 | ||||||||
Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components 0.5% | ||||||||
Chroma ATE, Inc. |
28,000 | 191,965 | ||||||
Delta Electronics, Inc. |
77,000 | 778,802 | ||||||
Hengdian Group DMEGC Magnetics Co. Ltd., Class A |
26,700 | 50,575 | ||||||
Keysight Technologies, Inc.(a) |
13,829 | 1,879,223 | ||||||
Primax Electronics Ltd. |
41,000 | 84,607 | ||||||
Shimadzu Corp. |
6,500 | 168,617 | ||||||
Sinbon Electronics Co. Ltd. |
4,000 | 36,639 | ||||||
Spectris PLC |
9,416 | 400,426 | ||||||
TE Connectivity Ltd. |
27,146 | 3,556,126 | ||||||
Tripod Technology Corp. |
6,000 | 37,017 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
7,183,997 | ||||||||
Energy Equipment & Services 0.0% | ||||||||
Tenaris SA |
7,106 | 122,598 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Entertainment 0.5% | ||||||||
CJ ENM Co. Ltd.(a) |
633 | 37,520 | ||||||
Electronic Arts, Inc. |
13,878 | 1,915,303 | ||||||
NCSoft Corp. |
348 | 70,465 | ||||||
NetEase, Inc. |
3,000 | 67,675 | ||||||
Nintendo Co. Ltd. |
79,400 | 3,701,026 | ||||||
Spotify Technology SA(a) |
8,556 | 1,583,801 | ||||||
Studio Dragon Corp.(a) |
800 | 33,529 | ||||||
Toho Co. Ltd. |
15,700 | 544,093 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
7,953,412 | ||||||||
Financial Services 1.4% | ||||||||
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., Class B(a) |
12,187 | 4,387,320 | ||||||
Block, Inc., Class A(a) |
56,129 | 3,560,262 | ||||||
Chailease Holding Co. Ltd. |
13,260 | 78,788 | ||||||
Cielo SA |
335,817 | 273,590 | ||||||
FirstRand Ltd. |
49,744 | 177,939 | ||||||
Groupe Bruxelles Lambert NV |
10,380 | 823,786 | ||||||
Mastercard, Inc., Class A |
26,807 | 11,093,541 | ||||||
Sofina SA |
835 | 186,098 | ||||||
StoneCo Ltd., Class A(a) |
22,075 | 344,370 | ||||||
Visa, Inc., Class A |
2,429 | 623,476 | ||||||
Worldline SA(a)(b) |
3,307 | 51,396 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
21,600,566 | ||||||||
Food Products 1.1% | ||||||||
BRF SA(a) |
174,196 | 517,062 | ||||||
General Mills, Inc. |
89,799 | 5,716,604 | ||||||
Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, Series A |
20,017 | 100,589 | ||||||
Marfrig Global Foods SA |
63,176 | 125,144 | ||||||
MEIJI Holdings Co. Ltd. |
1,400 | 32,430 | ||||||
Minerva SA |
14,766 | 21,870 | ||||||
Nestlé SA, Registered Shares |
90,019 | 10,243,144 | ||||||
Nisshin Seifun Group, Inc. |
1,800 | 24,929 | ||||||
Tingyi Cayman Islands Holding Corp. |
66,000 | 83,065 | ||||||
Uni-President China Holdings Ltd. |
131,000 | 83,788 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
16,948,625 | ||||||||
Gas Utilities 0.1% | ||||||||
ENN Energy Holdings Ltd. |
1,900 | 13,114 | ||||||
Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk PT |
1,340,900 | 96,466 | ||||||
UGI Corp. |
30,144 | 662,867 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
772,447 |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Ground Transportation 0.1% | ||||||||
Grab Holdings Ltd., Class A(a) |
14,878 | $ | 45,229 | |||||
Localiza Rent a Car SA |
51,222 | 622,941 | ||||||
Uber Technologies, Inc.(a) |
21,689 | 1,222,826 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,890,996 | ||||||||
Health Care Equipment & Supplies 0.7% | ||||||||
Boston Scientific Corp.(a) |
47,008 | 2,627,277 | ||||||
Cochlear Ltd. |
2,798 | 504,638 | ||||||
Dexcom, Inc.(a) |
1,345 | 155,375 | ||||||
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.(a) |
624 | 193,964 | ||||||
Medtronic PLC |
94,235 | 7,470,009 | ||||||
Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co. Ltd., Class A |
1,700 | 69,098 | ||||||
Stryker Corp. |
583 | 172,760 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
11,193,121 | ||||||||
Health Care Providers & Services 1.0% | ||||||||
Cencora, Inc. |
3,640 | 740,267 | ||||||
Centene Corp.(a) |
928 | 68,375 | ||||||
Elevance Health, Inc. |
10,262 | 4,920,526 | ||||||
McKesson Corp. |
2,188 | 1,029,585 | ||||||
Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co. Ltd., Class A |
23,000 | 57,832 | ||||||
Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co. Ltd., Class H |
55,700 | 80,744 | ||||||
Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd., Class H |
64,000 | 158,608 | ||||||
UnitedHealth Group, Inc. |
13,678 | 7,563,524 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
14,619,461 | ||||||||
Hotel & Resort REITs 0.0% | ||||||||
RLJ Lodging Trust |
17 | 182 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure 1.1% | ||||||||
Alsea SAB de CV(a) |
164,277 | 574,972 | ||||||
Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. |
134,576 | 3,601,476 | ||||||
Booking Holdings, Inc.(a) |
2,020 | 6,313,914 | ||||||
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC |
7,792 | 604,230 | ||||||
MakeMyTrip Ltd.(a)(c) |
14,605 | 616,769 | ||||||
McDonalds Corp. |
11,199 | 3,156,326 | ||||||
Meituan, Class B(a)(b) |
45,770 | 529,857 | ||||||
Skylark Holdings Co. Ltd.(a) |
3,200 | 47,108 | ||||||
Trip.com Group Ltd.(a) |
14,581 | 512,136 | ||||||
Xiabuxiabu Catering Management China Holdings Co. Ltd.(b) |
79,000 | 29,454 | ||||||
Yum China Holdings, Inc. |
3,493 | 150,828 | ||||||
Yum! Brands, Inc. |
2,339 | 293,661 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
16,430,731 | ||||||||
Household Durables 0.3% | ||||||||
Barratt Developments PLC |
127,068 | 826,244 | ||||||
DR Horton, Inc. |
1,998 | 255,085 | ||||||
Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai, Class A |
347,200 | 1,598,621 | ||||||
Lennar Corp., Class A |
11,735 | 1,501,141 | ||||||
Meritage Homes Corp. |
146 | 20,630 | ||||||
Nikon Corp. |
15,700 | 151,584 | ||||||
Panasonic Holdings Corp. |
43,700 | 450,290 | ||||||
Sekisui House Ltd. |
18,000 | 368,557 | ||||||
Taylor Morrison Home Corp., Class A(a) |
845 | 38,109 | ||||||
Taylor Wimpey PLC |
20,611 | 33,782 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
5,244,043 | ||||||||
Household Products 0.2% | ||||||||
Colgate-Palmolive Co. |
31,941 | 2,515,992 | ||||||
Procter & Gamble Co. (The) |
221 | 33,928 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
2,549,920 | ||||||||
Independent Power and Renewable Electricity Producers 0.0% | ||||||||
Auren Energia SA |
31,539 | 93,745 |
10 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Independent Power and Renewable Electricity |
| |||||||
CECEP Solar Energy Co. Ltd., Class A |
319,200 | $ | 248,738 | |||||
China Datang Corp. Renewable Power Co. Ltd., Class H |
58,000 | 12,026 | ||||||
Drax Group PLC |
47,725 | 263,174 | ||||||
ReNew Energy Global PLC, Class A(a) |
3,880 | 24,987 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
642,670 | ||||||||
Industrial Conglomerates 1.8% | ||||||||
3M Co. |
46,720 | 4,628,550 | ||||||
Doosan Co. Ltd. |
717 | 51,075 | ||||||
General Electric Co. |
62,471 | 7,608,968 | ||||||
Honeywell International, Inc. |
32,568 | 6,380,723 | ||||||
Samsung C&T Corp. |
521 | 48,039 | ||||||
Siemens AG, Registered Shares |
37,732 | 6,338,318 | ||||||
Smiths Group PLC |
70,566 | 1,472,344 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
26,528,017 | ||||||||
Industrial REITs 0.1% | ||||||||
Prologis, Inc. |
8,289 | 952,655 | ||||||
Segro PLC |
104,327 | 1,072,819 | ||||||
Tritax Big Box REIT PLC |
26,791 | 51,970 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
2,077,444 | ||||||||
Insurance 1.7% | ||||||||
AIA Group Ltd. |
581,200 | 4,996,653 | ||||||
ASR Nederland NV |
8,793 | 405,389 | ||||||
AXA SA |
18,656 | 581,701 | ||||||
Cathay Financial Holding Co. Ltd. |
26,019 | 38,725 | ||||||
Direct Line Insurance Group PLC(a) |
29,862 | 71,153 | ||||||
Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co. Ltd. |
1,452 | 34,952 | ||||||
Japan Post Holdings Co. Ltd. |
7,100 | 62,731 | ||||||
Manulife Financial Corp. |
179,894 | 3,523,772 | ||||||
Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc. |
11,714 | 2,336,006 | ||||||
MetLife, Inc. |
104,375 | 6,641,381 | ||||||
NN Group NV |
44,314 | 1,691,200 | ||||||
Ping An Insurance Group Co. of China Ltd., H Shares |
95,000 | 435,732 | ||||||
Prudential Financial, Inc. |
12,580 | 1,230,073 | ||||||
Reinsurance Group of America, Inc. |
236 | 38,482 | ||||||
Travelers Cos., Inc. (The) |
18,354 | 3,315,100 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
25,403,050 | ||||||||
Interactive Media & Services 2.7% | ||||||||
AfreecaTV Co. Ltd. |
2,616 | 135,155 | ||||||
Alphabet, Inc., Class A(a) |
93,373 | 12,374,724 | ||||||
Alphabet, Inc., Class C, NVS(a) |
84,571 | 11,325,748 | ||||||
Auto Trader Group PLC(b) |
179,378 | 1,645,249 | ||||||
Baidu, Inc., Class A(a) |
58,000 | 860,669 | ||||||
JOYY, Inc., ADR |
3,231 | 124,103 | ||||||
Kuaishou Technology(a)(b) |
43,500 | 320,741 | ||||||
Meta Platforms, Inc., Class A(a) |
27,704 | 9,063,363 | ||||||
NAVER Corp. |
283 | 45,490 | ||||||
Rightmove PLC |
9,517 | 65,645 | ||||||
Scout24 SE(b) |
3,373 | 235,031 | ||||||
Tencent Holdings Ltd. |
120,900 | 5,036,593 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
41,232,511 | ||||||||
IT Services 0.8% | ||||||||
Accenture PLC, Class A |
16,514 | 5,501,474 | ||||||
Samsung SDS Co. Ltd. |
650 | 84,521 | ||||||
Shopify, Inc., Class A(a) |
22,643 | 1,649,479 | ||||||
VeriSign, Inc.(a) |
18,328 | 3,889,201 | ||||||
Wix.com Ltd.(a) |
3,932 | 399,098 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
11,523,773 |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Leisure Products 0.1% | ||||||||
Sega Sammy Holdings, Inc. |
73,100 | $ | 1,061,197 | |||||
|
|
|||||||
Life Sciences Tools & Services 0.5% | ||||||||
Agilent Technologies, Inc. |
58,821 | 7,517,324 | ||||||
Mettler-Toledo International, Inc.(a) |
440 | 480,449 | ||||||
Pharmaron Beijing Co. Ltd., Class H(b) |
4,275 | 10,330 | ||||||
WuXi AppTec Co. Ltd., H Shares(b) |
13,600 | 159,091 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
8,167,194 | ||||||||
Machinery 0.6% | ||||||||
Amada Co. Ltd. |
194,600 | 1,953,304 | ||||||
Doosan Bobcat, Inc. |
831 | 29,243 | ||||||
Graco, Inc. |
10,554 | 852,552 | ||||||
Hyundai Construction Equipment Co. Ltd. |
1,451 | 54,655 | ||||||
Oshkosh Corp. |
11,899 | 1,157,654 | ||||||
Otis Worldwide Corp. |
50,169 | 4,303,999 | ||||||
Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC |
582 | 68,010 | ||||||
Wartsila Oyj Abp |
67,524 | 933,112 | ||||||
Weir Group PLC (The) |
2,452 | 58,120 | ||||||
Yutong Bus Co. Ltd., Class A |
63,600 | 119,807 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
9,530,456 | ||||||||
Marine Transportation 0.3% | ||||||||
COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co. Ltd., Class H |
85,000 | 78,311 | ||||||
Evergreen Marine Corp. Taiwan Ltd. |
26,000 | 93,262 | ||||||
Kuehne + Nagel International AG, Registered Shares |
15,092 | 4,368,707 | ||||||
Wisdom Marine Lines Co. Ltd. |
45,000 | 70,046 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
4,610,326 | ||||||||
Media 0.1% | ||||||||
Cheil Worldwide, Inc. |
1,203 | 18,202 | ||||||
Focus Media Information Technology Co. Ltd., Class A |
64,400 | 58,904 | ||||||
Fox Corp., Class A, NVS |
13,738 | 405,821 | ||||||
Fox Corp., Class B |
33,200 | 918,312 | ||||||
Paramount Global, Class B, NVS |
13,041 | 187,399 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,588,638 | ||||||||
Metals & Mining 1.1% | ||||||||
Alcoa Corp. |
741 | 19,903 | ||||||
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., Class H |
134,000 | 66,178 | ||||||
Anglo American PLC |
26,483 | 716,708 | ||||||
Anglo American PLC |
35,689 | 967,403 | ||||||
Antofagasta PLC |
1,927 | 34,210 | ||||||
ArcelorMittal SA |
174,223 | 4,380,150 | ||||||
Cia Brasileira de Aluminio |
30,313 | 25,374 | ||||||
Cia Siderurgica Nacional SA |
14,005 | 46,920 | ||||||
CMOC Group Ltd., Class H |
531,000 | 303,425 | ||||||
CSN Mineracao SA |
120,209 | 174,377 | ||||||
Gold Fields Ltd. |
4,991 | 76,479 | ||||||
Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd., Class A |
31,300 | 77,608 | ||||||
Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd., Class H |
26,000 | 36,861 | ||||||
MMG Ltd.(a) |
84,000 | 24,110 | ||||||
Norsk Hydro ASA |
37,247 | 216,286 | ||||||
POSCO Holdings, Inc. |
1,152 | 430,209 | ||||||
Rio Tinto PLC |
4,095 | 279,884 | ||||||
Southern Copper Corp. |
8,797 | 632,768 | ||||||
thyssenkrupp AG |
210,696 | 1,589,032 | ||||||
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. |
137,320 | 6,714,457 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
16,812,342 | ||||||||
Multi-Utilities 0.3% | ||||||||
A2A SpA |
92,999 | 200,013 | ||||||
Centrica PLC |
614,149 | 1,157,382 | ||||||
Engie SA |
183,241 | 3,179,800 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
4,537,195 |
S C H E D U L E O F I N V E S T M E N T S |
11 |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels 2.8% | ||||||||
AKR Corporindo Tbk PT |
847,800 | $ | 78,421 | |||||
BP PLC |
131,860 | 801,666 | ||||||
Chevron Corp. |
33,049 | 4,745,836 | ||||||
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Class H |
330,000 | 169,367 | ||||||
ConocoPhillips |
70,902 | 8,194,144 | ||||||
Cosan SA |
27,237 | 97,891 | ||||||
Crescent Point Energy Corp. |
35,097 | 247,007 | ||||||
Devon Energy Corp. |
10,951 | 492,466 | ||||||
Enbridge, Inc. |
214,704 | 7,496,721 | ||||||
ENEOS Holdings, Inc. |
90,300 | 355,418 | ||||||
Enerplus Corp. |
23,995 | 381,070 | ||||||
EOG Resources, Inc. |
3,255 | 400,593 | ||||||
Equinor ASA |
38,877 | 1,242,093 | ||||||
Exxon Mobil Corp. |
49,998 | 5,136,795 | ||||||
Galp Energia SGPS SA |
678 | 10,074 | ||||||
Gibson Energy, Inc. |
2,202 | 33,234 | ||||||
Keyera Corp. |
26,787 | 674,536 | ||||||
Marathon Oil Corp. |
15,716 | 399,658 | ||||||
Marathon Petroleum Corp. |
18,018 | 2,688,105 | ||||||
Parkland Corp. |
22,562 | 738,405 | ||||||
Pembina Pipeline Corp. |
4,478 | 149,789 | ||||||
Petroleo Brasileiro SA |
30,888 | 235,266 | ||||||
Repsol SA |
6,099 | 93,652 | ||||||
Shell PLC |
2,376 | 76,804 | ||||||
SK Innovation Co. Ltd.(a) |
340 | 37,640 | ||||||
S-Oil Corp. |
325 | 17,129 | ||||||
Ultrapar Participacoes SA |
93,323 | 481,778 | ||||||
Valero Energy Corp. |
50,609 | 6,344,344 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
41,819,902 | ||||||||
Paper & Forest Products 0.0% | ||||||||
Dexco SA |
10,535 | 15,582 | ||||||
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. |
532 | 38,586 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
54,168 | ||||||||
Passenger Airlines 0.1% | ||||||||
easyJet PLC(a) |
9,875 | 56,797 | ||||||
Singapore Airlines Ltd. |
257,900 | 1,222,963 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,279,760 | ||||||||
Personal Care Products 0.2% | ||||||||
AMOREPACIFIC Group |
947 | 20,303 | ||||||
Natura & Co. Holding SA(a) |
192,822 | 648,349 | ||||||
Shiseido Co. Ltd. |
1,100 | 29,467 | ||||||
Unilever PLC |
32,710 | 1,560,488 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
2,258,607 | ||||||||
Pharmaceuticals 3.0% | ||||||||
Astellas Pharma, Inc. |
280,100 | 3,413,821 | ||||||
AstraZeneca PLC |
1,336 | 171,952 | ||||||
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. |
71,182 | 3,514,967 | ||||||
China Medical System Holdings Ltd. |
15,000 | 28,813 | ||||||
CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. |
28,000 | 25,217 | ||||||
Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. |
2,000 | 54,194 | ||||||
Dong-E-E-Jiao Co. Ltd., Class A |
11,200 | 78,820 | ||||||
Eli Lilly & Co. |
10,650 | 6,294,576 | ||||||
GSK PLC |
82,558 | 1,483,358 | ||||||
Johnson & Johnson |
54,127 | 8,371,282 | ||||||
Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. |
1,700 | 28,103 | ||||||
Merck & Co., Inc. |
26,006 | 2,665,095 | ||||||
Novartis AG, Registered Shares |
57,315 | 5,594,419 | ||||||
Novo Nordisk A/S, Class B |
73,106 | 7,468,849 | ||||||
Otsuka Holdings Co. Ltd. |
38,400 | 1,481,297 | ||||||
Pfizer, Inc. |
76,021 | 2,316,360 | ||||||
Shionogi & Co. Ltd. |
45,200 | 2,131,250 |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Pharmaceuticals (continued) | ||||||||
Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. |
93,000 | $ | 45,619 | |||||
UCB SA |
2,752 | 203,537 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
45,371,529 | ||||||||
Professional Services 0.8% | ||||||||
ExlService Holdings, Inc.(a) |
1,119 | 31,746 | ||||||
Experian PLC |
80,494 | 2,959,255 | ||||||
Genpact Ltd. |
36,648 | 1,244,566 | ||||||
KBR, Inc. |
29,148 | 1,506,077 | ||||||
Paychex, Inc. |
20,325 | 2,479,040 | ||||||
Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd. |
84,700 | 3,130,040 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
11,350,724 | ||||||||
Real Estate Management & Development 0.6% | ||||||||
China Resources Land Ltd. |
40,000 | 146,448 | ||||||
FirstService Corp. |
3,317 | 520,522 | ||||||
Greentown China Holdings Ltd. |
47,000 | 49,997 | ||||||
Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd. |
38,400 | 519,109 | ||||||
Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. |
229,400 | 5,392,577 | ||||||
Nomura Real Estate Holdings, Inc. |
28,000 | 682,820 | ||||||
Tokyo Tatemono Co. Ltd. |
7,200 | 102,491 | ||||||
Zillow Group, Inc., Class C, NVS(a)(c) |
27,446 | 1,123,639 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
8,537,603 | ||||||||
Residential REITs 0.0% | ||||||||
Camden Property Trust |
4,726 | 426,569 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Retail REITs 0.0% | ||||||||
Brixmor Property Group, Inc. |
23,769 | 511,509 | ||||||
Klepierre SA |
3,112 | 78,339 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
589,848 | ||||||||
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment 3.5% | ||||||||
Applied Materials, Inc. |
52,986 | 7,936,243 | ||||||
ASE Technology Holding Co. Ltd. |
137,000 | 559,456 | ||||||
ASPEED Technology, Inc. |
3,000 | 282,011 | ||||||
Broadcom, Inc. |
722 | 668,377 | ||||||
Cirrus Logic, Inc.(a) |
721 | 54,731 | ||||||
Elan Microelectronics Corp. |
20,000 | 96,846 | ||||||
First Solar, Inc.(a) |
847 | 133,640 | ||||||
Global Unichip Corp. |
20,000 | 1,053,140 | ||||||
Intel Corp. |
39,446 | 1,763,236 | ||||||
JA Solar Technology Co. Ltd., Class A |
98,340 | 273,876 | ||||||
King Yuan Electronics Co. Ltd. |
59,000 | 156,524 | ||||||
KLA Corp. |
4,328 | 2,357,115 | ||||||
Koh Young Technology, Inc. |
1,933 | 17,172 | ||||||
Lam Research Corp. |
810 | 579,895 | ||||||
M31 Technology Corp. |
3,600 | 116,694 | ||||||
MediaTek, Inc. |
43,000 | 1,298,579 | ||||||
NVIDIA Corp. |
41,352 | 19,340,330 | ||||||
Parade Technologies Ltd. |
2,000 | 68,731 | ||||||
Phison Electronics Corp. |
26,000 | 401,905 | ||||||
QUALCOMM, Inc. |
65,447 | 8,445,935 | ||||||
Realtek Semiconductor Corp. |
19,000 | 273,200 | ||||||
Risen Energy Co. Ltd., Class A |
8,600 | 19,426 | ||||||
Silergy Corp. |
4,000 | 54,558 | ||||||
Sino-American Silicon Products, Inc. |
45,000 | 263,138 | ||||||
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. |
320,000 | 5,853,478 | ||||||
Tokyo Electron Ltd. |
3,000 | 481,955 | ||||||
United Microelectronics Corp. |
306,000 | 478,511 | ||||||
Win Semiconductors Corp. |
6,000 | 32,901 | ||||||
WONIK IPS Co. Ltd. |
2,303 | 60,609 | ||||||
XinTec, Inc. |
7,000 | 30,846 | ||||||
Xinyi Solar Holdings Ltd. |
36,000 | 20,653 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
53,173,711 |
12 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Software 4.9% | ||||||||
Adobe, Inc.(a) |
17,152 | $ | 10,480,043 | |||||
Autodesk, Inc.(a) |
876 | 191,345 | ||||||
Box, Inc., Class A(a) |
9,776 | 255,838 | ||||||
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.(a) |
16,842 | 4,602,413 | ||||||
Crowdstrike Holdings, Inc., Class A(a) |
3,597 | 852,453 | ||||||
Guidewire Software, Inc.(a) |
518 | 51,769 | ||||||
InterDigital, Inc. |
2 | 200 | ||||||
Kingdee International Software Group Co. Ltd.(a) |
66,000 | 91,622 | ||||||
Manhattan Associates, Inc.(a) |
22,568 | 5,033,792 | ||||||
Microsoft Corp. |
109,937 | 41,656,229 | ||||||
Nutanix, Inc., Class A(a) |
2,198 | 94,712 | ||||||
Salesforce, Inc.(a) |
5,784 | 1,456,989 | ||||||
SAP SE |
50,708 | 8,066,153 | ||||||
Splunk, Inc.(a) |
2,141 | 324,447 | ||||||
Teradata Corp.(a) |
2,304 | 108,864 | ||||||
Workday, Inc., Class A(a) |
1,479 | 400,395 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
73,667,264 | ||||||||
Specialized REITs 0.3% | ||||||||
American Tower Corp. |
3,959 | 826,560 | ||||||
Equinix, Inc. |
700 | 570,507 | ||||||
VICI Properties, Inc. |
11,717 | 350,221 | ||||||
Weyerhaeuser Co. |
81,382 | 2,551,326 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
4,298,614 | ||||||||
Specialty Retail 1.0% | ||||||||
Best Buy Co., Inc. |
82,356 | 5,842,335 | ||||||
Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. |
1,000 | 254,046 | ||||||
Grupo Casas Bahia SA(a) |
182,387 | 19,639 | ||||||
Home Depot, Inc. (The) |
1,356 | 425,093 | ||||||
Industria de Diseno Textil SA |
75,476 | 3,114,520 | ||||||
Lojas Renner SA |
11,197 | 37,444 | ||||||
TJX Cos., Inc. (The) |
46,550 | 4,101,521 | ||||||
Topsports International Holdings Ltd.(b) |
66,000 | 53,640 | ||||||
ZOZO, Inc. |
24,300 | 512,967 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
14,361,205 | ||||||||
Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals 3.8% | ||||||||
Advantech Co. Ltd. |
5,499 | 62,124 | ||||||
Apple Inc. |
240,867 | 45,752,687 | ||||||
Chicony Electronics Co. Ltd. |
33,000 | 168,371 | ||||||
Dell Technologies, Inc., Class C |
19,507 | 1,479,996 | ||||||
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. |
137,202 | 2,320,086 | ||||||
HP, Inc. |
230,980 | 6,776,953 | ||||||
Lenovo Group Ltd. |
232,000 | 286,315 | ||||||
Lite-On Technology Corp. |
25,000 | 87,881 | ||||||
Pure Storage, Inc., Class A(a) |
15,415 | 513,474 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
57,447,887 | ||||||||
Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods 0.9% | ||||||||
adidas AG, Class N |
1,500 | 314,000 | ||||||
ANTA Sports Products Ltd. |
36,400 | 379,875 | ||||||
Bosideng International Holdings Ltd. |
50,000 | 20,967 | ||||||
Burberry Group PLC |
11,239 | 208,203 | ||||||
Deckers Outdoor Corp.(a) |
1,415 | 939,518 | ||||||
Hermes International SCA |
1,613 | 3,342,964 | ||||||
Lululemon Athletica, Inc.(a) |
13,818 | 6,173,882 | ||||||
Makalot Industrial Co. Ltd. |
22,000 | 252,228 | ||||||
Moncler SpA |
5,744 | 318,296 | ||||||
Tapestry, Inc. |
41,660 | 1,319,372 | ||||||
Youngone Corp. |
495 | 16,724 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
13,286,029 | ||||||||
Trading Companies & Distributors 0.1% | ||||||||
Mitsubishi Corp. |
10,500 | 489,597 |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Trading Companies & Distributors (continued) | ||||||||
Mitsui & Co. Ltd. |
1,300 | $ | 47,407 | |||||
WW Grainger, Inc. |
550 | 432,404 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
969,408 | ||||||||
Transportation Infrastructure 0.1% | ||||||||
CCR SA |
114,393 | 314,682 | ||||||
EcoRodovias Infraestrutura e Logistica SA |
108,224 | 189,533 | ||||||
Flughafen Zurich AG, Registered Shares |
3,221 | 682,571 | ||||||
Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB de CV |
10,656 | 95,317 | ||||||
Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV, Class B |
2,313 | 35,317 | ||||||
Santos Brasil Participacoes SA |
35,199 | 60,500 | ||||||
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. |
21,000 | 20,221 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,398,141 | ||||||||
Water Utilities 0.1% | ||||||||
Cia de Saneamento de Minas Gerais-COPASA |
90,566 | 344,081 | ||||||
United Utilities Group PLC |
65,497 | 902,540 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,246,621 | ||||||||
Wireless Telecommunication Services 0.2% | ||||||||
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. Ltd. |
18,000 | 47,746 | ||||||
MTN Group Ltd. |
79,068 | 431,957 | ||||||
SK Telecom Co. Ltd. |
9,607 | 388,343 | ||||||
SoftBank Corp. |
38,800 | 471,533 | ||||||
SoftBank Group Corp. |
13,400 | 542,990 | ||||||
Vodafone Group PLC |
458,279 | 412,070 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
2,294,639 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Total Common Stocks 56.0% |
842,175,657 | |||||||
|
|
|||||||
Par (000) |
||||||||
Corporate Bonds |
||||||||
Aerospace & Defense 0.0% | ||||||||
Rolls-Royce PLC, 5.75%, 10/15/27(b) |
USD 275 | 271,751 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Air Freight & Logistics 0.0% | ||||||||
United Parcel Service, Inc., 4.45%, 04/01/30 |
120 | 117,867 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Automobiles 0.2% | ||||||||
Honda Motor Co. Ltd., 2.53%, 03/10/27 |
1,000 | 924,645 | ||||||
Toyota Motor Credit Corp. |
1,000 | 941,737 | ||||||
1.90%, 04/06/28 |
850 | 750,799 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
2,617,181 | ||||||||
Banks 4.1% | ||||||||
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, 6.14%, 09/14/28 |
1,800 | 1,812,821 | ||||||
Banco Santander SA |
||||||||
4.18%, 03/24/28 |
1,000 | 942,821 | ||||||
5.59%, 08/08/28 |
1,800 | 1,787,721 | ||||||
6.61%, 11/07/28 |
1,600 | 1,656,979 | ||||||
2.96%, 03/25/31 |
1,200 | 985,402 | ||||||
3.23%, 11/22/32 |
600 | 471,700 | ||||||
Bank of America Corp. |
||||||||
1.73%, 07/22/27 |
1,050 | 947,819 | ||||||
2.55%, 02/04/28 |
1,150 | 1,047,681 | ||||||
4.38%, 04/27/28 |
1,260 | 1,212,230 | ||||||
2.09%, 06/14/29 |
1,200 | 1,031,771 | ||||||
3.19%, 07/23/30 |
370 | 325,276 | ||||||
2.50%, 02/13/31 |
150 | 124,502 | ||||||
Series N, 1.66%, 03/11/27 |
1,150 | 1,049,298 |
S C H E D U L E O F I N V E S T M E N T S |
13 |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
Banks (continued) | ||||||||
Bank of Montreal |
||||||||
5.20%, 02/01/28 |
USD 1,180 | $ | 1,175,358 | |||||
3.80%, 12/15/32 |
1,220 | 1,090,386 | ||||||
Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.85%, 02/01/30 |
60 | 57,925 | ||||||
Barclays PLC |
1,100 | 1,048,180 | ||||||
2.28%, 11/24/27 |
1,000 | 896,578 | ||||||
Citigroup, Inc. |
1,550 | 1,299,324 | ||||||
3.79%, 03/17/33 |
1,570 | 1,358,423 | ||||||
6.17%, 05/25/34 |
45 | 44,654 | ||||||
Series VAR, 3.07%, 02/24/28 |
1,650 | 1,529,622 | ||||||
Deutsche Bank AG, 6.82%, 11/20/29 |
190 | 193,575 | ||||||
Fifth Third Bancorp, 6.34%, 07/27/29 |
90 | 90,852 | ||||||
HSBC Holdings PLC |
1,800 | 1,621,762 | ||||||
2.25%, 11/22/27 |
2,250 | 2,035,886 | ||||||
2.21%, 08/17/29 |
1,400 | 1,188,214 | ||||||
2.80%, 05/24/32 |
3,190 | 2,561,605 | ||||||
4.76%, 03/29/33 |
450 | 396,121 | ||||||
(Secured Overnight Financing Rate + 2.98%), 6.55%, 06/20/34 |
270 | 266,952 | ||||||
ING Groep NV, 4.02%, 03/28/28 |
1,710 | 1,619,520 | ||||||
JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
1,150 | 1,050,789 | ||||||
1.47%, 09/22/27 |
400 | 358,507 | ||||||
4.85%, 07/25/28 |
1,835 | 1,806,497 | ||||||
5.72%, 09/14/33 |
2,320 | 2,311,609 | ||||||
Lloyds Banking Group PLC |
2,220 | 2,124,233 | ||||||
3.75%, 01/11/27 |
1,000 | 944,923 | ||||||
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. |
1,450 | 1,305,157 | ||||||
2.34%, 01/19/28 |
1,250 | 1,133,445 | ||||||
Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. |
1,850 | 1,666,280 | ||||||
2.17%, 05/22/32 |
400 | 311,998 | ||||||
5.67%, 09/13/33 |
760 | 754,836 | ||||||
5.75%, 07/06/34 |
2,030 | 2,021,166 | ||||||
Royal Bank of Canada, 5.20%, 08/01/28 |
1,460 | 1,454,856 | ||||||
Santander Holdings U.S.A., Inc. |
2,670 | 2,696,814 | ||||||
(Secured Overnight Financing Rate + 2.70%), 6.57%, 06/12/29 |
890 | 895,569 | ||||||
Santander UK Group Holdings PLC, 1.53%, 08/21/26 |
1,000 | 919,294 | ||||||
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. 5.52%, 01/13/28 |
670 | 673,263 | ||||||
5.71%, 01/13/30 |
700 | 705,739 | ||||||
5.85%, 07/13/30 |
1,410 | 1,435,397 | ||||||
5.77%, 01/13/33 |
1,810 | 1,845,055 | ||||||
5.78%, 07/13/33 |
2,150 | 2,185,771 | ||||||
Toronto-Dominion Bank, Series FXD, 1.95%, 01/12/27 |
1,310 | 1,190,006 | ||||||
UBS AG, 5.65%, 09/11/28 |
200 | 202,309 | ||||||
UniCredit SpA, 7.30%, 04/02/34(b) |
293 | 286,942 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
62,151,413 | ||||||||
Beverages 1.1% | ||||||||
Coca-Cola Co, 2.50%, 03/15/51 |
770 | 483,548 | ||||||
Coca-Cola Co. |
1,050 | 885,477 | ||||||
3.00%, 03/05/51 |
5,180 | 3,670,847 |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
Beverages (continued) | ||||||||
Diageo Capital PLC |
USD 1,820 | $ | 1,513,831 | |||||
2.13%, 04/29/32 |
960 | 762,794 | ||||||
5.50%, 01/24/33 |
3,930 | 4,018,044 | ||||||
PepsiCo, Inc. |
2,450 | 2,119,166 | ||||||
4.65%, 02/15/53 |
2,690 | 2,498,042 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
15,951,749 | ||||||||
Biotechnology 0.6% | ||||||||
Amgen, Inc., 2.20%, 02/21/27 |
650 | 596,777 | ||||||
Biogen, Inc., 2.25%, 05/01/30 |
2,020 | 1,661,393 | ||||||
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 1.75%, 09/15/30 |
8,620 | 6,845,052 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
9,103,222 | ||||||||
Broadline Retail 0.0% | ||||||||
Macys Retail Holdings LLC, 5.88%, 04/01/29(b) |
307 | 288,549 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Building Products 0.4% | ||||||||
AmeriTex HoldCo Intermediate LLC, 10.25%, 10/15/28(b) |
95 | 92,863 | ||||||
Carrier Global Corp. |
1,040 | 778,901 | ||||||
6.20%, 03/15/54(b) |
70 | 73,993 | ||||||
Johnson Controls International plc, 3.90%, 02/14/26 |
3,000 | 2,907,555 | ||||||
Owens Corning |
350 | 331,514 | ||||||
4.30%, 07/15/47 |
1,430 | 1,134,853 | ||||||
Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete LLC, 8.88%, 11/15/31(b) |
170 | 172,907 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
5,492,586 | ||||||||
Capital Markets 1.4% | ||||||||
Ares Capital Corp. |
930 | 940,375 | ||||||
2.88%, 06/15/27 |
520 | 463,828 | ||||||
Bank of New York Mellon Corp, (Secured Overnight Financing Rate + 1.51%), 4.71%, 02/01/34 |
630 | 590,952 | ||||||
Blackstone Private Credit Fund, 2.63%, 12/15/26 |
130 | 114,459 | ||||||
CCO Holdings LLC/CCO Holdings Capital Corp., 4.50%, 08/15/30(b) |
5 | 4,290 | ||||||
Charles Schwab Corp. (The), 6.20%, 11/17/29 |
580 | 588,716 | ||||||
Coinbase Global, Inc., 3.38%, 10/01/28(b) |
5 | 4,023 | ||||||
Credit Suisse AG, 1.25%, 08/07/26 |
430 | 382,215 | ||||||
FactSet Research Systems, Inc., 2.90%, 03/01/27 |
3,000 | 2,768,621 | ||||||
Freedom Mortgage Corp. 12.00%, 10/01/28(b) |
55 | 58,108 | ||||||
12.25%, 10/01/30(b) |
90 | 94,959 | ||||||
Frontier Communications Holdings LLC, 8.63%, 03/15/31(b) |
59 | 58,102 | ||||||
FS KKR Capital Corp. |
445 | 387,833 | ||||||
3.13%, 10/12/28 |
1,130 | 951,566 | ||||||
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) |
2,400 | 2,185,953 | ||||||
2.60%, 02/07/30 |
1,220 | 1,033,877 | ||||||
2.38%, 07/21/32 |
1,290 | 1,015,796 | ||||||
Morgan Stanley |
900 | 859,738 | ||||||
2.48%, 01/21/28 |
950 | 865,734 | ||||||
5.16%, 04/20/29 |
980 | 963,714 | ||||||
1.79%, 02/13/32 |
2,060 | 1,578,477 | ||||||
4.89%, 07/20/33 |
2,585 | 2,421,427 | ||||||
5.25%, 04/21/34 |
105 | 100,607 | ||||||
Nasdaq, Inc., 5.65%, 06/28/25 |
180 | 180,442 |
14 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
Capital Markets (continued) | ||||||||
Nomura Holdings, Inc., 1.85%, 07/16/25 |
USD 1,200 | $ | 1,123,362 | |||||
S&P Global, Inc., 2.45%, 03/01/27 |
1,000 | 926,726 | ||||||
United Wholesale Mortgage LLC, 5.50%, 04/15/29(b) |
207 | 185,196 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
20,849,096 | ||||||||
Chemicals 0.0% | ||||||||
Chemours Co, 5.75%, 11/15/28(b) |
120 | 108,621 | ||||||
LYB International Finance III LLC, 4.20%, 05/01/50 |
170 | 125,049 | ||||||
Minerals Technologies, Inc., 5.00%, 07/01/28(b) |
5 | 4,586 | ||||||
Tronox, Inc., 4.63%, 03/15/29(b) |
27 | 22,957 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
261,213 | ||||||||
Commercial Services & Supplies 0.0% | ||||||||
Steelcase, Inc., 5.13%, 01/18/29 |
62 | 56,836 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Communications Equipment 0.3% | ||||||||
Motorola Solutions, Inc. |
1,400 | 1,137,139 | ||||||
2.75%, 05/24/31 |
1,990 | 1,637,981 | ||||||
5.60%, 06/01/32 |
1,250 | 1,237,922 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
4,013,042 | ||||||||
Construction & Engineering 0.2% | ||||||||
Quanta Services, Inc., 2.90%, 10/01/30 |
4,150 | 3,494,485 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Consumer Finance 0.2% | ||||||||
American Express Co. |
700 | 644,143 | ||||||
(Secured Overnight Financing Rate + 1.28%), 5.28%, 07/27/29 |
1,020 | 1,014,933 | ||||||
(Secured Overnight Financing Rate + 1.84%), 5.04%, 05/01/34 |
450 | 433,951 | ||||||
(Secured Overnight Financing Rate + 1.93%), 5.63%, 07/28/34 |
160 | 157,994 | ||||||
Burford Capital Global Finance LLC |
35 | 32,900 | ||||||
9.25%, 07/01/31(b) |
15 | 15,457 | ||||||
Discover Financial Services, 4.10%, 02/09/27 |
10 | 9,284 | ||||||
goeasy Ltd., 9.25%, 12/01/28(b) |
80 | 82,176 | ||||||
OneMain Finance Corp., 9.00%, 01/15/29 |
85 | 87,664 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
2,478,502 | ||||||||
Diversified REITs 0.4% | ||||||||
American Tower Corp., 1.45%, 09/15/26 |
425 | 380,352 | ||||||
Digital Realty Trust LP, 5.55%, 01/15/28 |
2,860 | 2,856,314 | ||||||
Equinix, Inc., 1.45%, 05/15/26 |
1,000 | 910,118 | ||||||
Iron Mountain, Inc., 5.25%, 07/15/30(b) |
700 | 641,937 | ||||||
Uniti Group LP/Uniti Group Finance, Inc./CSL Capital LLC, 6.50%, 02/15/29(b) |
84 | 55,890 | ||||||
Welltower OP LLC, 4.00%, 06/01/25 |
900 | 876,870 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
5,721,481 | ||||||||
Diversified Telecommunication Services 0.0% | ||||||||
Consolidated Communications, Inc., 6.50%, 10/01/28(b) |
34 | 28,050 | ||||||
Koninklijke KPN NV, 8.38%, 10/01/30 |
450 | 515,230 | ||||||
Level 3 Financing, Inc., 10.50%, 05/15/30(b) |
130 | 120,575 | ||||||
Level 3 New Money TSA, 11.00%, 11/15/29(b) |
29 | 29,319 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
693,174 | ||||||||
Electric Utilities 0.7% | ||||||||
Avangrid, Inc. |
2,180 | 2,104,606 | ||||||
3.80%, 06/01/29 |
500 | 454,954 | ||||||
Commonwealth Edison Co., 4.90%, 02/01/33 |
1,590 | 1,549,825 | ||||||
Eversource Energy |
1,000 | 925,001 |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
Electric Utilities (continued) | ||||||||
Eversource Energy |
USD 750 | $ | 639,559 | |||||
Series U, 1.40%, 08/15/26 |
200 | 179,706 | ||||||
Exelon Corp. |
550 | 510,758 | ||||||
3.35%, 03/15/32 |
350 | 299,638 | ||||||
NSTAR Electric Co. |
1,000 | 910,744 | ||||||
3.95%, 04/01/30 |
1,000 | 928,020 | ||||||
Public Service Electric & Gas Co., 5.20%, 08/01/33 |
2,410 | 2,416,275 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
10,919,086 | ||||||||
Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components 0.3% | ||||||||
Allegion U.S. Holding Co., Inc., 3.55%, 10/01/27 |
45 | 41,790 | ||||||
Keysight Technologies, Inc. |
1,250 | 1,212,676 | ||||||
3.00%, 10/30/29 |
1,150 | 997,789 | ||||||
Teledyne Technologies, Inc. |
1,000 | 879,269 | ||||||
2.75%, 04/01/31 |
1,000 | 834,854 | ||||||
Vontier Corp., 2.95%, 04/01/31 |
750 | 596,443 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
4,562,821 | ||||||||
Energy Equipment & Services 0.2% | ||||||||
Brand Industrial Services, Inc., 10.38%, 08/01/30(b) |
65 | 67,394 | ||||||
CGG SA, 8.75%, 04/01/27(b) |
600 | 544,500 | ||||||
Johnson Controls International plc/Tyco Fire & Security Finance SCA |
400 | 320,498 | ||||||
2.00%, 09/16/31 |
360 | 286,022 | ||||||
Noble Finance II LLC, 8.00%, 04/15/30(b) |
10 | 10,263 | ||||||
Pentair Finance Sarl, 4.50%, 07/01/29 |
1,580 | 1,482,266 | ||||||
Valaris Ltd., 8.38%, 04/30/30(b) |
30 | 30,179 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
2,741,122 | ||||||||
Financial Services 0.1% | ||||||||
Coinbase Global, Inc., 3.63%, 10/01/31(b) |
107 | 78,681 | ||||||
GN Bondco LLC, 9.50%, 10/15/31(b) |
220 | 208,967 | ||||||
Macquarie Airfinance Holdings Ltd., 8.13%, 03/30/29(b) |
55 | 56,053 | ||||||
Nasdaq, Inc., 5.55%, 02/15/34 |
425 | 424,716 | ||||||
Nationstar Mortgage Holdings, Inc., 5.00%, 02/01/26(b) |
20 | 19,069 | ||||||
NFP Corp., 8.50%, 10/01/31(b) |
55 | 56,807 | ||||||
United Wholesale Mortgage LLC, 5.50%, 11/15/25(b) |
176 | 171,103 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,015,396 | ||||||||
Food Products 0.2% | ||||||||
Kellogg Co. |
670 | 626,262 | ||||||
4.30%, 05/15/28 |
3,000 | 2,892,161 | ||||||
2.10%, 06/01/30 |
240 | 196,626 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
3,715,049 | ||||||||
Gas Utilities 0.1% | ||||||||
AmeriGas Partners LP/AmeriGas Finance Corp. |
627 | 598,846 | ||||||
9.38%, 06/01/28(b) |
95 | 97,460 | ||||||
ONE Gas, Inc., 4.25%, 09/01/32 |
155 | 143,060 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
839,366 | ||||||||
Ground Transportation 0.1% | ||||||||
Canadian National Railway Co., 3.85%, 08/05/32 |
575 | 525,127 | ||||||
Ryder System, Inc., 5.65%, 03/01/28 |
85 | 85,831 |
S C H E D U L E O F I N V E S T M E N T S |
15 |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
Ground Transportation (continued) | ||||||||
Triton Container International Ltd./TAL International Container Corp., 3.25%, 03/15/32 |
USD 1,100 | $ | 838,244 | |||||
VT Topco, Inc., 8.50%, 08/15/30(b) |
80 | 81,915 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,531,117 | ||||||||
Health Care Equipment & Supplies 0.0% | ||||||||
Bausch & Lomb Escrow Corp., 8.38%, 10/01/28(b) |
125 | 127,812 | ||||||
Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., 5.35%, 12/01/28 |
140 | 140,238 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
268,050 | ||||||||
Health Care Providers & Services 1.9% | ||||||||
Cencora, Inc. |
2,050 | 1,721,053 | ||||||
4.30%, 12/15/47 |
1,280 | 1,073,874 | ||||||
DaVita, Inc., 4.63%, 06/01/30(b) |
350 | 295,825 | ||||||
DH Europe Finance II Sarl, 2.60%, 11/15/29 |
4,860 | 4,255,399 | ||||||
Elevance Health, Inc., 3.65%, 12/01/27 |
1,500 | 1,425,155 | ||||||
Encompass Health Corp., 4.75%, 02/01/30 |
249 | 226,264 | ||||||
Fortrea Holdings, Inc., 7.50%, 07/01/30(b) |
23 | 22,770 | ||||||
HCA, Inc. |
850 | 842,684 | ||||||
3.13%, 03/15/27 |
440 | 407,844 | ||||||
5.20%, 06/01/28 |
590 | 581,570 | ||||||
3.63%, 03/15/32 |
1,239 | 1,069,476 | ||||||
5.50%, 06/01/33 |
666 | 654,849 | ||||||
4.63%, 03/15/52 |
580 | 459,326 | ||||||
5.90%, 06/01/53 |
820 | 779,742 | ||||||
Heartland Dental LLC/Heartland Dental Finance Corp., 10.50%, 04/30/28(b) |
90 | 91,350 | ||||||
Humana, Inc. |
1,200 | 1,065,902 | ||||||
3.70%, 03/23/29 |
1,500 | 1,402,609 | ||||||
IQVIA, Inc. |
2,800 | 2,791,964 | ||||||
6.25%, 02/01/29(b) |
80 | 81,201 | ||||||
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, 1.55%, 06/01/26 |
2,000 | 1,823,139 | ||||||
Star Parent, Inc., 9.00%, 10/01/30(b) |
30 | 31,157 | ||||||
Tenet Healthcare Corp., 6.13%, 10/01/28 |
316 | 306,362 | ||||||
UnitedHealth Group, Inc. |
560 | 571,870 | ||||||
4.20%, 05/15/32 |
5,000 | 4,712,417 | ||||||
4.50%, 04/15/33 |
640 | 613,561 | ||||||
5.88%, 02/15/53 |
200 | 212,535 | ||||||
5.05%, 04/15/53 |
1,540 | 1,459,146 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
28,979,044 | ||||||||
Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure 0.1% | ||||||||
Caesars Entertainment, Inc. |
107 | 109,006 | ||||||
7.00%, 02/15/30(b) |
224 | 224,202 | ||||||
Darden Restaurants, Inc., 4.55%, 02/15/48 |
570 | 452,740 | ||||||
Hilton Grand Vacations Borrower Escrow LLC/Hilton Grand Vacations Borrower Esc, 5.00%, 06/01/29(b) |
324 | 286,152 | ||||||
NCL Corp. Ltd., 8.13%, 01/15/29(b) |
60 | 61,096 | ||||||
Raising Canes Restaurants LLC, 9.38%, 05/01/29(b) . |
80 | 84,004 | ||||||
Starbucks Corp., 2.00%, 03/12/27 |
850 | 774,613 | ||||||
Wynn Resorts Finance LLC/Wynn Resorts Capital Corp., 5.13%, 10/01/29(b) |
61 | 54,938 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
2,046,751 | ||||||||
Household Durables 0.3% | ||||||||
M/I Homes, Inc., 3.95%, 02/15/30 |
10 | 8,534 | ||||||
NVR, Inc., 3.00%, 05/15/30 |
2,520 | 2,172,348 |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
Household Durables (continued) | ||||||||
PulteGroup, Inc., 5.00%, 01/15/27 |
USD 1,630 | $ | 1,618,848 | |||||
Tempur Sealy International, Inc., 3.88%, 10/15/31(b) |
20 | 16,070 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
3,815,800 | ||||||||
Household Products 0.1% | ||||||||
Colgate-Palmolive Co., 3.25%, 08/15/32 |
50 | 44,648 | ||||||
Unilever Capital Corp., 1.75%, 08/12/31 |
2,140 | 1,711,067 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,755,715 | ||||||||
Industrial Conglomerates 0.3% | ||||||||
Trane Technologies Luxembourg Finance SA, 3.80%, 03/21/29 |
4,610 | 4,346,255 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Insurance 0.4% | ||||||||
Arthur J Gallagher & Co., 3.50%, 05/20/51 |
1,170 | 803,231 | ||||||
Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc. |
1,820 | 1,771,207 | ||||||
2.25%, 11/15/30 |
2,000 | 1,664,411 | ||||||
2.38%, 12/15/31 |
790 | 643,747 | ||||||
5.45%, 03/15/53 |
800 | 781,000 | ||||||
5.70%, 09/15/53 |
1,030 | 1,048,655 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
6,712,251 | ||||||||
IT Services 0.9% | ||||||||
APX Group, Inc., 5.75%, 07/15/29(b) |
98 | 87,507 | ||||||
Automatic Data Processing, Inc., 1.70%, 05/15/28 |
5,380 | 4,753,310 | ||||||
CGI, Inc., 2.30%, 09/14/31 |
2,370 | 1,855,743 | ||||||
Cogent Communications Group, Inc., 7.00%, 06/15/27(b) |
900 | 884,250 | ||||||
Fiserv, Inc. |
470 | 473,874 | ||||||
5.60%, 03/02/33 |
970 | 974,166 | ||||||
International Business Machines Corp. |
750 | 687,884 | ||||||
2.72%, 02/09/32 |
620 | 526,418 | ||||||
Mastercard, Inc., 2.00%, 11/18/31 |
1,450 | 1,180,036 | ||||||
Prime Security Services Borrower LLC/Prime Finance, Inc., 6.25%, 01/15/28(b) |
172 | 165,166 | ||||||
S&P Global, Inc., 5.25%, 09/15/33(b) |
415 | 418,322 | ||||||
Sabre GLBL, Inc., 11.25%, 12/15/27(b) |
158 | 143,160 | ||||||
VeriSign, Inc., 2.70%, 06/15/31 |
620 | 508,507 | ||||||
Visa, Inc., 3.65%, 09/15/47 |
630 | 498,355 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
13,156,698 | ||||||||
Machinery 0.3% | ||||||||
Allison Transmission, Inc., 5.88%, 06/01/29(b) |
618 | 598,143 | ||||||
Cummins, Inc., 2.60%, 09/01/50 |
1,470 | 1,179,195 | ||||||
Ingersoll Rand, Inc. |
255 | 255,566 | ||||||
5.70%, 08/14/33 |
95 | 96,154 | ||||||
nVent Finance Sarl, 5.65%, 05/15/33 |
1,470 | 1,414,193 | ||||||
Wabash National Corp., 4.50%, 10/15/28(b) |
306 | 261,621 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
3,804,872 | ||||||||
Media 0.1% | ||||||||
Cable One, Inc., 4.00%, 11/15/30(b) |
69 | 53,857 | ||||||
CCO Holdings LLC/CCO Holdings Capital Corp., 5.38%, 06/01/29(b) |
35 | 32,456 | ||||||
DirecTV Holdings LLC/DirecTV Financing Co., Inc., 5.88%, 08/15/27(b) |
334 | 300,547 | ||||||
Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc., 4.65%, 10/01/28 |
500 | 482,639 | ||||||
Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc., 4.75%, 11/01/28(b) |
115 | 101,792 | ||||||
Sirius XM Radio, Inc., 5.50%, 07/01/29(b) |
330 | 306,623 | ||||||
Univision Communications, Inc., 8.00%, 08/15/28(b) |
25 | 25,271 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,303,185 |
16 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
Metals & Mining 0.3% | ||||||||
Arsenal AIC Parent LLC, 8.00%, 10/01/30(b) |
USD 65 | $ | 66,320 | |||||
ATI, Inc., 7.25%, 08/15/30 |
115 | 115,540 | ||||||
Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., 6.75%, 04/15/30(b) |
177 | 172,191 | ||||||
FMG Resources August 2006 Pty Ltd. |
304 | 292,265 | ||||||
6.13%, 04/15/32(b) |
300 | 289,939 | ||||||
Mineral Resources Ltd. |
80 | 82,736 | ||||||
8.50%, 05/01/30(b) |
850 | 859,316 | ||||||
Nufarm Australia Ltd./Nufarm Americas, Inc., 5.00%, 01/27/30(b) |
329 | 291,464 | ||||||
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., |
1,680 | 1,358,622 | ||||||
Steel Dynamics, Inc., 2.40%, 06/15/25 |
750 | 712,171 | ||||||
Taseko Mines Ltd., 7.00%, 02/15/26(b) |
25 | 23,375 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
4,263,939 | ||||||||
Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels 0.5% | ||||||||
Cheniere Corpus Christi Holdings LLC, 3.70%, 11/15/29 |
60 | 54,682 | ||||||
Cheniere Energy, Inc., 4.63%, 10/15/28 |
2,890 | 2,750,471 | ||||||
Civitas Resources, Inc., 5.00%, 10/15/26(b) |
10 | 9,536 | ||||||
CNX Resources Corp., 6.00%, 01/15/29(b) |
152 | 144,945 | ||||||
Enbridge, Inc., 6.20%, 11/15/30 |
75 | 77,968 | ||||||
EQT Corp., 5.70%, 04/01/28 |
65 | 65,024 | ||||||
Hilcorp Energy I LP/Hilcorp Finance Co., 8.38%, 11/01/33(b) |
95 | 97,857 | ||||||
ONEOK, Inc. |
370 | 347,809 | ||||||
5.85%, 01/15/26 |
1,000 | 1,006,877 | ||||||
6.35%, 01/15/31 |
1,340 | 1,381,822 | ||||||
7.15%, 01/15/51 |
430 | 460,502 | ||||||
Targa Resources Corp., 6.15%, 03/01/29 |
375 | 383,094 | ||||||
Venture Global LNG, Inc. |
55 | 54,531 | ||||||
9.50%, 02/01/29(b) |
195 | 201,200 | ||||||
8.38%, 06/01/31(b) |
50 | 49,267 | ||||||
9.88%, 02/01/32(b) |
250 | 256,211 | ||||||
Vermilion Energy, Inc., 6.88%, 05/01/30(b) |
629 | 596,680 | ||||||
Western Midstream Operating LP, 6.35%, 01/15/29 |
35 | 35,940 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
7,974,416 | ||||||||
Passenger Airlines 0.0% | ||||||||
United Airlines, Inc. |
60 | 57,056 | ||||||
4.63%, 04/15/29(b) |
190 | 169,615 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
226,671 | ||||||||
Pharmaceuticals 0.9% | ||||||||
Astrazeneca Finance LLC |
800 | 704,455 | ||||||
2.25%, 05/28/31 |
990 | 824,108 | ||||||
4.88%, 03/03/33 |
1,490 | 1,482,162 | ||||||
Bausch Health Cos., Inc., 11.00%, 09/30/28(b) |
150 | 93,750 | ||||||
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. |
710 | 611,554 | ||||||
3.90%, 03/15/62 |
430 | 316,748 | ||||||
Eli Lilly & Co. |
645 | 629,372 | ||||||
4.95%, 02/27/63 |
2,205 | 2,127,698 | ||||||
Jazz Securities DAC, 4.38%, 01/15/29(b) |
700 | 629,738 | ||||||
Johnson & Johnson, 2.25%, 09/01/50 |
1,310 | 805,088 | ||||||
Merck & Co., Inc. |
1,550 | 1,274,264 | ||||||
5.00%, 05/17/53 |
340 | 327,110 |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
Pharmaceuticals (continued) | ||||||||
Novartis Capital Corp., 2.20%, 08/14/30 |
USD 3,030 | $ | 2,583,524 | |||||
Pfizer Investment Enterprises Pte Ltd. |
95 | 92,628 | ||||||
5.34%, 05/19/63 |
50 | 48,089 | ||||||
Zoetis, Inc. |
640 | 595,661 | ||||||
2.00%, 05/15/30 |
170 | 140,647 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
13,286,596 | ||||||||
Professional Services 0.0% | ||||||||
TriNet Group, Inc., 7.13%, 08/15/31(b) |
95 | 95,950 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Real Estate Management & Development 0.1% | ||||||||
CBRE Services, Inc. |
500 | 489,738 | ||||||
5.95%, 08/15/34 |
110 | 109,514 | ||||||
Essential Properties LP, 2.95%, 07/15/31 |
610 | 457,934 | ||||||
Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC, 7.75%, 09/01/30(b) |
45 | 45,779 | ||||||
Howard Hughes Corp. (The), 5.38%, 08/01/28(b) |
320 | 300,000 | ||||||
Uniti Group LP/Uniti Group Finance, Inc./CSL Capital LLC, 10.50%, 02/15/28(b) |
141 | 138,691 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,541,656 | ||||||||
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment 0.9% | ||||||||
Broadcom, Inc. |
1,990 | 1,636,196 | ||||||
2.60%, 02/15/33(b) |
450 | 354,316 | ||||||
3.75%, 02/15/51(b) |
1,450 | 1,056,225 | ||||||
Marvell Technology, Inc., 5.95%, 09/15/33 |
65 | 65,848 | ||||||
NVIDIA Corp. |
600 | 525,466 | ||||||
2.00%, 06/15/31 |
4,490 | 3,715,147 | ||||||
3.70%, 04/01/60 |
500 | 384,829 | ||||||
NXP BV/NXP Funding LLC, 5.55%, 12/01/28 |
850 | 850,272 | ||||||
Texas Instruments, Inc. |
459 | 377,136 | ||||||
3.65%, 08/16/32 |
3,545 | 3,229,202 | ||||||
4.90%, 03/14/33 |
790 | 789,432 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
12,984,069 | ||||||||
Software 1.0% | ||||||||
Adobe, Inc., 2.30%, 02/01/30 |
3,570 | 3,101,834 | ||||||
Central Parent LLC/CDK Global II LLC/CDK Financing Co., Inc., 8.00%, 06/15/29(b) |
25 | 25,645 | ||||||
Electronic Arts, Inc., 1.85%, 02/15/31 |
1,000 | 800,480 | ||||||
Intuit, Inc. |
1,000 | 884,722 | ||||||
1.65%, 07/15/30 |
4,690 | 3,797,824 | ||||||
5.20%, 09/15/33 |
300 | 302,380 | ||||||
5.50%, 09/15/53 |
95 | 97,480 | ||||||
MicroStrategy, Inc., 6.13%, 06/15/28(b) |
121 | 111,578 | ||||||
Oracle Corp. |
205 | 200,169 | ||||||
4.65%, 05/06/30 |
135 | 130,241 | ||||||
4.90%, 02/06/33 |
750 | 721,554 | ||||||
5.55%, 02/06/53 |
410 | 386,509 | ||||||
ServiceNow, Inc., 1.40%, 09/01/30 |
3,000 | 2,385,753 | ||||||
VMware, Inc. |
2,730 | 2,340,877 | ||||||
2.20%, 08/15/31 |
530 | 418,902 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
15,705,948 |
S C H E D U L E O F I N V E S T M E N T S |
17 |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
Specialized REITs 0.0% | ||||||||
American Tower Corp., 5.80%, 11/15/28 |
USD 25 | $ | 25,318 | |||||
Iron Mountain, Inc., 4.50%, 02/15/31(b) |
15 | 12,982 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
38,300 | ||||||||
Specialty Retail 0.4% | ||||||||
Academy Ltd., 6.00%, 11/15/27(b) |
116 | 113,190 | ||||||
Bath & Body Works, Inc., 6.95%, 03/01/33 |
135 | 126,248 | ||||||
Foot Locker, Inc., 4.00%, 10/01/29(b) |
151 | 121,890 | ||||||
Gap, Inc. (The), 3.63%, 10/01/29(b) |
51 | 41,986 | ||||||
Home Depot, Inc. |
1,050 | 905,333 | ||||||
1.88%, 09/15/31 |
1,420 | 1,143,075 | ||||||
3.35%, 04/15/50 |
940 | 676,457 | ||||||
Lowes Cos., Inc. |
1,500 | 1,422,605 | ||||||
1.70%, 09/15/28 |
1,150 | 990,106 | ||||||
Suburban Propane Partners LP/Suburban Energy Finance Corp., 5.00%, 06/01/31(b) |
66 | 58,410 | ||||||
Superior Plus LP/Superior General Partner, Inc., 4.50%, 03/15/29(b) |
74 | 65,164 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
5,664,464 | ||||||||
Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals 0.1% | ||||||||
Apple Inc. |
640 | 532,144 | ||||||
4.10%, 08/08/62 |
140 | 116,180 | ||||||
CDW LLC/CDW Finance Corp., 3.57%, 12/01/31 |
226 | 194,613 | ||||||
EquipmentShare.com, Inc., 9.00%, 05/15/28(b) |
65 | 64,025 | ||||||
NCR Atleos Corp., 9.50%, 04/01/29(b) |
135 | 139,413 | ||||||
Western Digital Corp., 4.75%, 02/15/26 |
300 | 289,430 | ||||||
Xerox Holdings Corp., 5.50%, 08/15/28(b) |
344 | 286,694 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,622,499 | ||||||||
Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods 0.1% | ||||||||
Tapestry, Inc. |
420 | 423,202 | ||||||
7.70%, 11/27/30 |
290 | 293,985 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
717,187 | ||||||||
Trading Companies & Distributors 0.0% | ||||||||
Fortress Transportation & Infrastructure Investors LLC, 7.88%, 12/01/30(b) |
95 | 96,645 | ||||||
GATX Corp., 3.50%, 06/01/32 |
350 | 290,745 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
387,390 | ||||||||
Wireless Telecommunication Services 0.0% | ||||||||
Rogers Communications, Inc., 3.20%, 03/15/27 |
350 | 326,252 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Total Corporate Bonds 19.3% |
|
289,910,062 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Shares | ||||||||
Investment Companies(d) |
||||||||
Equity Funds 2.3% | ||||||||
iShares MSCI India ETF |
77,191 | 3,552,330 | ||||||
iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF |
192,434 | 30,306,431 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
33,858,761 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Total Investment Companies 2.3% |
|
33,858,761 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Preferred Securities |
||||||||
Preferred Stocks 0.3% |
Security | Shares | Value | ||||||
Banks 0.0% | ||||||||
Banco Bradesco SA |
100 | $ | 331 | |||||
Bancolombia SA |
24,294 | 168,177 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
168,508 | ||||||||
Chemicals 0.1% | ||||||||
Braskem SA(a) |
269,452 | 1,053,819 | ||||||
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA, Class B |
13,755 | 696,142 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
1,749,961 | ||||||||
Electric Utilities 0.1% | ||||||||
Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, Class B |
8,272 | 75,408 | ||||||
Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais |
115,268 | 258,777 | ||||||
Cia Paranaense de Energia, Class B |
322,554 | 619,937 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
954,122 | ||||||||
Machinery 0.0% | ||||||||
Randon SA Implementos e Participacoes |
14,162 | 32,283 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Metals & Mining 0.0% | ||||||||
Gerdau SA |
68,717 | 304,630 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Passenger Airlines 0.1% | ||||||||
Azul SA(a) |
190,636 | 660,364 | ||||||
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA(a) |
74,233 | 137,093 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
797,457 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Total Preferred Securities 0.3% |
4,006,961 | |||||||
|
|
|||||||
Par (000) |
||||||||
U.S. Government Sponsored Agency Securities |
| |||||||
Mortgage-Backed Securities 8.2% | ||||||||
Fannie Mae Mortgage-Backed Securities |
USD 2,262 | 1,716,078 | ||||||
2.00%, 04/01/37 - 01/01/52 |
32,140 | 25,545,250 | ||||||
2.50%, 06/01/37 - 07/01/51 |
7,273 | 5,948,127 | ||||||
3.00%, 09/01/34 - 04/01/52 |
2,059 | 1,813,192 | ||||||
4.00%, 03/01/51 - 08/01/52 |
1,092 | 1,004,346 | ||||||
4.50%, 09/01/52 - 08/01/53 |
201 | 189,620 | ||||||
5.00%, 04/01/53 - 06/01/53 |
899 | 866,019 | ||||||
5.50%, 02/01/53 |
476 | 472,851 | ||||||
6.00%, 07/01/53 - 09/01/53 |
514 | 519,235 | ||||||
Freddie Mac Mortgage-Backed Securities |
171 | 144,905 | ||||||
2.00%, 04/01/37 |
876 | 764,644 | ||||||
2.50%, 05/01/37 - 07/01/51 |
4,249 | 3,476,541 | ||||||
3.00%, 07/01/50 |
36 | 31,115 | ||||||
4.00%, 06/01/52 - 02/01/53 |
889 | 811,239 | ||||||
4.50%, 12/01/52 - 08/01/53 |
47 | 44,562 | ||||||
5.00%, 04/01/53 |
283 | 272,738 | ||||||
5.50%, 01/01/53 - 06/01/53 |
801 | 791,146 | ||||||
6.00%, 08/01/53 |
440 | 445,274 | ||||||
Ginnie Mae Mortgage-Backed Securities |
100 | 77,812 | ||||||
2.00%, 10/20/51 - 12/01/53(e) |
5,495 | 4,434,210 | ||||||
2.50%, 07/20/51 - 12/01/53(e) |
14,211 | 11,867,838 | ||||||
3.00%, 11/20/46 - 12/01/53(e) |
13,608 | 11,779,271 | ||||||
3.50%, 03/20/50 - 12/01/53(e) |
10,775 | 9,643,664 | ||||||
4.00%, 01/20/50 - 12/01/53(e) |
5,856 | 5,401,539 | ||||||
4.50%, 03/20/49 - 12/01/53(e) |
5,356 | 5,067,250 | ||||||
5.00%, 04/20/53 - 12/01/53(e) |
1,703 | 1,654,707 | ||||||
5.50%, 12/20/52 - 12/01/53(e) |
1,495 | 1,485,301 | ||||||
6.00%, 09/20/53 - 12/01/53(e) |
1,136 | 1,144,531 | ||||||
6.50%, 11/20/53 - 12/01/53(e) |
956 | 972,267 |
18 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (Percentages shown are based on Net Assets) |
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
|
||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Securities (continued) | ||||||||
Uniform Mortgage-Backed Securities |
USD 2,189 | $ | 1,711,406 | |||||
2.00%, 12/01/38(e) |
711 | 621,093 | ||||||
2.50%, 12/01/38 - 12/01/53(e) |
2,625 | 2,337,231 | ||||||
3.00%, 12/01/38 - 12/01/53(e) |
3,000 | 2,716,649 | ||||||
3.50%, 12/01/38 - 12/01/53(e) |
1,775 | 1,605,553 | ||||||
4.00%, 12/01/38 - 12/01/53(e) |
1,550 | 1,441,797 | ||||||
4.50%, 12/01/53(e) |
175 | 163,850 | ||||||
5.00%, 12/01/53(e) |
10,650 | 10,248,094 | ||||||
5.50%, 12/01/53(e) |
2,100 | 2,069,136 | ||||||
6.00%, 12/01/53(e) |
900 | 902,499 | ||||||
6.50%, 12/01/53(e) |
850 | 863,414 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
123,065,994 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Total U.S. Government Sponsored Agency Securities 8.2% |
|
|||||||
(Cost: $131,592,103) |
|
123,065,994 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations |
||||||||
U.S. Treasury Bonds |
23,000 | 13,634,688 | ||||||
2.25%, 05/15/41 - 02/15/52 |
46,000 | 30,427,031 | ||||||
2.38%, 02/15/42 |
10,000 | 7,122,656 | ||||||
3.00%, 02/15/47 |
5,000 | 3,784,375 | ||||||
3.38%, 11/15/48 |
2,600 | 2,099,703 | ||||||
U.S. Treasury Notes |
55,700 | 51,337,559 | ||||||
2.50%, 03/31/27 |
35,000 | 32,945,117 | ||||||
1.88%, 02/28/29 - 02/15/32 |
33,000 | 28,263,398 | ||||||
2.38%, 05/15/29 |
16,000 | 14,471,250 | ||||||
0.63%, 08/15/30 |
5,000 | 3,921,875 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Total U.S. Treasury Obligations 12.5% |
|
188,007,652 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Total Long-Term Investments 98.6% |
|
1,481,025,087 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Shares | ||||||||
Short-Term Securities |
||||||||
Money Market Funds 3.2% | ||||||||
BlackRock Liquidity Funds, T-Fund, Institutional Class, 5.26%(d)(f) |
47,222,902 | 47,222,902 | ||||||
SL Liquidity Series, LLC, Money Market Series, 5.56%(d)(f)(g) |
1,347,961 | 1,348,500 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Total Short-Term Securities 3.2% |
|
48,571,402 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Total Investments Before TBA Sale |
|
|||||||
(Cost: $1,393,069,439) |
|
1,529,596,489 | ||||||
|
|
Security | Par (000) |
Value | ||||||
|
||||||||
TBA Sale Commitments(e) |
||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Securities (0.0)% | ||||||||
Ginnie Mae Mortgage-Backed Securities, 6.50%, 12/01/53 |
USD (200 | ) | $ | (203,383 | ) | |||
Uniform Mortgage-Backed Securities, 4.50%, 12/01/53 |
(50 | ) | (46,814 | ) | ||||
|
|
|||||||
Total TBA Sale Commitments (0.0)% |
|
(250,197 | ) | |||||
|
|
|||||||
Total Investments Net of TBA Sale |
|
|||||||
(Cost: $1,392,821,033) |
|
1,529,346,292 | ||||||
Liabilities in Excess of Other Assets (1.8)% | (26,693,596) | |||||||
|
|
|||||||
Net Assets 100.0% | $ 1,502,652,696 | |||||||
|
|
(a) | Non-income producing security. |
(b) | Security exempt from registration pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These securities may be resold in transactions exempt from registration to qualified institutional investors. |
(c) | All or a portion of this security is on loan. |
(d) | Affiliate of the Fund. |
(e) | Represents or includes a TBA transaction. |
(f) | Annualized 7-day yield as of period end. |
(g) | All or a portion of this security was purchased with the cash collateral from loaned securities. |
S C H E D U L E O F I N V E S T M E N T S |
19 |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Affiliates
Investments in issuers considered to be affiliate(s) of the Fund during the six months ended November 30, 2023 for purposes of Section 2(a)(3) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, were as follows:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Affiliated Issuer | Value at 05/31/23 |
Purchases at Cost |
Proceeds from Sale |
Net Realized Gain (Loss) |
Change in Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) |
Value at 11/30/23 |
Shares/ Investment Value Held at 11/30/23 |
Income (Expense) |
Capital Gain Distributions from Underlying Funds |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BlackRock Liquidity Funds, T-Fund, Institutional Class |
$ | 23,714,417 | $ | 23,508,485 | (a) | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | 47,222,902 | 47,222,902 | $ | 877,922 | $ | | ||||||||||||||||||
iShares MSCI India ETF |
4,331,004 | | (1,170,253 | ) | (55,127 | ) | 446,706 | 3,552,330 | 77,191 | 8,316 | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF |
28,599,541 | | | | 1,706,890 | 30,306,431 | 192,434 | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SL Liquidity Series, LLC, Money Market Series |
| 1,348,445 | (a) | | 55 | | 1,348,500 | 1,347,961 | 1,239 | (b) | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | (55,072 | ) | $ | 2,153,596 | $ | 82,430,163 | $ | 887,477 | $ | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) | Represents net amount purchased (sold). |
(b) | All or a portion represents securities lending income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral from loaned securities, net of fees and collateral investment expenses, and other payments to and from borrowers of securities. |
For Fund compliance purposes, the Funds industry classifications refer to one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or rating group indexes, and/or as defined by the investment adviser. These definitions may not apply for purposes of this report, which may combine such industry sub-classifications for reporting ease.
Derivative Financial Instruments Outstanding as of Period End
Futures Contracts
|
||||||||||||||||
Description | Number of Contracts |
Expiration Date |
Notional Amount (000) |
Value/ Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Long Contracts |
||||||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Notes (10 Year) |
109 | 03/19/24 | $ | 11,968 | $ | 62,834 | ||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Notes (2 Year) |
86 | 03/28/24 | 17,584 | 54,256 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
117,090 | ||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Short Contracts |
||||||||||||||||
S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange 60 Index |
6 | 12/14/23 | 1,079 | (7,788 | ) | |||||||||||
S&P 500 E-Mini Index |
168 | 12/15/23 | 38,445 | (522,550 | ) | |||||||||||
Mini MSCI EAFE Index |
142 | 12/15/23 | 15,099 | (327,065 | ) | |||||||||||
Mini MSCI Emerging Markets Index |
90 | 12/15/23 | 4,442 | (33,425 | ) | |||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Long-Term Bonds |
178 | 03/19/24 | 20,726 | (104,425 | ) | |||||||||||
U.S. Ultra Treasury Bonds |
105 | 03/19/24 | 12,915 | (78,300 | ) | |||||||||||
U.S. Ultra Treasury Bonds (10 Year) |
27 | 03/19/24 | 3,065 | (18,151 | ) | |||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Notes (5 Year) |
292 | 03/28/24 | 31,201 | (120,954 | ) | |||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
(1,212,658 | ) | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
$ | (1,095,568 | ) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
20 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Counterparty | Settlement Date |
Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
AUD | 23,149,066 | USD | 14,821,583 | Goldman Sachs Bank USA | 12/20/23 | $ | 484,434 | |||||||||||||||||
CAD | 20,503,680 | USD | 15,036,278 | Bank of America N.A. | 12/20/23 | 79,119 | ||||||||||||||||||
EUR | 26,551,912 | USD | 28,587,514 | Barclays Bank PLC | 12/20/23 | 341,328 | ||||||||||||||||||
USD | 666,098 | JPY | 96,699,400 | Barclays Bank PLC | 12/20/23 | 11,722 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | 916,603 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
USD | 451,283 | EUR | 419,200 | Barclays Bank PLC | 12/20/23 | (5,444 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
USD | 442,215 | GBP | 353,700 | Barclays Bank PLC | 12/20/23 | (4,401 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | (9,845 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | 906,758 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Centrally Cleared Credit Default Swaps Buy Protection
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reference Obligation/Index | Financing Rate Paid by the Fund |
Payment Frequency |
Termination Date |
Notional Amount (000) |
Value | Upfront Premium Paid (Received) |
Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CDX.N.A.HY.41.V1 |
5.00 | % | Quarterly | 12/20/28 | USD | 33,452 | $ | 1,633,276 | $ | 1,205,635 | $ | 427,641 | ||||||||||||||||||
CDX.N.A.IG.41.V1 |
1.00 | Quarterly | 12/20/28 | USD | 75,000 | (1,409,455 | ) | (1,049,003 | ) | (360,452 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | 223,821 | $ | 156,632 | $ | 67,189 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
OTC Total Return Swaps
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Upfront | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paid by the Fund |
Received by the Fund |
Counterparty |
Termination Date |
|
Notional Amount (000) |
Value |
Premium Paid (Received) |
Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reference | Frequency | Rate |
Frequency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SOFR minus 0.02%, 5.33% |
Quarterly | MSCI ACWI ESG Universal Index |
Quarterly | BNP Paribas S.A. |
04/03/24 | USD | 110,979 | $ | 7,615,226 | $ | | $ | 7,615,226 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balances Reported in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for Centrally Cleared Swaps and OTC Swaps
|
||||||||||||||||
Swap Premiums Paid |
Swap Premiums Received |
Unrealized Appreciation |
Unrealized Depreciation |
|||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Centrally Cleared Swaps(a) |
$ | 1,205,635 | $ | (1,049,003 | ) | $ | 427,641 | $ | (360,452 | ) | ||||||
OTC Swaps |
| | 7,615,226 | | ||||||||||||
|
(a) | Includes cumulative appreciation (depreciation) on centrally cleared swaps, as reported in the Schedule of Investments. Only current days variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and is net of any previously paid (received) swap premium amounts. |
S C H E D U L E O F I N V E S T M E N T S |
21 |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Derivative Financial Instruments Categorized by Risk Exposure
As of period end, the fair values of derivative financial instruments located in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities were as follows:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Commodity Contracts |
Credit Contracts |
Equity Contracts |
Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts |
Interest Rate Contracts |
Other Contracts |
Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assets Derivative Financial Instruments |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Futures contracts |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized appreciation on futures contracts(a) |
$ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | 117,090 | $ | | $ | 117,090 | ||||||||||||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized appreciation on forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
| | | 916,603 | | | 916,603 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Swaps centrally cleared |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized appreciation on centrally cleared swaps(a) |
| 427,641 | | | | | 427,641 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Swaps OTC |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized appreciation on OTC swaps; Swap premiums paid |
| | 7,615,226 | | | | 7,615,226 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
$ | | $ | 427,641 | $ | 7,615,226 | $ | 916,603 | $ | 117,090 | $ | | $ | 9,076,560 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Liabilities Derivative Financial Instruments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Futures contracts |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized depreciation on futures contracts(a) |
$ | | $ | | $ | 890,828 | $ | | $ | 321,830 | $ | | $ | 1,212,658 | ||||||||||||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized depreciation on forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
| | | 9,845 | | | 9,845 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Swaps centrally cleared |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized depreciation on centrally cleared swaps(a) |
| 360,452 | | | | | 360,452 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
$ | | $ | 360,452 | $ | 890,828 | $ | 9,845 | $ | 321,830 | $ | | $ | 1,582,955 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) | Net cumulative unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on futures contracts and centrally cleared swaps, if any, are reported in the Schedule of Investments. In the Statement of Assets and Liabilities, only current days variation margin is reported in receivables or payables and the net cumulative unrealized appreciation (depreciation) is included in accumulated earnings (loss). |
For the period ended November 30, 2023, the effect of derivative financial instruments in the Statement of Operations was as follows:
Commodity Contracts |
Credit Contracts |
Equity Contracts |
Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts |
Interest Rate Contracts |
Other Contracts |
Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Net Realized Gain (Loss) from: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Futures contracts |
$ | | $ | | $ | 3,439,592 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | 3,439,592 | ||||||||||||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
| | | (907,506 | ) | | | (907,506 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Swaps |
| | (4,199,591 | ) | | | | (4,199,591 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
$ | | $ | | $ | (759,999 | ) | $ | (907,506 | ) | $ | | $ | | $ | (1,667,505 | ) | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Net Change in Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) on: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Futures contracts |
$ | | $ | | $ | 847,393 | $ | | $ | 124,854 | $ | | $ | 972,247 | ||||||||||||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
| | | 753,095 | | | 753,095 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Swaps |
| 633,918 | 8,010,882 | | | | 8,644,800 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
$ | | $ | 633,918 | $ | 8,858,275 | $ | 753,095 | $ | 124,854 | $ | | $ | 10,370,142 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
22 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Average Quarterly Balances of Outstanding Derivative Financial Instruments
Futures contracts |
||||
Average notional value of contracts long |
$ | 44,633,137 | ||
Average notional value of contracts short |
$ | 95,029,822 | ||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
||||
Average amounts purchased in USD |
$ | 21,330 | ||
Average amounts sold in USD |
$ | 58,998,033 | ||
Credit default swaps |
||||
Average notional value buy protection |
$ | 91,726,050 | ||
Total return swaps |
||||
Average notional amount |
$ | 71,856 |
For more information about the Funds investment risks regarding derivative financial instruments, refer to the Notes to Financial Statements.
Derivative Financial Instruments Offsetting as of Period End
The Funds derivative assets and liabilities (by type) were as follows:
Assets | Liabilities | |||||||
Derivative Financial Instruments |
||||||||
Futures contracts |
$ | 474,742 | $ | 225,177 | ||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
916,603 | 9,845 | ||||||
Swaps centrally cleared |
11,567 | | ||||||
Swaps OTC(a) |
7,615,226 | | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total derivative assets and liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities |
$ | 9,018,138 | $ | 235,022 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Derivatives not subject to a Master Netting Agreement or similar agreement (MNA) |
(486,309 | ) | (225,177 | ) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total derivative assets and liabilities subject to an MNA |
$ | 8,531,829 | $ | 9,845 | ||||
|
|
|
|
(a) | Includes unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on OTC swaps and swap premiums (paid/received) in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. |
For more information about the Funds investment risks regarding derivative financial instruments, refer to the Notes to Financial Statements.
Counterparty | Derivative Assets Subject to an MNA by Counterparty |
Derivatives Available for Offset(a) |
Non- Cash Collateral Received(b) |
Cash Collateral Received(b) |
Net Amount of Derivative Assets(c)(d) |
|||||||||||||||
Bank of America N.A |
$ | 79,119 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | 79,119 | ||||||||||
Barclays Bank PLC |
353,050 | (9,845 | ) | | | 343,205 | ||||||||||||||
BNP Paribas S.A |
7,615,226 | | | (7,020,000 | ) | 595,226 | ||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Bank USA |
484,434 | | | | 484,434 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
$ | 8,531,829 | $ | (9,845 | ) | $ | | $ | (7,020,000 | ) | $ | 1,501,984 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Counterparty | Derivative Liabilities Subject to an MNA by Counterparty |
Derivatives Available for Offset(a) |
Non- Cash Collateral Pledged(b) |
Cash Collateral Pledged(b) |
Net Amount of Derivative Liabilities(d)(e) |
|||||||||||||||
Barclays Bank PLC |
$ | 9,845 | $ | (9,845 | ) | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) | The amount of derivatives available for offset is limited to the amount of derivative assets and/or liabilities that are subject to an MNA. |
(b) | Excess of collateral received/pledged, if any, from the individual counterparty is not shown for financial reporting purposes. |
(c) | Net amount represents the net amount receivable from the counterparty in the event of default. |
(d) | Net amount may also include forward foreign currency exchange contracts that are not required to be collateralized. |
(e) | Net amount represents the net amount payable due to the counterparty in the event of default. |
S C H E D U L E O F I N V E S T M E N T S |
23 |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Fair Value Hierarchy as of Period End
Various inputs are used in determining the fair value of financial instruments. For a description of the input levels and information about the Funds policy regarding valuation of financial instruments, refer to the Notes to Financial Statements.
The following table summarizes the Funds financial instruments categorized in the fair value hierarchy. The breakdown of the Funds financial instruments into major categories is disclosed in the Schedule of Investments above.
|
||||||||||||||||
Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Assets |
||||||||||||||||
Investments |
||||||||||||||||
Long-Term Investments |
||||||||||||||||
Common Stocks |
||||||||||||||||
Aerospace & Defense |
$ | 4,670,447 | $ | 3,660,418 | $ | | $ | 8,330,865 | ||||||||
Air Freight & Logistics |
178,592 | 1,404,674 | | 1,583,266 | ||||||||||||
Automobile Components |
426,699 | 233,284 | | 659,983 | ||||||||||||
Automobiles |
13,349,966 | 12,292,757 | | 25,642,723 | ||||||||||||
Banks |
18,269,922 | 38,283,909 | | 56,553,831 | ||||||||||||
Beverages |
17,691,916 | 4,114,582 | | 21,806,498 | ||||||||||||
Biotechnology |
10,530,315 | 2,060,518 | | 12,590,833 | ||||||||||||
Broadline Retail |
29,074,212 | 3,477,596 | | 32,551,808 | ||||||||||||
Building Products |
218,013 | | | 218,013 | ||||||||||||
Capital Markets |
15,860,925 | 4,001,579 | | 19,862,504 | ||||||||||||
Chemicals |
2,410,744 | 5,647,111 | | 8,057,855 | ||||||||||||
Commercial Services & Supplies |
1,728,896 | | | 1,728,896 | ||||||||||||
Communications Equipment |
| 1,665,184 | | 1,665,184 | ||||||||||||
Construction & Engineering |
10,179,980 | 1,479,733 | | 11,659,713 | ||||||||||||
Construction Materials |
| 111,228 | | 111,228 | ||||||||||||
Consumer Finance |
10,152,650 | | | 10,152,650 | ||||||||||||
Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail |
7,092,452 | 3,427,308 | | 10,519,760 | ||||||||||||
Containers & Packaging |
322,935 | | | 322,935 | ||||||||||||
Diversified Consumer Services |
1,364,666 | 132,574 | | 1,497,240 | ||||||||||||
Diversified Telecommunication Services |
| 3,344,741 | | 3,344,741 | ||||||||||||
Electric Utilities |
663,539 | 8,545,984 | | 9,209,523 | ||||||||||||
Electrical Equipment |
| 10,048,467 | | 10,048,467 | ||||||||||||
Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components |
5,435,349 | 1,748,648 | | 7,183,997 | ||||||||||||
Energy Equipment & Services |
| 122,598 | | 122,598 | ||||||||||||
Entertainment |
3,499,104 | 4,454,308 | | 7,953,412 | ||||||||||||
Financial Services |
20,282,559 | 1,318,007 | | 21,600,566 | ||||||||||||
Food Products |
6,481,269 | 10,467,356 | | 16,948,625 | ||||||||||||
Gas Utilities |
662,867 | 109,580 | | 772,447 | ||||||||||||
Ground Transportation |
1,890,996 | | | 1,890,996 | ||||||||||||
Health Care Equipment & Supplies |
10,619,385 | 573,736 | | 11,193,121 | ||||||||||||
Health Care Providers & Services |
14,322,277 | 297,184 | | 14,619,461 | ||||||||||||
Hotel & Resort REITs |
182 | | | 182 | ||||||||||||
Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure |
11,106,470 | 5,324,261 | | 16,430,731 | ||||||||||||
Household Durables |
1,814,965 | 3,429,078 | | 5,244,043 | ||||||||||||
Household Products |
2,549,920 | | | 2,549,920 | ||||||||||||
Independent Power and Renewable Electricity Producers |
381,906 | 260,764 | | 642,670 | ||||||||||||
Industrial Conglomerates |
18,618,241 | 7,909,776 | | 26,528,017 | ||||||||||||
Industrial REITs |
952,655 | 1,124,789 | | 2,077,444 | ||||||||||||
Insurance |
17,084,814 | 8,318,236 | | 25,403,050 | ||||||||||||
Interactive Media & Services |
32,887,938 | 8,344,573 | | 41,232,511 | ||||||||||||
IT Services |
11,439,252 | 84,521 | | 11,523,773 | ||||||||||||
Leisure Products |
| 1,061,197 | | 1,061,197 | ||||||||||||
Life Sciences Tools & Services |
7,997,773 | 169,421 | | 8,167,194 | ||||||||||||
Machinery |
6,314,205 | 3,216,251 | | 9,530,456 | ||||||||||||
Marine Transportation |
| 4,610,326 | | 4,610,326 | ||||||||||||
Media |
1,511,532 | 77,106 | | 1,588,638 | ||||||||||||
Metals & Mining |
7,613,799 | 9,198,543 | | 16,812,342 | ||||||||||||
Multi-Utilities |
| 4,537,195 | | 4,537,195 | ||||||||||||
Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels |
38,937,638 | 2,882,264 | | 41,819,902 | ||||||||||||
Paper & Forest Products |
54,168 | | | 54,168 | ||||||||||||
Passenger Airlines |
| 1,279,760 | | 1,279,760 | ||||||||||||
Personal Care Products |
648,349 | 1,610,258 | | 2,258,607 | ||||||||||||
Pharmaceuticals |
23,162,280 | 22,209,249 | | 45,371,529 |
24 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued) November 30, 2023 |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Fair Value Hierarchy as of Period End (continued)
|
||||||||||||||||
Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Common Stocks (continued) |
||||||||||||||||
Professional Services |
$ | 5,261,429 | $ | 6,089,295 | $ | | $ | 11,350,724 | ||||||||
Real Estate Management & Development |
1,644,161 | 6,893,442 | | 8,537,603 | ||||||||||||
Residential REITs |
426,569 | | | 426,569 | ||||||||||||
Retail REITs |
511,509 | 78,339 | | 589,848 | ||||||||||||
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment |
41,279,502 | 11,894,209 | | 53,173,711 | ||||||||||||
Software |
65,509,489 | 8,157,775 | | 73,667,264 | ||||||||||||
Specialized REITs |
4,298,614 | | | 4,298,614 | ||||||||||||
Specialty Retail |
10,426,032 | 3,935,173 | | 14,361,205 | ||||||||||||
Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals |
56,843,196 | 604,691 | | 57,447,887 | ||||||||||||
Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods |
8,432,772 | 4,853,257 | | 13,286,029 | ||||||||||||
Trading Companies & Distributors |
432,404 | 537,004 | | 969,408 | ||||||||||||
Transportation Infrastructure |
695,349 | 702,792 | | 1,398,141 | ||||||||||||
Water Utilities |
344,081 | 902,540 | | 1,246,621 | ||||||||||||
Wireless Telecommunication Services |
| 2,294,639 | | 2,294,639 | ||||||||||||
Corporate Bonds |
| 289,910,062 | | 289,910,062 | ||||||||||||
Investment Companies |
33,858,761 | | | 33,858,761 | ||||||||||||
Preferred Securities |
||||||||||||||||
Preferred Stocks |
3,310,819 | 696,142 | | 4,006,961 | ||||||||||||
U.S. Government Sponsored Agency Securities |
| 123,065,994 | | 123,065,994 | ||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations |
| 188,007,652 | | 188,007,652 | ||||||||||||
Short-Term Securities |
||||||||||||||||
Money Market Funds |
47,222,902 | | | 47,222,902 | ||||||||||||
Liabilities |
||||||||||||||||
TBA Sale Commitments |
| (250,197 | ) | | (250,197 | ) | ||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
$ | 670,954,351 | $ | 857,043,441 | $ | | 1,527,997,792 | ||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Investments valued at NAV(a) |
1,348,500 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
$ | 1,529,346,292 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Derivative Financial Instruments(b) |
||||||||||||||||
Assets |
||||||||||||||||
Credit Contracts |
$ | | $ | 427,641 | $ | | $ | 427,641 | ||||||||
Equity Contracts |
| 7,615,226 | | 7,615,226 | ||||||||||||
Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts |
| 916,603 | | 916,603 | ||||||||||||
Interest Rate Contracts |
117,090 | | | 117,090 | ||||||||||||
Liabilities |
||||||||||||||||
Credit Contracts |
| (360,452 | ) | | (360,452 | ) | ||||||||||
Equity Contracts |
(890,828 | ) | | | (890,828 | ) | ||||||||||
Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts |
| (9,845 | ) | | (9,845 | ) | ||||||||||
Interest Rate Contracts |
(321,830 | ) | | | (321,830 | ) | ||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
$ | (1,095,568 | ) | $ | 8,589,173 | $ | | $ | 7,493,605 | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) | Certain investments of the Fund were fair valued using NAV as a practical expedient as no quoted market value is available and therefore have been excluded from the fair value hierarchy. |
(b) | Derivative financial instruments are swaps, futures contracts and forward foreign currency exchange contracts. Swaps, futures contracts and forward foreign currency exchange contracts are valued at the unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on the instrument. |
See notes to financial statements.
S C H E D U L E O F I N V E S T M E N T S |
25 |
Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited)
November 30, 2023
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
||||||
ASSETS |
||||||
Investments, at value unaffiliated(a)(b) |
$ | 1,447,166,326 | ||||
Investments, at value affiliated(c) |
82,430,163 | |||||
Cash |
117,561 | |||||
Cash pledged: |
||||||
Collateral TBA commitments |
27,000 | |||||
Futures contracts |
4,408,991 | |||||
Centrally cleared swaps |
1,644,000 | |||||
Foreign currency, at value(d) |
1,382,518 | |||||
Receivables: |
||||||
Investments sold |
21,936,182 | |||||
Securities lending income affiliated |
86 | |||||
TBA sale commitments |
248,406 | |||||
Capital shares sold |
677,208 | |||||
Dividends unaffiliated |
2,298,068 | |||||
Interest unaffiliated |
4,017,256 | |||||
Variation margin on futures contracts |
474,742 | |||||
Variation margin on centrally cleared swaps |
11,567 | |||||
Unrealized appreciation on: |
||||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
916,603 | |||||
OTC swaps |
7,615,226 | |||||
Prepaid expenses |
78,217 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Total assets |
1,575,450,120 | |||||
|
|
|||||
LIABILITIES |
||||||
Cash received: |
||||||
Collateral OTC derivatives |
7,020,000 | |||||
Collateral on securities loaned |
1,348,445 | |||||
TBA sale commitments at value(e) |
250,197 | |||||
Payables: |
||||||
Investments purchased |
60,396,351 | |||||
Swaps |
238,193 | |||||
Capital shares redeemed |
2,112,850 | |||||
Investment advisory fees |
492,494 | |||||
Directors and Officers fees |
5,557 | |||||
Other accrued expenses |
401,943 | |||||
Other affiliate fees |
27,209 | |||||
Professional fees |
26,715 | |||||
Service and distribution fees |
242,448 | |||||
Variation margin on futures contracts |
225,177 | |||||
Unrealized depreciation on forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
9,845 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Total liabilities |
72,797,424 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Commitments and contingent liabilities |
||||||
NET ASSETS |
$ | 1,502,652,696 | ||||
|
|
|||||
NET ASSETS CONSIST OF: |
||||||
Paid-in capital |
$ | 1,407,577,142 | ||||
Accumulated earnings |
95,075,554 | |||||
|
|
|||||
NET ASSETS |
$ | 1,502,652,696 | ||||
|
|
|||||
(a) Investments, at cost unaffiliated |
$ | 1,310,615,781 | ||||
(b) Securities loaned, at value |
$ | 1,274,171 | ||||
(c) Investments, at cost affiliated |
$ | 82,453,658 | ||||
(d) Foreign currency, at cost |
$ | 1,375,791 | ||||
(e) Proceeds from TBA sale commitments |
$ | 248,406 |
26 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) (continued)
November 30, 2023
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
||||||
NET ASSET VALUE |
||||||
Institutional |
||||||
Net assets |
$ | 485,860,993 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares outstanding |
20,290,482 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Net asset value |
$ | 23.95 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares authorized |
400 million | |||||
|
|
|||||
Par value |
$ | 0.10 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Investor A |
||||||
Net assets |
$ | 846,793,100 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares outstanding |
35,596,562 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Net asset value |
$ | 23.79 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares authorized |
200 million | |||||
|
|
|||||
Par value |
$ | 0.10 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Investor C |
||||||
Net assets |
$ | 84,984,111 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares outstanding |
4,379,027 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Net asset value |
$ | 19.41 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares authorized |
200 million | |||||
|
|
|||||
Par value |
$ | 0.10 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Class K |
||||||
Net assets |
$ | 74,475,933 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares outstanding |
3,109,751 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Net asset value |
$ | 23.95 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares authorized |
2 billion | |||||
|
|
|||||
Par value |
$ | 0.10 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Class R |
||||||
Net assets |
$ | 10,538,559 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares outstanding |
498,052 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Net asset value |
$ | 21.16 | ||||
|
|
|||||
Shares authorized |
500 million | |||||
|
|
|||||
Par value |
$ | 0.10 | ||||
|
|
See notes to financial statements.
F I N A N C I A L S T A T E M E N T S |
27 |
Statement of Operations (unaudited)
Six Months Ended November 30, 2023
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
||||||
INVESTMENT INCOME |
||||||
Dividends unaffiliated |
$ | 8,586,550 | ||||
Dividends affiliated |
886,238 | |||||
Interest unaffiliated |
11,984,005 | |||||
Securities lending income affiliated net |
1,239 | |||||
Foreign taxes withheld |
(203,396 | ) | ||||
|
|
|||||
Total investment income |
21,254,636 | |||||
|
|
|||||
EXPENSES |
||||||
Investment advisory |
3,155,170 | |||||
Service and distribution class specific |
1,518,844 | |||||
Transfer agent class specific |
583,346 | |||||
Custodian |
120,064 | |||||
Professional |
95,151 | |||||
Registration |
65,550 | |||||
Accounting services |
59,453 | |||||
Printing and postage |
34,867 | |||||
Directors and Officer |
9,728 | |||||
Miscellaneous |
22,357 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Total expenses excluding interest expense |
5,664,530 | |||||
Interest expense |
331 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Total expenses |
5,664,861 | |||||
Less: |
||||||
Fees waived and/or reimbursed by the Manager |
(87,947 | ) | ||||
|
|
|||||
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed |
5,576,914 | |||||
|
|
|||||
Net investment income |
15,677,722 | |||||
|
|
|||||
REALIZED AND UNREALIZED GAIN (LOSS) |
||||||
Net realized gain (loss) from: |
||||||
Investments unaffiliated |
6,766,659 | |||||
Investments affiliated |
(55,072 | ) | ||||
Futures contracts |
3,439,592 | |||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
(907,506 | ) | ||||
Foreign currency transactions |
(435,515 | ) | ||||
Swaps |
(4,199,591 | ) | ||||
|
|
|||||
4,608,567 | ||||||
|
|
|||||
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on: |
||||||
Investments unaffiliated |
43,815,670 | |||||
Investments affiliated |
2,153,596 | |||||
Futures contracts |
972,247 | |||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts |
753,095 | |||||
Foreign currency translations |
106,891 | |||||
Swaps |
8,644,800 | |||||
|
|
|||||
56,446,299 | ||||||
|
|
|||||
Net realized and unrealized gain |
61,054,866 | |||||
|
|
|||||
NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS |
$ | 76,732,588 | ||||
|
|
See notes to financial statements.
28 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
|||||||||
INCREASE (DECREASE) IN NET ASSETS |
||||||||||
OPERATIONS |
||||||||||
Net investment income |
$ | 15,677,722 | $ | 32,588,469 | ||||||
Net realized gain (loss) |
4,608,567 | (35,500,764 | ) | |||||||
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) |
56,446,299 | 5,623,364 | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations |
76,732,588 | 2,711,069 | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
DISTRIBUTIONS TO SHAREHOLDERS(a) |
||||||||||
Institutional |
(11,056,750 | ) | (19,293,205 | ) | ||||||
Investor A |
(16,974,035 | ) | (31,746,349 | ) | ||||||
Investor C |
(1,493,830 | ) | (4,159,590 | ) | ||||||
Class K |
(1,707,273 | ) | (2,592,592 | ) | ||||||
Class R |
(197,523 | ) | (411,460 | ) | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
Decrease in net assets resulting from distributions to shareholders |
(31,429,411 | ) | (58,203,196 | ) | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
CAPITAL SHARE TRANSACTIONS |
||||||||||
Net decrease in net assets derived from capital share transactions |
(47,708,047 | ) | (108,277,844 | ) | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
NET ASSETS |
||||||||||
Total decrease in net assets |
(2,404,870 | ) | (163,769,971 | ) | ||||||
Beginning of period |
1,505,057,566 | 1,668,827,537 | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
End of period |
$ | 1,502,652,696 | $ | 1,505,057,566 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
(a) | Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations. |
See notes to financial statements.
F I N A N C I A L S T A T E M E N T S |
29 |
(For a share outstanding throughout each period)
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Year Ended 09/30/18 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 23.22 | $ | 23.94 | $ | 28.28 | $ | 24.89 | $ | 23.32 | $ | 23.95 | $ | 26.09 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Net investment income(a) |
0.27 | 0.53 | 0.19 | 0.23 | 0.33 | 0.48 | 0.47 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
0.99 | (0.40 | ) | (1.27 | ) | 4.22 | 2.47 | 0.52 | 1.89 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations |
1.26 | 0.13 | (1.08 | ) | 4.45 | 2.80 | 1.00 | 2.36 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Distributions(b) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From net investment income |
(0.53 | ) | (0.13 | ) | (0.11 | ) | (0.24 | ) | (0.37 | ) | (0.41 | ) | (0.47 | ) | ||||||||||||||
From net realized gain |
| (0.72 | ) | (3.15 | ) | (0.82 | ) | (0.86 | ) | (1.22 | ) | (4.03 | ) | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Total distributions |
(0.53 | ) | (0.85 | ) | (3.26 | ) | (1.06 | ) | (1.23 | ) | (1.63 | ) | (4.50 | ) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 23.95 | $ | 23.22 | $ | 23.94 | $ | 28.28 | $ | 24.89 | $ | 23.32 | $ | 23.95 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Total Return(c) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Based on net asset value |
5.42 | %(d) | 0.83 | % | (4.88 | )%(d) | 18.30 | % | 12.35 | % | 5.16 | % | 10.14 | % | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Ratios to Average Net Assets(e) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total expenses |
0.55 | %(f) | 0.55 | % | 0.71 | %(f)(g) | 0.75 | %(h) | 0.78 | %(i) | 0.80 | % | 0.91 | % | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed |
0.54 | %(f) | 0.54 | % | 0.50 | %(f)(g) | 0.50 | %(h) | 0.52 | %(i) | 0.53 | % | 0.62 | % | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Net investment income |
2.29 | %(f) | 2.34 | % | 1.08 | %(f)(g) | 0.85 | %(h) | 1.42 | %(i) | 2.11 | % | 1.97 | % | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Supplemental Data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net assets, end of period (000) |
$ | 485,861 | $ | 490,719 | $ | 554,201 | $ | 666,819 | $ | 568,977 | $ | 488,105 | $ | 427,511 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate of the Fund |
66 | %(j) | 152 | %(j) | 296 | %(k) | | %(k) | | %(k) | 4 | %(k) | 140 | %(k) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Total Return Portfolio(j) |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 459 | % | 556 | % | 574 | % | 734 | % | |||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Advantage Large Cap Core Portfolio |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 111 | % | 99 | % | 151 | % | 148 | % | |||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) | Based on average shares outstanding. |
(b) | Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations. |
(c) | Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions. |
(d) | Not annualized. |
(e) | Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds. |
(f) | Annualized. |
(g) | From October 1, 2021 through April 1, 2022, the Fund invested in the Master Advantage Large Cap Core Portfolio and the Master Total Return Portfolio (the Master Portfolios) as part of a master-feeder structure and received its corresponding allocated fees waived and expenses and/or net investment income from the Master Portfolios. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(h) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(i) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of 0.01%. |
(j) | Includes mortgage dollar roll transactions (MDRs). Additional information regarding portfolio turnover rate is as follows: |
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Year Ended 09/30/18 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate (excluding MDRs) |
50 | % | 117 | % | N/A | 161 | % | 274 | % | 241 | % | 350 | % | |||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(k) | Excludes transactions in the Master Portfolios. |
See notes to financial statements.
30 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Financial Highlights (continued)
(For a share outstanding throughout each period)
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (continued) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Investor A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Year Ended 09/30/18 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 23.05 | $ | 23.79 | $ | 28.14 | $ | 24.78 | $ | 23.22 | $ | 23.86 | $ | 26.00 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Net investment income(a) |
0.24 | 0.47 | 0.15 | 0.16 | 0.27 | 0.41 | 0.40 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
0.97 | (0.38 | ) | (1.27 | ) | 4.20 | 2.46 | 0.52 | 1.89 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations |
1.21 | 0.09 | (1.12 | ) | 4.36 | 2.73 | 0.93 | 2.29 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Distributions(b) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From net investment income |
(0.47 | ) | (0.11 | ) | (0.08 | ) | (0.18 | ) | (0.31 | ) | (0.35 | ) | (0.40 | ) | ||||||||||||||
From net realized gain |
| (0.72 | ) | (3.15 | ) | (0.82 | ) | (0.86 | ) | (1.22 | ) | (4.03 | ) | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Total distributions |
(0.47 | ) | (0.83 | ) | (3.23 | ) | (1.00 | ) | (1.17 | ) | (1.57 | ) | (4.43 | ) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 23.79 | $ | 23.05 | $ | 23.79 | $ | 28.14 | $ | 24.78 | $ | 23.22 | $ | 23.86 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Total Return(c) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Based on net asset value |
5.24 | %(d) | 0.63 | % | (5.06 | )%(d) | 17.98 | % | 12.08 | % | 4.84 | % | 9.86 | % | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Ratios to Average Net Assets(e) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total expenses |
0.80 | %(f) | 0.80 | % | 0.95 | %(f)(g) | 1.01 | %(h) | 1.04 | %(i) | 1.07 | %(i) | 1.20 | %(h) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed |
0.79 | %(f) | 0.79 | % | 0.75 | %(f)(g) | 0.76 | %(h) | 0.79 | %(i) | 0.80 | %(i) | 0.91 | %(h) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Net investment income |
2.04 | %(f) | 2.09 | % | 0.84 | %(f)(g) | 0.59 | %(h) | 1.15 | %(i) | 1.83 | %(i) | 1.68 | %(h) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Supplemental Data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net assets, end of period (000) |
$ | 846,793 | $ | 844,573 | $ | 922,198 | $ | 952,967 | $ | 737,708 | $ | 594,909 | $ | 528,701 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate of the Fund |
66 | %(j) | 152 | %(j) | 296 | %(k) | | %(k) | | %(k) | 4 | %(k) | 140 | %(k) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Total Return Portfolio(j) |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 459 | % | 556 | % | 574 | % | 734 | % | |||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Advantage Large Cap Core Portfolio |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 111 | % | 99 | % | 151 | % | 148 | % | |||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) | Based on average shares outstanding. |
(b) | Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations. |
(c) | Where applicable, excludes the effects of any sales charges and assumes the reinvestment of distributions. |
(d) | Not annualized. |
(e) | Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds. |
(f) | Annualized. |
(g) | From October 1, 2021 through April 1, 2022, the Fund invested in the Master Portfolios as part of a master-feeder structure and received its corresponding allocated fees waived and expenses and/or net investment income from the Master Portfolios. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(h) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(i) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of 0.01%. |
(j) | Includes MDRs. Additional information regarding portfolio turnover rate is as follows: |
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Year Ended 09/30/18 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate (excluding MDRs) |
50 | % | 117 | % | N/A | 161 | % | 274 | % | 241 | % | 350 | % | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(k) | Excludes transactions in the Master Portfolios. |
See notes to financial statements.
F I N A N C I A L H I G H L I G H T S |
31 |
Financial Highlights (continued)
(For a share outstanding throughout each period)
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (continued) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Investor C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Year Ended 09/30/18 |
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Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 18.82 | $ | 19.67 | $ | 23.81 | $ | 21.15 | $ | 20.00 | $ | 20.79 | $ | 23.21 | ||||||||||||||
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Net investment income (loss)(a) |
0.12 | 0.24 | 0.01 | (0.04 | ) | 0.08 | 0.21 | 0.19 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
0.79 | (0.33 | ) | (1.01 | ) | 3.57 | 2.10 | 0.43 | 1.67 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Net increase (decrease) from investment operations |
0.91 | (0.09 | ) | (1.00 | ) | 3.53 | 2.18 | 0.64 | 1.86 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Distributions(b) |
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From net investment income |
(0.32 | ) | (0.04 | ) | | (0.05 | ) | (0.17 | ) | (0.21 | ) | (0.25 | ) | |||||||||||||||
From net realized gain |
| (0.72 | ) | (3.14 | ) | (0.82 | ) | (0.86 | ) | (1.22 | ) | (4.03 | ) | |||||||||||||||
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Total distributions |
(0.32 | ) | (0.76 | ) | (3.14 | ) | (0.87 | ) | (1.03 | ) | (1.43 | ) | (4.28 | ) | ||||||||||||||
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Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 19.41 | $ | 18.82 | $ | 19.67 | $ | 23.81 | $ | 21.15 | $ | 20.00 | $ | 20.79 | ||||||||||||||
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Total Return(c) |
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Based on net asset value |
4.85 | %(d) | (0.18 | )% | (5.49 | )%(d) | 17.07 | % | 11.20 | % | 4.09 | % | 9.03 | % | ||||||||||||||
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Ratios to Average Net Assets(e) |
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Total expenses |
1.58 | %(f) | 1.56 | % | 1.72 | %(f)(g) | 1.78 | %(h) | 1.80 | %(i) | 1.83 | % | 1.95 | % | ||||||||||||||
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Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed |
1.57 | %(f) | 1.55 | % | 1.52 | %(f)(g) | 1.52 | %(h) | 1.55 | %(i) | 1.56 | % | 1.66 | % | ||||||||||||||
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Net investment income (loss) |
1.26 | %(f) | 1.33 | % | 0.07 | %(f)(g) | (0.17 | )%(h) | 0.41 | %(i) | 1.07 | % | 0.93 | % | ||||||||||||||
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Supplemental Data |
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Net assets, end of period (000) |
$ | 84,984 | $ | 88,603 | $ | 110,628 | $ | 134,700 | $ | 126,159 | $ | 125,584 | $ | 103,756 | ||||||||||||||
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Portfolio turnover rate of the Fund |
66 | %(j) | 152 | %(j) | 296 | %(k) | | %(k) | | %(k) | 4 | %(k) | 140 | %(k) | ||||||||||||||
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Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Total Return Portfolio(j) |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 459 | % | 556 | % | 574 | % | 734 | % | |||||||||||||||||
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Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Advantage Large Cap Core Portfolio |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 111 | % | 99 | % | 151 | % | 148 | % | |||||||||||||||||
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(a) | Based on average shares outstanding. |
(b) | Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations. |
(c) | Where applicable, excludes the effects of any sales charges and assumes the reinvestment of distributions. |
(d) | Not annualized. |
(e) | Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds. |
(f) | Annualized. |
(g) | From October 1, 2021 through April 1, 2022, the Fund invested in the Master Portfolios as part of a master-feeder structure and received its corresponding allocated fees waived and expenses and/or net investment income from the Master Portfolios. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(h) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(i) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of 0.01%. |
(j) | Includes MDRs. Additional information regarding portfolio turnover rate is as follows: |
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Year Ended 09/30/18 |
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Portfolio turnover rate (excluding MDRs) |
50 | % | 117 | % | N/A | 161 | % | 274 | % | 241 | % | 350 | % | |||||||||||||||
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(k) | Excludes transactions in the Master Portfolios. |
See notes to financial statements.
32 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Financial Highlights (continued)
(For a share outstanding throughout each period)
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (continued) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class K | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Period from 01/25/18(a) to 09/30/18 |
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Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 23.23 | $ | 23.94 | $ | 28.28 | $ | 24.89 | $ | 23.32 | $ | 23.95 | $ | 23.61 | ||||||||||||||
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Net investment income(b) |
0.28 | 0.54 | 0.20 | 0.25 | 0.34 | 0.49 | 0.33 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
0.98 | (0.39 | ) | (1.27 | ) | 4.22 | 2.47 | 0.52 | 0.25 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Net increase (decrease) from investment operations |
1.26 | 0.15 | (1.07 | ) | 4.47 | 2.81 | 1.01 | 0.58 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Distributions(c) |
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From net investment income |
(0.54 | ) | (0.14 | ) | (0.12 | ) | (0.26 | ) | (0.38 | ) | (0.42 | ) | (0.24 | ) | ||||||||||||||
From net realized gain |
| (0.72 | ) | (3.15 | ) | (0.82 | ) | (0.86 | ) | (1.22 | ) | | ||||||||||||||||
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Total distributions |
(0.54 | ) | (0.86 | ) | (3.27 | ) | (1.08 | ) | (1.24 | ) | (1.64 | ) | (0.24 | ) | ||||||||||||||
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Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 23.95 | $ | 23.23 | $ | 23.94 | $ | 28.28 | $ | 24.89 | $ | 23.32 | $ | 23.95 | ||||||||||||||
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Total Return(d) |
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Based on net asset value |
5.44 | %(e) | 0.91 | % | (4.84 | )%(e) | 18.36 | % | 12.42 | % | 5.23 | % | 2.46 | %(e) | ||||||||||||||
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Ratios to Average Net Assets(f) |
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Total expenses |
0.48 | %(g) | 0.49 | % | 0.64 | %(g)(h) | 0.69 | %(i) | 0.72 | %(j) | 0.73 | % | 0.81 | %(g) | ||||||||||||||
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Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed |
0.47 | %(g) | 0.47 | % | 0.44 | %(g)(h) | 0.44 | %(i) | 0.46 | %(j) | 0.46 | % | 0.51 | %(g) | ||||||||||||||
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Net investment income |
2.36 | %(g) | 2.41 | % | 1.15 | %(g)(h) | 0.90 | %(i) | 1.47 | %(j) | 2.15 | % | 2.07 | %(g) | ||||||||||||||
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Supplemental Data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net assets, end of period (000) |
$ | 74,476 | $ | 70,918 | $ | 70,740 | $ | 72,222 | $ | 36,970 | $ | 21,901 | $ | 8,283 | ||||||||||||||
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Portfolio turnover rate of the Fund |
66 | %(k) | 152 | %(k) | 296 | %(l) | | %(l) | | %(l) | 4 | %(l) | 140 | %(l)(m) | ||||||||||||||
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Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Total Return Portfolio(k) |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 459 | % | 556 | % | 574 | % | 734 | %(m) | |||||||||||||||||
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Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Advantage Large Cap Core Portfolio |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 111 | % | 99 | % | 151 | % | 148 | %(m) | |||||||||||||||||
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|
(a) | Commencement of operations. |
(b) | Based on average shares outstanding. |
(c) | Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations. |
(d) | Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions. |
(e) | Not annualized. |
(f) | Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds. |
(g) | Annualized. |
(h) | From October 1, 2021 through April 1, 2022, the Fund invested in the Master Portfolios as part of a master-feeder structure and received its corresponding allocated fees waived and expenses and/or net investment income from the Master Portfolios. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(i) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(j) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of 0.01%. |
(k) | Includes MDRs. Additional information regarding portfolio turnover rate is as follows: |
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Period from 01/25/18(a) to 09/30/18 |
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Portfolio turnover rate (excluding MDRs) |
50 | % | 117 | % | N/A | 161 | % | 274 | % | 241 | % | 350 | % | |||||||||||||||
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(l) | Excludes transactions in the Master Portfolios. |
(m) | Portfolio turnover is representative of the Fund for the entire year. |
See notes to financial statements.
F I N A N C I A L H I G H L I G H T S |
33 |
Financial Highlights (continued)
(For a share outstanding throughout each period)
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (continued) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Year Ended 09/30/18 |
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Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 20.52 | $ | 21.32 | $ | 25.55 | $ | 22.59 | $ | 21.27 | $ | 22.00 | $ | 24.30 | ||||||||||||||
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Net investment income(a) |
0.17 | 0.34 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 0.17 | 0.31 | 0.29 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
0.87 | (0.35 | ) | (1.12 | ) | 3.83 | 2.24 | 0.46 | 1.77 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Net increase (decrease) from investment operations |
1.04 | (0.01 | ) | (1.05 | ) | 3.88 | 2.41 | 0.77 | 2.06 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Distributions(b) |
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From net investment income |
(0.40 | ) | (0.07 | ) | (0.03 | ) | (0.10 | ) | (0.23 | ) | (0.28 | ) | (0.33 | ) | ||||||||||||||
From net realized gain |
| (0.72 | ) | (3.15 | ) | (0.82 | ) | (0.86 | ) | (1.22 | ) | (4.03 | ) | |||||||||||||||
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Total distributions |
(0.40 | ) | (0.79 | ) | (3.18 | ) | (0.92 | ) | (1.09 | ) | (1.50 | ) | (4.36 | ) | ||||||||||||||
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Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 21.16 | $ | 20.52 | $ | 21.32 | $ | 25.55 | $ | 22.59 | $ | 21.27 | $ | 22.00 | ||||||||||||||
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Total Return(c) |
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Based on net asset value |
5.05 | %(d) | 0.24 | % | (5.32 | )%(d) | 17.56 | % | 11.67 | % | 4.47 | % | 9.51 | % | ||||||||||||||
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Ratios to Average Net Assets(e) |
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Total expenses |
1.18 | %(f) | 1.19 | % | 1.35 | %(f)(g) | 1.39 | %(h) | 1.40 | %(i) | 1.41 | %(i) | 1.55 | %(h) | ||||||||||||||
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Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed |
1.17 | %(f) | 1.18 | % | 1.14 | %(f)(g) | 1.13 | %(h) | 1.15 | %(i) | 1.14 | %(i) | 1.26 | %(h) | ||||||||||||||
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Net investment income |
1.66 | %(f) | 1.71 | % | 0.44 | %(f)(g) | 0.21 | %(h) | 0.82 | %(i) | 1.50 | %(i) | 1.33 | %(h) | ||||||||||||||
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Supplemental Data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net assets, end of period (000) |
$ | 10,539 | $ | 10,245 | $ | 11,061 | $ | 13,132 | $ | 11,840 | $ | 11,833 | $ | 14,363 | ||||||||||||||
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Portfolio turnover rate of the Fund |
66 | %(j) | 152 | %(j) | 296 | %(k) | | %(k) | | %(k) | 4 | %(k) | 140 | %(k) | ||||||||||||||
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Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Total Return Portfolio(j) |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 459 | % | 556 | % | 574 | % | 734 | % | |||||||||||||||||
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|
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Portfolio turnover rate of the Master Advantage Large Cap Core Portfolio |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 111 | % | 99 | % | 151 | % | 148 | % | |||||||||||||||||
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|
|
|
|
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|
|
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|
|
(a) | Based on average shares outstanding. |
(b) | Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations. |
(c) | Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions. |
(d) | Not annualized. |
(e) | Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds. |
(f) | Annualized. |
(g) | From October 1, 2021 through April 1, 2022, the Fund invested in the Master Portfolios as part of a master-feeder structure and received its corresponding allocated fees waived and expenses and/or net investment income from the Master Portfolios. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(h) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of less than 0.01%. |
(i) | Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated expenses and/or net investment income. Includes the Funds share of the Master Portfolios allocated fees waived of 0.01%. |
(j) | Includes MDRs. Additional information regarding portfolio turnover rate is as follows: |
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 (unaudited) |
Year Ended 05/31/23 |
Period from 10/01/21 to 05/31/22 |
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
Year Ended 09/30/20 |
Year Ended 09/30/19 |
Year Ended 09/30/18 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate (excluding MDRs) |
50 | % | 117 | % | N/A | 161 | % | 274 | % | 241 | % | 350 | % | |||||||||||||||
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(k) | Excludes transactions in the Master Portfolios. |
See notes to financial statements.
34 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited)
1. | ORGANIZATION |
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (the Fund) is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), as an open-end management investment company. The Fund is organized as a Maryland corporation. The Fund is classified as diversified.
The Fund offers multiple classes of shares. All classes of shares have identical voting, dividend, liquidation and other rights and are subject to the same terms and conditions, except that certain classes bear expenses related to the shareholder servicing and distribution of such shares. Institutional and Class K Shares are sold only to certain eligible investors. Investor A, Investor C and Class R Shares bear certain expenses related to shareholder servicing of such shares, and Investor C and Class R Shares also bear certain expenses related to the distribution of such shares. Investor A and Investor C Shares are generally available through financial intermediaries. Class R Shares are sold only to certain employer-sponsored retirement plans. Each class has exclusive voting rights with respect to matters relating to its shareholder servicing and distribution expenditures (except that Investor C shareholders may vote on material changes to the Investor A Shares distribution and service plan).
| ||||||
Share Class | Initial Sales Charge | CDSC | Conversion Privilege | |||
| ||||||
Institutional, Class K and Class R Shares |
No | No | None | |||
Investor A Shares |
Yes | No(a) | None | |||
Investor C Shares |
No | Yes(b) | To Investor A Shares after approximately 8 years | |||
|
(a) | Investor A Shares may be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) for certain redemptions where no initial sales charge was paid at the time of purchase. |
(b) | A CDSC of 1.00% is assessed on certain redemptions of Investor C Shares made within one year after purchase. |
The Board of Directors of the Fund is referred to throughout this report as the Board and the members are referred to as Directors.
The Fund, together with certain other registered investment companies advised by the BlackRock Advisors, LLC (the Manager) or its affiliates, is included in a complex of funds referred to as the BlackRock Multi-Asset Complex.
2. | SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES |
The financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP), which may require management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities in the financial statements, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The Fund is considered an investment company under U.S. GAAP and follows the accounting and reporting guidance applicable to investment companies. Below is a summary of significant accounting policies:
Investment Transactions and Income Recognition: For financial reporting purposes, investment transactions are recorded on the dates the transactions are executed (the trade dates). Realized gains and losses on investment transactions are determined using the specific identification method. Dividend income and capital gain distributions, if any, are recorded on the ex-dividend dates. Non-cash dividends, if any, are recorded on the ex-dividend dates at fair value. Dividends from foreign securities where the ex-dividend dates may have passed are subsequently recorded when the Fund is informed of the ex-dividend dates. Under the applicable foreign tax laws, a withholding tax at various rates may be imposed on capital gains, dividends and interest. Upon notification from issuers, a portion of the dividend income received from a real estate investment trust may be redesignated as a reduction of cost of the related investment and/or realized gain. Interest income, including amortization and accretion of premiums and discounts on debt securities, is recognized daily on an accrual basis. Income, expenses and realized and unrealized gains and losses are allocated daily to each class based on its relative net assets.
Foreign Currency Translation: The Funds books and records are maintained in U.S. dollars. Securities and other assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars using exchange rates determined as of the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Purchases and sales of investments are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions. Generally, when the U.S. dollar rises in value against a foreign currency, the investments denominated in that currency will lose value; the opposite effect occurs if the U.S. dollar falls in relative value.
The Fund does not isolate the effect of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates from the effect of fluctuations in the market prices of investments for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, the effects of changes in exchange rates on investments are not segregated in the Statement of Operations from the effects of changes in market prices of those investments, but are included as a component of net realized and unrealized gain (loss) from investments. The Fund reports realized currency gains (losses) on foreign currency related transactions as components of net realized gain (loss) for financial reporting purposes, whereas such components are generally treated as ordinary income for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Foreign Taxes: The Fund may be subject to foreign taxes (a portion of which may be reclaimable) on income, stock dividends, capital gains on investments, or certain foreign currency transactions. All foreign taxes are recorded in accordance with the applicable foreign tax regulations and rates that exist in the foreign jurisdictions in which the Fund invests. These foreign taxes, if any, are paid by the Fund and are reflected in its Statement of Operations as follows: foreign taxes withheld at source are presented as a reduction of income, foreign taxes on securities lending income are presented as a reduction of securities lending income, foreign taxes on stock dividends are presented as Foreign taxes withheld, and foreign taxes on capital gains from sales of investments and foreign taxes on foreign currency transactions are included in their respective net realized gain (loss) categories. Foreign taxes payable or deferred as of November 30, 2023, if any, are disclosed in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
The Fund files withholding tax reclaims in certain jurisdictions to recover a portion of amounts previously withheld. The Fund may record a reclaim receivable based on collectability, which includes factors such as the jurisdictions applicable laws, payment history and market convention. The Statement of Operations includes tax reclaims recorded as well as professional and other fees, if any, associated with recovery of foreign withholding taxes.
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35 |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
Bank Overdraft: The Fund had outstanding cash disbursements exceeding deposited cash amounts at the custodian during the reporting period. The Fund is obligated to repay the custodian for any overdraft, including any related costs or expenses, where applicable. For financial reporting purposes, overdraft fees, if any, are included in interest expense in the Statement of Operations.
Collateralization: If required by an exchange or counterparty agreement, the Fund may be required to deliver/deposit cash and/or securities to/with an exchange, or broker-dealer or custodian as collateral for certain investments.
Distributions: Distributions paid by the Fund are recorded on the ex-dividend dates. The character and timing of distributions are determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. GAAP.
Indemnifications: In the normal course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of representations that provide general indemnification. The Funds maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown because it involves future potential claims against the Fund, which cannot be predicted with any certainty.
Other: Expenses directly related to the Fund or its classes are charged to the Fund or the applicable class. Expenses directly related to the Fund and other shared expenses prorated to the Fund are allocated daily to each class based on its relative net assets or other appropriate methods. Other operating expenses shared by several funds, including other funds managed by the Manager, are prorated among those funds on the basis of relative net assets or other appropriate methods.
The Fund has an arrangement with its custodian whereby credits are earned on uninvested cash balances, which could be used to reduce custody fees and/or overdraft charges. The Fund may incur charges on overdrafts, subject to certain conditions.
3. | INVESTMENT VALUATION AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS |
Investment Valuation Policies: The Funds investments are valued at fair value (also referred to as market value within the financial statements) each day that the Fund is open for business and, for financial reporting purposes, as of the report date. U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price a fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The Board has approved the designation of the Funds Manager as the valuation designee for the Fund. The Fund determines the fair values of its financial instruments using various independent dealers or pricing services under the Managers policies. If a securitys market price is not readily available or does not otherwise accurately represent the fair value of the security, the security will be valued in accordance with the Managers policies and procedures as reflecting fair value. The Manager has formed a committee (the Valuation Committee) to develop pricing policies and procedures and to oversee the pricing function for all financial instruments, with assistance from other BlackRock pricing committees.
Fair Value Inputs and Methodologies: The following methods and inputs are used to establish the fair value of the Funds assets and liabilities:
| Equity investments traded on a recognized securities exchange are valued at that days official closing price, as applicable, on the exchange where the stock is primarily traded. Equity investments traded on a recognized exchange for which there were no sales on that day may be valued at the last available bid (long positions) or ask (short positions) price. |
| Fixed-income investments for which market quotations are readily available are generally valued using the last available bid price or current market quotations provided by independent dealers or third-party pricing services. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but a fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots may trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The pricing services may use matrix pricing or valuation models that utilize certain inputs and assumptions to derive values, including transaction data (e.g., recent representative bids and offers), market data, credit quality information, perceived market movements, news, and other relevant information. Certain fixed-income securities, including asset-backed and mortgage related securities may be valued based on valuation models that consider the estimated cash flows of each tranche of the entity, establish a benchmark yield and develop an estimated tranche specific spread to the benchmark yield based on the unique attributes of the tranche. The amortized cost method of valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less remaining to maturity unless the Manager determines such method does not represent fair value. |
| Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and closed-end funds traded on a recognized securities exchange are valued at that days official closing price, as applicable, on the exchange where the stock is primarily traded. ETFs and closed-end funds traded on a recognized exchange for which there were no sales on that day may be valued at the last available bid (long positions) or ask (short positions) price. |
| Investments in open-end U.S. mutual funds (including money market funds) are valued at that days published net asset value (NAV). |
| The Fund values its investment in SL Liquidity Series, LLC, Money Market Series (the Money Market Series) at fair value, which is ordinarily based upon its pro rata ownership in the underlying funds net assets. |
| Futures contracts are valued based on that days last reported settlement or trade price on the exchange where the contract is traded. |
| Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are valued at the mean between the bid and ask prices and are determined as of the close of trading on the NYSE based on that days prevailing forward exchange rate for the underlying currencies. |
| Swap agreements are valued utilizing quotes received daily by independent pricing services or through brokers, which are derived using daily swap curves and models that incorporate a number of market data factors, such as discounted cash flows, trades and values of the underlying reference instruments. |
Generally, trading in foreign instruments is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of trading on the NYSE. Each business day, the Fund uses current market factors supplied by independent pricing services to value certain foreign instruments (Systematic Fair Value Price). The Systematic Fair Value Price is designed to value such foreign securities at fair value as of the close of trading on the NYSE, which follows the close of the local markets.
If events (e.g., market volatility, company announcement or a natural disaster) occur that are expected to materially affect the value of such investment, or in the event that application of these methods of valuation results in a price for an investment that is deemed not to be representative of the market value of such investment, or if a price is not
36 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
available, the investment will be valued by the Valuation Committee in accordance with the Managers policies and procedures as reflecting fair value (Fair Valued Investments). The fair valuation approaches that may be used by the Valuation Committee include market approach, income approach and cost approach. Valuation techniques such as discounted cash flow, use of market comparables and matrix pricing are types of valuation approaches and are typically used in determining fair value. When determining the price for Fair Valued Investments, the Valuation Committee seeks to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive or pay from the current sale or purchase of that asset or liability in an arms-length transaction. Fair value determinations shall be based upon all available factors that the Valuation Committee deems relevant and consistent with the principles of fair value measurement.
For investments in equity or debt issued by privately held companies or funds (Private Company or collectively, the Private Companies) and other Fair Valued Investments, the fair valuation approaches that are used by the Valuation Committee and third-party pricing services utilized by the Valuation Committee include one or a combination of, but not limited to, the following inputs.
Standard Inputs Generally Considered By The Valuation Committee And Third-Party Pricing Services | ||||
Market approach |
(i) | recent market transactions, including subsequent rounds of financing, in the underlying investment or comparable issuers; | ||
(ii) | recapitalizations and other transactions across the capital structure; and | |||
(iii) | market multiples of comparable issuers. | |||
Income approach |
(i) | future cash flows discounted to present and adjusted as appropriate for liquidity, credit, and/or market risks; | ||
(ii) | quoted prices for similar investments or assets in active markets; and | |||
(iii) | other risk factors, such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks, recovery rates, liquidation amounts and/or default rates. | |||
Cost approach |
(i) | audited or unaudited financial statements, investor communications and financial or operational metrics issued by the Private Company; | ||
(ii) | changes in the valuation of relevant indices or publicly traded companies comparable to the Private Company; | |||
(iii) | relevant news and other public sources; and | |||
(iv) | known secondary market transactions in the Private Companys interests and merger or acquisition activity in companies comparable to the Private Company. |
Investments in series of preferred stock issued by Private Companies are typically valued utilizing market approach in determining the enterprise value of the company. Such investments often contain rights and preferences that differ from other series of preferred and common stock of the same issuer. Enterprise valuation techniques such as an option pricing model (OPM), a probability weighted expected return model (PWERM), current value method or a hybrid of those techniques are used as deemed appropriate under the circumstances. The use of these valuation techniques involve a determination of the exit scenarios of the investment in order to appropriately allocate the enterprise value of the company among the various parts of its capital structure.
The Private Companies are not subject to the public company disclosure, timing, and reporting standards applicable to other investments held by the Fund. Typically, the most recently available information by a Private Company is as of a date that is earlier than the date the Fund is calculating its NAV. This factor may result in a difference between the value of the investment and the price the Fund could receive upon the sale of the investment.
Fair Value Hierarchy: Various inputs are used in determining the fair value of financial instruments. These inputs to valuation techniques are categorized into a fair value hierarchy consisting of three broad levels for financial reporting purposes as follows:
| Level 1 Unadjusted price quotations in active markets/exchanges for identical assets or liabilities that the Fund has the ability to access; |
| Level 2 Other observable inputs (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other marketcorroborated inputs); and |
| Level 3 Unobservable inputs based on the best information available in the circumstances, to the extent observable inputs are not available (including the Valuation Committees assumptions used in determining the fair value of financial instruments). |
The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). Accordingly, the degree of judgment exercised in determining fair value is greatest for instruments categorized in Level 3. The inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, for disclosure purposes, the fair value hierarchy classification is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. Investments classified within Level 3 have significant unobservable inputs used by the Valuation Committee in determining the price for Fair Valued Investments. Level 3 investments include equity or debt issued by Private Companies that may not have a secondary market and/or may have a limited number of investors. The categorization of a value determined for financial instruments is based on the pricing transparency of the financial instruments and is not necessarily an indication of the risks associated with investing in those securities.
As of November 30, 2023, certain investments of the Fund were fair valued using NAV as a practical expedient as no quoted market value is available and therefore have been excluded from the fair value hierarchy.
4. | SECURITIES AND OTHER INVESTMENTS |
Mortgage-Backed Securities: For mortgage pass-through securities (the Mortgage Assets) there are a number of important differences among the agencies and instrumentalities of the U.S. Government that issue mortgage-related securities and among the securities that they issue. For example, mortgage-related securities guaranteed by Ginnie Mae are guaranteed as to the timely payment of principal and interest by Ginnie Mae and such guarantee is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. However, mortgage-related securities issued by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, including Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae guaranteed mortgage pass-through
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37 |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
certificates, which are solely the obligations of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, are not backed by or entitled to the full faith and credit of the United States, but are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury.
Preferred Stocks: Preferred stock has a preference over common stock in liquidation (and generally in receiving dividends as well), but is subordinated to the liabilities of the issuer in all respects. As a general rule, the market value of preferred stock with a fixed dividend rate and no conversion element varies inversely with interest rates and perceived credit risk, while the market price of convertible preferred stock generally also reflects some element of conversion value. Because preferred stock is junior to debt securities and other obligations of the issuer, deterioration in the credit quality of the issuer will cause greater changes in the value of a preferred stock than in a more senior debt security with similar stated yield characteristics. Unlike interest payments on debt securities, preferred stock dividends are payable only if declared by the issuers board of directors. Preferred stock also may be subject to optional or mandatory redemption provisions.
TBA Commitments: TBA commitments are forward agreements for the purchase or sale of securities, including mortgage-backed securities for a fixed price, with payment and delivery on an agreed upon future settlement date. The specific securities to be delivered are not identified at the trade date. However, delivered securities must meet specified terms, including issuer, rate and mortgage terms. When entering into TBA commitments, a fund may take possession of or deliver the underlying mortgage-backed securities but can extend the settlement or roll the transaction. TBA commitments involve a risk of loss if the value of the security to be purchased or sold declines or increases, respectively, prior to settlement date, if there are expenses or delays in connection with the TBA transactions, or if the counterparty fails to complete the transaction.
In order to better define contractual rights and to secure rights that will help a fund mitigate its counterparty risk, TBA commitments may be entered into by a fund under Master Securities Forward Transaction Agreements (each, an MSFTA). An MSFTA typically contains, among other things, collateral posting terms and netting provisions in the event of default and/or termination event. The collateral requirements are typically calculated by netting the mark-to-market amount for each transaction under such agreement and comparing that amount to the value of the collateral currently pledged by a fund and the counterparty. Cash collateral that has been pledged to cover the obligations of a fund and cash collateral received from the counterparty, if any, is reported separately in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as cash pledged as collateral for TBA commitments or cash received as collateral for TBA commitments, respectively. Non-cash collateral pledged by a fund, if any, is noted in the Schedule of Investments. Typically, a fund is permitted to sell, re-pledge or use the collateral it receives; however, the counterparty is not permitted to do so. To the extent amounts due to a fund are not fully collateralized, contractually or otherwise, a fund bears the risk of loss from counterparty non-performance.
Mortgage Dollar Roll Transactions: The Fund may sell TBA mortgage-backed securities and simultaneously contract to repurchase substantially similar (i.e., same type, coupon and maturity) securities on a specific future date at an agreed upon price. During the period between the sale and repurchase, a fund is not entitled to receive interest and principal payments on the securities sold. Mortgage dollar roll transactions are treated as purchases and sales and a fund realizes gains and losses on these transactions. Mortgage dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities that a fund is required to purchase may decline below the agreed upon repurchase price of those securities.
Securities Lending: The Fund may lend its securities to approved borrowers, such as brokers, dealers and other financial institutions. The borrower pledges and maintains with the Fund collateral consisting of cash, an irrevocable letter of credit issued by a bank, or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government. The initial collateral received by the Fund is required to have a value of at least 102% of the current value of the loaned securities for securities traded on U.S. exchanges and a value of at least 105% for all other securities. The collateral is maintained thereafter at a value equal to at least 100% of the current market value of the securities on loan. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of each business day of the Fund and any additional required collateral is delivered to the Fund, or excess collateral returned by the Fund, on the next business day. During the term of the loan, the Fund is entitled to all distributions made on or in respect of the loaned securities, but does not receive interest income on securities received as collateral. Loans of securities are terminable at any time and the borrower, after notice, is required to return borrowed securities within the standard time period for settlement of securities transactions.
As of period end, any securities on loan were collateralized by cash and/or U.S. Government obligations. Cash collateral invested by the securities lending agent, BlackRock Investment Management, LLC (BIM), if any, is disclosed in the Schedule of Investments. Any non-cash collateral received cannot be sold, re-invested or pledged by the Fund, except in the event of borrower default. The securities on loan, if any, are disclosed in the Funds Schedule of Investments. The market value of any securities on loan and the value of related collateral, if any, are shown separately in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as a component of investments at value unaffiliated and collateral on securities loaned, respectively.
Securities lending transactions are entered into by the Fund under Master Securities Lending Agreements (each, an MSLA), which provide the right, in the event of default (including bankruptcy or insolvency), for the non-defaulting party to liquidate the collateral and calculate a net exposure to the defaulting party or request additional collateral. In the event that a borrower defaults, the Fund, as lender, would offset the market value of the collateral received against the market value of the securities loaned. When the value of the collateral is greater than that of the market value of the securities loaned, the lender is left with a net amount payable to the defaulting party. However, bankruptcy or insolvency laws of a particular jurisdiction may impose restrictions on or prohibitions against such a right of offset in the event of an MSLA counterpartys bankruptcy or insolvency. Under the MSLA, absent an event of default, the borrower can resell or re-pledge the loaned securities, and the Fund can reinvest cash collateral received in connection with loaned securities. Upon an event of default, the parties obligations to return the securities or collateral to the other party are extinguished, and the parties can resell or re-pledge the loaned securities or the collateral received in connection with the loaned securities in order to satisfy the defaulting partys net payment obligation for all transactions under the MSLA. The defaulting party remains liable for any deficiency.
38 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
As of period end, the following table is a summary of the Funds securities on loan by counterparty which are subject to offset under an MSLA:
|
||||||||||||||||
Counterparty |
|
Securities Loaned at Value |
|
|
Cash Collateral Received |
(a) |
|
Non-Cash Collateral Received, at Fair Value |
(a) |
|
Net Amount |
| ||||
|
||||||||||||||||
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC |
$ | 1,274,171 | $ | (1,274,171 | ) | $ | | $ | | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) | Collateral received, if any, in excess of the market value of securities on loan is not presented in this table. The total cash collateral received by the Fund is disclosed in the Funds Statement of Assets and Liabilities. |
The risks of securities lending include the risk that the borrower may not provide additional collateral when required or may not return the securities when due. To mitigate these risks, the Fund benefits from a borrower default indemnity provided by BIM. BIMs indemnity allows for full replacement of the securities loaned to the extent the collateral received does not cover the value on the securities loaned in the event of borrower default. The Fund could incur a loss if the value of an investment purchased with cash collateral falls below the market value of loaned securities or if the value of an investment purchased with cash collateral falls below the value of the original cash collateral received. Such losses are borne entirely by the Fund.
5. | DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS |
The Fund engages in various portfolio investment strategies using derivative contracts both to increase the returns of the Fund and/or to manage its exposure to certain risks such as credit risk, equity risk, interest rate risk, foreign currency exchange rate risk, commodity price risk or other risks (e.g., inflation risk). Derivative financial instruments categorized by risk exposure are included in the Schedule of Investments. These contracts may be transacted on an exchange or over-the-counter (OTC).
Futures Contracts: Futures contracts are purchased or sold to gain exposure to, or manage exposure to, changes in interest rates (interest rate risk) and changes in the value of equity securities (equity risk) or foreign currencies (foreign currency exchange rate risk).
Futures contracts are exchange-traded agreements between the Fund and a counterparty to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying instrument at a specified price and on a specified date. Depending on the terms of a contract, it is settled either through physical delivery of the underlying instrument on the settlement date or by payment of a cash amount on the settlement date. Upon entering into a futures contract, the Fund is required to deposit initial margin with the broker in the form of cash or securities in an amount that varies depending on a contracts size and risk profile. The initial margin deposit must then be maintained at an established level over the life of the contract. Amounts pledged, which are considered restricted, are included in cash pledged for futures contracts in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
Securities deposited as initial margin are designated in the Schedule of Investments and cash deposited, if any, are shown as cash pledged for futures contracts in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Pursuant to the contract, the Fund agrees to receive from or pay to the broker an amount of cash equal to the daily fluctuation in market value of the contract (variation margin). Variation margin is recorded as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) and, if any, shown as variation margin receivable (or payable) on futures contracts in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. When the contract is closed, a realized gain or loss is recorded in the Statement of Operations equal to the difference between the notional amount of the contract at the time it was opened and the notional amount at the time it was closed. The use of futures contracts involves the risk of an imperfect correlation in the movements in the price of futures contracts and interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates or underlying assets.
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts: Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are entered into to gain or reduce exposure to foreign currencies (foreign currency exchange rate risk).
A forward foreign currency exchange contract is an agreement between two parties to buy and sell a currency at a set exchange rate on a specified date. These contracts help to manage the overall exposure to the currencies in which some of the investments held by the Fund are denominated and in some cases, may be used to obtain exposure to a particular market. The contracts are traded OTC and not on an organized exchange.
The contract is marked-to-market daily and the change in market value is recorded as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. When a contract is closed, a realized gain or loss is recorded in the Statement of Operations equal to the difference between the value at the time it was opened and the value at the time it was closed. Non-deliverable forward foreign currency exchange contracts are settled with the counterparty in cash without the delivery of foreign currency. The use of forward foreign currency exchange contracts involves the risk that the value of a forward foreign currency exchange contract changes unfavorably due to movements in the value of the referenced foreign currencies, and such value may exceed the amount(s) reflected in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Cash amounts pledged for forward foreign currency exchange contracts are considered restricted and are included in cash pledged as collateral for OTC derivatives in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. A Funds risk of loss from counterparty credit risk on OTC derivatives is generally limited to the aggregate unrealized gain netted against any collateral held by the Fund.
Swaps: Swap contracts are entered into to manage exposure to issuers, markets and securities. Such contracts are agreements between the Fund and a counterparty to make periodic net payments on a specified notional amount or a net payment upon termination. Swap agreements are privately negotiated in the OTC market and may be entered into as a bilateral contract (OTC swaps) or centrally cleared (centrally cleared swaps).
For OTC swaps, any upfront premiums paid and any upfront fees received are shown as swap premiums paid and swap premiums received, respectively, in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and amortized over the term of the contract. The daily fluctuation in market value is recorded as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on OTC swaps in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Payments received or paid are recorded in the Statement of Operations as realized gains or losses, respectively. When an OTC swap is terminated, a realized gain or loss is recorded in the Statement of Operations equal to the difference between the proceeds from (or cost of) the closing transaction and the Funds basis in the contract, if any. Generally, the basis of the contract is the premium received or paid.
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39 |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
In a centrally cleared swap, immediately following execution of the swap contract, the swap contract is novated to a central counterparty (the CCP) and the CCP becomes the Funds counterparty on the swap. The Fund is required to interface with the CCP through the broker. Upon entering into a centrally cleared swap, the Fund is required to deposit initial margin with the broker in the form of cash or securities in an amount that varies depending on the size and risk profile of the particular swap. Securities deposited as initial margin are designated in the Schedule of Investments and cash deposited is shown as cash pledged for centrally cleared swaps in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Amounts pledged, which are considered restricted cash, are included in cash pledged for centrally cleared swaps in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Pursuant to the contract, the Fund agrees to receive from or pay to the broker variation margin. Variation margin is recorded as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) and shown as variation margin receivable (or payable) on centrally cleared swaps in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Payments received from (paid to) the counterparty are amortized over the term of the contract and recorded as realized gains (losses) in the Statement of Operations, including those at termination.
| Credit default swaps Credit default swaps are entered into to manage exposure to the market or certain sectors of the market, to reduce risk exposure to defaults of corporate and/or sovereign issuers or to create exposure to corporate and/or sovereign issuers to which a fund is not otherwise exposed (credit risk). |
The Fund may either buy or sell (write) credit default swaps on single-name issuers (corporate or sovereign), a combination or basket of single-name issuers or traded indexes. Credit default swaps are agreements in which the protection buyer pays fixed periodic payments to the seller in consideration for a promise from the protection seller to make a specific payment should a negative credit event take place with respect to the referenced entity (e.g., bankruptcy, failure to pay, obligation acceleration, repudiation, moratorium or restructuring). As a buyer, if an underlying credit event occurs, the Fund will either (i) receive from the seller an amount equal to the notional amount of the swap and deliver the referenced security or underlying securities comprising the index, or (ii) receive a net settlement of cash equal to the notional amount of the swap less the recovery value of the security or underlying securities comprising the index. As a seller (writer), if an underlying credit event occurs, the Fund will either pay the buyer an amount equal to the notional amount of the swap and take delivery of the referenced security or underlying securities comprising the index or pay a net settlement of cash equal to the notional amount of the swap less the recovery value of the security or underlying securities comprising the index.
| Total return swaps Total return swaps are entered into to obtain exposure to a security or market without owning such security or investing directly in such market or to exchange the risk/return of one security or market (e.g., fixed-income) with another security or market (e.g., equity or commodity prices) (equity risk, commodity price risk and/or interest rate risk). |
Total return swaps are agreements in which there is an exchange of cash flows whereby one party commits to make payments based on the total return (distributions plus capital gains/losses) of an underlying instrument, or basket of underlying instruments, in exchange for fixed or floating rate interest payments. If the total return of the instrument(s) or index underlying the transaction exceeds or falls short of the offsetting fixed or floating interest rate obligation, the Fund receives payment from or makes a payment to the counterparty.
Swap transactions involve, to varying degrees, elements of interest rate, credit and market risks in excess of the amounts recognized in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Such risks involve the possibility that there will be no liquid market for these agreements, that the counterparty to the agreements may default on its obligation to perform or disagree as to the meaning of the contractual terms in the agreements, and that there may be unfavorable changes in interest rates and/or market values associated with these transactions.
Master Netting Arrangements: In order to define its contractual rights and to secure rights that will help it mitigate its counterparty risk, the Fund may enter into an International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. Master Agreement (ISDA Master Agreement) or similar agreement with its derivative contract counterparties. An ISDA Master Agreement is a bilateral agreement between a Fund and a counterparty that governs certain OTC derivatives and typically contains, among other things, collateral posting terms and netting provisions in the event of a default and/or termination event. Under an ISDA Master Agreement, a Fund may, under certain circumstances, offset with the counterparty certain derivative financial instruments payables and/or receivables with collateral held and/or posted and create one single net payment. The provisions of the ISDA Master Agreement typically permit a single net payment in the event of default including the bankruptcy or insolvency of the counterparty. However, bankruptcy or insolvency laws of a particular jurisdiction may impose restrictions on or prohibitions against the right of offset in bankruptcy, insolvency or other events.
Collateral Requirements: For derivatives traded under an ISDA Master Agreement, the collateral requirements are typically calculated by netting the mark-to-market amount for each transaction under such agreement and comparing that amount to the value of any collateral currently pledged by the Fund and the counterparty.
Cash collateral that has been pledged to cover obligations of the Fund and cash collateral received from the counterparty, if any, is reported separately in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as cash pledged as collateral and cash received as collateral, respectively. Non-cash collateral pledged by the Fund, if any, is noted in the Schedule of Investments. Generally, the amount of collateral due from or to a counterparty is subject to a certain minimum transfer amount threshold before a transfer is required, which is determined at the close of business of the Fund. Any additional required collateral is delivered to/pledged by the Fund on the next business day. Typically, the counterparty is not permitted to sell, re-pledge or use cash and non-cash collateral it receives. The Fund generally agrees not to use non-cash collateral that it receives but may, absent default or certain other circumstances defined in the underlying ISDA Master Agreement, be permitted to use cash collateral received. In such cases, interest may be paid pursuant to the collateral arrangement with the counterparty. To the extent amounts due to the Fund from the counterparties are not fully collateralized, the Fund bears the risk of loss from counterparty non-performance. Likewise, to the extent the Fund has delivered collateral to a counterparty and stands ready to perform under the terms of its agreement with such counterparty, the Fund bears the risk of loss from a counterparty in the amount of the value of the collateral in the event the counterparty fails to return such collateral. Based on the terms of agreements, collateral may not be required for all derivative contracts.
For financial reporting purposes, the Fund does not offset derivative assets and derivative liabilities that are subject to netting arrangements, if any, in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
40 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
6. | INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT AND OTHER TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES |
Investment Advisory: The Fund entered into an Investment Advisory Agreement with the Manager, the Funds investment adviser and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (BlackRock), to provide investment advisory and administrative services. The Manager is responsible for the management of the Funds portfolio and provides the personnel, facilities, equipment and certain other services necessary to the operations of the Fund.
For such services, the Fund pays the Manager a monthly fee at an annual rate equal to the following percentages of the average daily value of the Funds net assets:
|
||||
Average Daily Net Assets | Investment Advisory Fees | |||
|
||||
First $250 million |
0.500% | |||
$250 million $300 million |
0.450 | |||
$300 million $400 million |
0.425 | |||
Greater than $400 million |
0.400 | |||
|
Service and Distribution Fees: The Fund entered into a Distribution Agreement and a Distribution and Service Plan with BlackRock Investments, LLC (BRIL), an affiliate of the Manager. Pursuant to the Distribution and Service Plan and in accordance with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, the Fund pays BRIL ongoing service and distribution fees. The fees are accrued daily and paid monthly at annual rates based upon the average daily net assets of the relevant share class of the Fund as follows:
|
||||||||
Share Class | Service Fees | Distribution Fees | ||||||
|
||||||||
Investor A |
0.25 | % | N/A | |||||
Investor C |
0.25 | 0.75% | ||||||
Class R |
0.25 | 0.25 | ||||||
|
BRIL and broker-dealers, pursuant to sub-agreements with BRIL, provide shareholder servicing and distribution services to the Fund. The ongoing service and/or distribution fee compensates BRIL and each broker-dealer for providing shareholder servicing and/or distribution related services to shareholders.
For the six months ended November 30, 2023, the following table shows the class specific service and distribution fees borne directly by each share class of the Fund:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Investor A | Investor C | Class R | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service and distribution class specific |
$ | 1,059,380 | $ | 433,279 | $ | 26,185 | $ | 1,518,844 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Transfer Agent: Pursuant to written agreements, certain financial intermediaries, some of which may be affiliates, provide the Fund with sub-accounting, recordkeeping, sub-transfer agency and other administrative services with respect to servicing of underlying investor accounts. For these services, these entities receive an asset-based fee or an annual fee per shareholder account, which will vary depending on share class and/or net assets. For the six months ended November 30, 2023, the Fund did not pay any amounts to affiliates in return for these services.
The Manager maintains a call center that is responsible for providing certain shareholder services to the Fund. Shareholder services include responding to inquiries and processing purchases and sales based upon instructions from shareholders. For the six months ended November 30, 2023, the Fund reimbursed the Manager the following amounts for costs incurred in running the call center, which are included in transfer agent class specific in the Statement of Operations:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Institutional | Investor A | Investor C | Class K | Class R | Total | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reimbursed amounts |
$ | 13,462 | $ | 26,086 | $ | 6,768 | $ | 148 | $ | 104 | $ | 46,568 | ||||||||||||
|
For the six months ended November 30, 2023, the following table shows the class specific transfer agent fees borne directly by each share class of the Fund:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Institutional | Investor A | Investor C | Class K | Class R | Total | |||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transfer agent class specific |
$ | 191,991 | $ | 330,274 | $ | 46,457 | $ | 3,813 | $ | 10,811 | $ | 583,346 | ||||||||||||
|
Other Fees: For the six months ended November 30, 2023, affiliates earned underwriting discounts, direct commissions and dealer concessions on sales of the Funds Investor A Shares for a total of $7,286.
For the six months ended November 30, 2023, affiliates received CDSCs as follows:
|
||||
Share Class | Amounts | |||
|
||||
Investor A |
$ | 11,789 | ||
Investor C |
6,006 | |||
|
Expense Limitations, Waivers and Reimbursements: The Manager contractually agreed to waive its investment advisory fees by the amount of investment advisory fees the Fund pays to the Manager indirectly through its investment in affiliated money market funds (the affiliated money market fund waiver) through June 30, 2025. The contractual agreement may be terminated upon 90 days notice by a majority of the directors who are not interested persons of the Fund, as defined in the 1940 Act (Independent Directors), or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. This amount is included in fees waived and/or reimbursed by the Manager in the Statement of Operations. For the six months ended November 30, 2023, the amount waived was $19,795.
The Manager has contractually agreed to waive its investment advisory fee with respect to any portion of the Funds assets invested in affiliated equity and fixed-income mutual funds and affiliated exchange-traded funds that have a contractual management fee through June 30, 2025. The contractual agreement may be terminated upon 90 days
N O T E S T O F I N A N C I A L S T A T E M E N T S |
41 |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
notice by a majority of the Independent Directors, or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. For the six months ended November 30, 2023, the Manager waived $68,152 in investment advisory fees pursuant to this arrangement.
Securities Lending: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an exemptive order which permits BIM, an affiliate of the Manager, to serve as securities lending agent for the Fund, subject to applicable conditions. As securities lending agent, BIM bears all operational costs directly related to securities lending. The Fund is responsible for expenses in connection with the investment of cash collateral received for securities on loan (the collateral investment expenses). The cash collateral is invested in a private investment company, Money Market Series, managed by the Manager or its affiliates. However, BIM has agreed to cap the collateral investment expenses of the Money Market Series to an annual rate of 0.04%. The investment adviser to the Money Market Series will not charge any advisory fees with respect to shares purchased by the Fund. The Money Market Series may impose a discretionary liquidity fee of up to 2% of the value withdrawn, if such fee is determined to be in the best interests of the Money Market Series. The Money Market Series seeks current income consistent with maintaining liquidity and preserving capital. Although the Money Market Series is not registered under the 1940 Act, its investments may follow the parameters of investments by a money market fund that is subject to Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act.
Securities lending income is equal to the total of income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral, net of fees and other payments to and from borrowers of securities, and less the collateral investment expenses. The Fund retains a portion of securities lending income and remits a remaining portion to BIM as compensation for its services as securities lending agent.
Pursuant to the current securities lending agreement, the Fund retains 82% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment expenses), and this amount retained can never be less than 70% of the total of securities lending income plus the collateral investment expenses.
In addition, commencing the business day following the date that the aggregate securities lending income earned across the BlackRock Multi-Asset Complex in a calendar year exceeds a specified threshold, the Fund, pursuant to the securities lending agreement, will retain for the remainder of that calendar year securities lending income in an amount equal to 85% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment expenses), and this amount retained can never be less than 70% of the total of securities lending income plus the collateral investment expenses.
The share of securities lending income earned by the Fund is shown as securities lending incomeaffiliatednet in the Statement of Operations. For the six months ended November 30, 2023, the Fund paid BIM $238 for securities lending agent services.
Interfund Lending: In accordance with an exemptive order (the Order) from the SEC, the Fund may participate in a joint lending and borrowing facility for temporary purposes (the Interfund Lending Program), subject to compliance with the terms and conditions of the Order, and to the extent permitted by the Funds investment policies and restrictions. The Fund is currently permitted to borrow and lend under the Interfund Lending Program.
A lending BlackRock fund may lend in aggregate up to 15% of its net assets but may not lend more than 5% of its net assets to any one borrowing fund through the Interfund Lending Program. A borrowing BlackRock fund may not borrow through the Interfund Lending Program or from any other source more than 33 1/3% of its total assets (or any lower threshold provided for by the funds investment restrictions). If a borrowing BlackRock funds total outstanding borrowings exceed 10% of its total assets, each of its outstanding interfund loans will be subject to collateralization of at least 102% of the outstanding principal value of the loan. All interfund loans are for temporary or emergency purposes and the interest rate to be charged will be the average of the highest current overnight repurchase agreement rate available to a lending fund and the bank loan rate, as calculated according to a formula established by the Board.
During the six months ended November 30, 2023, the Fund did not participate in the Interfund Lending Program.
Directors and Officers: Certain directors and/or officers of the Fund are directors and/or officers of BlackRock or its affiliates. The Fund reimburses the Manager for a portion of the compensation paid to the Funds Chief Compliance Officer, which is included in Directors and Officer in the Statement of Operations.
Other Transactions: The Fund may purchase securities from, or sell securities to, an affiliated fund provided the affiliation is due solely to having a common investment adviser, common officers, or common directors. For the six months ended November 30, 2023, the purchase and sale transactions and any net realized gains (losses) with an affiliated fund in compliance with Rule 17a-7 under the 1940 Act were as follows:
| ||||||
Purchases | Sales |
|
Net Realized Gain | |||
| ||||||
$ 46,457,216 |
$ 81,122,955 | $ 4,658,901 | ||||
|
7. | PURCHASES AND SALES |
For the six months ended November 30, 2023, purchases and sales of investments, including paydowns and mortgage dollar rolls and excluding short-term securities, were as follows:
|
||||||||
Purchases | Sales | |||||||
|
||||||||
Non-U.S. Government Securities |
$ | 907,151,374 | $ | 1,006,065,157 | ||||
U.S. Government Securities |
54,005,112 | 8,668,402 | ||||||
|
For the six months ended November 30, 2023, purchases and sales related to mortgage dollar rolls were as follows:
|
||||||||
Purchases | Sales | |||||||
|
||||||||
Mortgage Dollar Rolls |
$ | 229,951,387 | $ | 229,826,220 | ||||
|
42 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
8. | INCOME TAX INFORMATION |
It is the Funds policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, applicable to regulated investment companies, and to distribute substantially all of its taxable income to its shareholders. Therefore, no U.S. federal income tax provision is required.
The Fund files U.S. federal and various state and local tax returns. No income tax returns are currently under examination. The statute of limitations on the Funds U.S. federal tax returns generally remains open for a period of three years after they are filed. The statutes of limitations on the Funds state and local tax returns may remain open for an additional year depending upon the jurisdiction.
Management has analyzed tax laws and regulations and their application to the Fund as of November 30, 2023, inclusive of the open tax return years, and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability in the Funds financial statements.
As of May 31, 2023, the Fund had non-expiring capital loss carryforwards available to offset future realized capital gains of $54,818,765.
As of November 30, 2023, gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation based on cost of investments (including short positions and derivatives, if any) for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
|
||||||||||||||||
Fund Name | Tax Cost | Gross Unrealized Appreciation |
Gross Unrealized Depreciation |
Net Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
$ | 1,410,219,011 | $ | 203,844,610 | $ | (76,975,318 | ) | $ | 126,869,292 | |||||||
|
9. | BANK BORROWINGS |
The Fund, along with certain other funds managed by the Manager and its affiliates (Participating Funds), is party to a 364-day, $2.50 billion credit agreement with a group of lenders. Under this agreement, the Fund may borrow to fund shareholder redemptions. Excluding commitments designated for certain individual funds, the Participating Funds, including the Fund, can borrow up to an aggregate commitment amount of $1.75 billion at any time outstanding, subject to asset coverage and other limitations as specified in the agreement. The credit agreement has the following terms: a fee of 0.10% per annum on unused commitment amounts and interest at a rate equal to the higher of (a) Overnight Bank Funding Rate (OBFR) (but, in any event, not less than 0.00%) on the date the loan is made plus 0.80% per annum, (b) the Fed Funds rate (but, in any event, not less than 0.00%) in effect from time to time plus 0.80% per annum on amounts borrowed or (c) the sum of (x) Daily Simple Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) (but, in any event, not less than 0.00%) on the date the loan is made plus 0.10% and (y) 0.80% per annum. The agreement expires in April 2024 unless extended or renewed. These fees were allocated among such funds based upon portions of the aggregate commitment available to them and relative net assets of Participating Funds. During the six months ended November 30, 2023, the Fund did not borrow under the credit agreement.
10. | PRINCIPAL RISKS |
In the normal course of business, the Fund invests in securities or other instruments and may enter into certain transactions, and such activities subject the Fund to various risks, including among others, fluctuations in the market (market risk) or failure of an issuer to meet all of its obligations. The value of securities or other instruments may also be affected by various factors, including, without limitation: (i) the general economy; (ii) the overall market as well as local, regional or global political and/or social instability; (iii) regulation, taxation or international tax treaties between various countries; or (iv) currency, interest rate and price fluctuations. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments. The Funds prospectus provides details of the risks to which the Fund is subject.
The Fund may be exposed to additional risks when reinvesting cash collateral in money market funds that do not seek to maintain a stable NAV per share of $1.00, which may be subject to discretionary liquidity fees under certain circumstances.
Market Risk: The Fund may be exposed to prepayment risk, which is the risk that borrowers may exercise their option to prepay principal earlier than scheduled during periods of declining interest rates, which would force the Fund to reinvest in lower yielding securities. The Fund may also be exposed to reinvestment risk, which is the risk that income from the Funds portfolio will decline if the Fund invests the proceeds from matured, traded or called fixed-income securities at market interest rates that are below the Fund portfolios current earnings rate.
Infectious Illness Risk: An outbreak of an infectious illness, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may adversely impact the economies of many nations and the global economy, and may impact individual issuers and capital markets in ways that cannot be foreseen. An infectious illness outbreak may result in, among other things, closed international borders, prolonged quarantines, supply chain disruptions, market volatility or disruptions and other significant economic, social and political impacts.
Valuation Risk: The market values of equities, such as common stocks and preferred securities or equity related investments, such as futures and options, may decline due to general market conditions which are not specifically related to a particular company. They may also decline due to factors which affect a particular industry or industries. The Fund may invest in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment is any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. The Fund may experience difficulty in selling illiquid investments in a timely manner at the price that it believes the investments are worth. Prices may fluctuate widely over short or extended periods in response to company, market or economic news. Markets also tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising and falling prices. This volatility may cause the Funds NAV to experience significant increases or decreases over short periods of time. If there is a general decline in the securities and other markets, the NAV of the Fund may lose value, regardless of the individual results of the securities and other instruments in which the Fund invests.
N O T E S T O F I N A N C I A L S T A T E M E N T S |
43 |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
The price the Fund could receive upon the sale of any particular portfolio investment may differ from the Funds valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair valuation technique or a price provided by an independent pricing service. Changes to significant unobservable inputs and assumptions (i.e., publicly traded company multiples, growth rate, time to exit) due to the lack of observable inputs may significantly impact the resulting fair value and therefore the Funds results of operations. As a result, the price received upon the sale of an investment may be less than the value ascribed by the Fund, and the Fund could realize a greater than expected loss or lesser than expected gain upon the sale of the investment. The Funds ability to value its investments may also be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Counterparty Credit Risk: The Fund may be exposed to counterparty credit risk, or the risk that an entity may fail to or be unable to perform on its commitments related to unsettled or open transactions, including making timely interest and/or principal payments or otherwise honoring its obligations. The Fund manages counterparty credit risk by entering into transactions only with counterparties that the Manager believes have the financial resources to honor their obligations and by monitoring the financial stability of those counterparties. Financial assets, which potentially expose the Fund to market, issuer and counterparty credit risks, consist principally of financial instruments and receivables due from counterparties. The extent of the Funds exposure to market, issuer and counterparty credit risks with respect to these financial assets is approximately their value recorded in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities, less any collateral held by the Fund.
A derivative contract may suffer a mark-to-market loss if the value of the contract decreases due to an unfavorable change in the market rates or values of the underlying instrument. Losses can also occur if the counterparty does not perform under the contract.
With exchange-traded futures and centrally cleared swaps, there is less counterparty credit risk to the Fund since the exchange or clearinghouse, as counterparty to such instruments, guarantees against a possible default. The clearinghouse stands between the buyer and the seller of the contract; therefore, credit risk is limited to failure of the clearinghouse. While offset rights may exist under applicable law, the Fund does not have a contractual right of offset against a clearing broker or clearinghouse in the event of a default (including the bankruptcy or insolvency). Additionally, credit risk exists in exchange-traded futures and centrally cleared swaps with respect to initial and variation margin that is held in a clearing brokers customer accounts. While clearing brokers are required to segregate customer margin from their own assets, in the event that a clearing broker becomes insolvent or goes into bankruptcy and at that time there is a shortfall in the aggregate amount of margin held by the clearing broker for all its clients, typically the shortfall would be allocated on a pro rata basis across all the clearing brokers customers, potentially resulting in losses to the Fund.
Geographic/Asset Class Risk: A diversified portfolio, where this is appropriate and consistent with a funds objectives, minimizes the risk that a price change of a particular investment will have a material impact on the NAV of a fund. The investment concentrations within the Funds portfolio are disclosed in its Schedule of Investments.
The Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in securities of issuers located in the United States. A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations, inflation and/or an economic recession in the United States may have a material adverse effect on the U.S. economy and the securities listed on U.S. exchanges. Proposed and adopted policy and legislative changes in the United States may also have a significant effect on U.S. markets generally, as well as on the value of certain securities. Governmental agencies project that the United States will continue to maintain elevated public debt levels for the foreseeable future which may constrain future economic growth. Circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal on U.S. government debt, such as reaching the legislative debt ceiling. Such non-payment would result in substantial negative consequences for the U.S. economy and the global financial system. If U.S. relations with certain countries deteriorate, it could adversely affect issuers that rely on the United States for trade. The United States has also experienced increased internal unrest and discord. If these trends were to continue, they may have an adverse impact on the U.S. economy and the issuers in which the Fund invests.
Significant Shareholder Redemption Risk: Certain shareholders may own or manage a substantial amount of fund shares and/or hold their fund investments for a limited period of time. Large redemptions of fund shares by these shareholders may force a fund to sell portfolio securities, which may negatively impact the funds NAV, increase the funds brokerage costs, and/or accelerate the realization of taxable income/gains and cause the fund to make additional taxable distributions to shareholders.
11. | CAPITAL SHARE TRANSACTIONS |
Transactions in capital shares for each class were as follows:
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 | Year Ended 05/31/23 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
Share Class | Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | ||||||||||||
Institutional |
||||||||||||||||
Shares sold |
1,553,919 | $ | 36,405,250 | 3,690,009 | $ | 82,206,783 | ||||||||||
Shares issued in reinvestment of distributions |
392,348 | 9,380,998 | 772,297 | 16,650,714 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed |
(2,785,411 | ) | (64,904,479 | ) | (6,484,014 | ) | (144,454,005 | ) | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
(839,144 | ) | $ | (19,118,231 | ) | (2,021,708 | ) | $ | (45,596,508 | ) | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Investor A |
||||||||||||||||
Shares sold |
1,798,379 | $ | 41,851,286 | 5,277,214 | $ | 116,576,146 | ||||||||||
Shares issued in reinvestment of distributions |
663,518 | 15,778,451 | 1,386,573 | 29,742,002 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed |
(3,510,312 | ) | (81,479,380 | ) | (8,775,357 | ) | (194,169,913 | ) | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
(1,048,415 | ) | $ | (23,849,643 | ) | (2,111,570 | ) | $ | (47,851,765 | ) | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
44 | 2 0 2 3 B L A C K R O C K S E M I - A N N U A L R E P O R T T O S H A R E H O L D E R S |
Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) (continued)
Six Months Ended 11/30/23 | Year Ended 05/31/23 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
Share Class | Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | ||||||||||||
Investor C |
||||||||||||||||
Shares sold |
350,558 | $ | 6,684,802 | 724,480 | $ | 13,314,250 | ||||||||||
Shares issued in reinvestment of distributions |
74,051 | 1,440,288 | 228,653 | 4,031,154 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed |
(753,762 | ) | (14,313,640 | ) | (1,870,281 | ) | (33,980,749 | ) | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
(329,153 | ) | $ | (6,188,550 | ) | (917,148 | ) | $ | (16,635,345 | ) | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Class K |
||||||||||||||||
Shares sold |
632,011 | $ | 14,870,947 | 1,160,934 | $ | 26,041,904 | ||||||||||
Shares issued in reinvestment of distributions |
71,212 | 1,702,681 | 119,912 | 2,585,299 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed |
(645,780 | ) | (15,113,956 | ) | (1,183,184 | ) | (26,410,002 | ) | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
57,443 | $ | 1,459,672 | 97,662 | $ | 2,217,201 | |||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Class R |
||||||||||||||||
Shares sold |
53,818 | $ | 1,105,860 | 84,184 | $ | 1,678,714 | ||||||||||
Shares issued in reinvestment of distributions |
9,326 | 197,522 | 21,475 | 411,459 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed |
(64,392 | ) | (1,314,677 | ) | (125,080 | ) | (2,501,600 | ) | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
(1,248 | ) | $ | (11,295 | ) | (19,421 | ) | $ | (411,427 | ) | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
(2,160,517 | ) | $ | (47,708,047 | ) | (4,972,185 | ) | $ | (108,277,844 | ) | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As of November 30, 2023, BlackRock Financial Management, Inc., an affiliate of the Fund, owned 8,471 Class K Shares of the Fund.
12. | SUBSEQUENT EVENTS |
Management has evaluated the impact of all subsequent events on the Fund through the date the financial statements were issued and has determined that there were no subsequent events requiring adjustment or additional disclosure in the financial statements.
N O T E S T O F I N A N C I A L S T A T E M E N T S |
45 |
Statement Regarding Liquidity Risk Management Program
In compliance with Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the Liquidity Rule), BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. (the Fund) has adopted and implemented a liquidity risk management program (the Program), which is reasonably designed to assess and manage the Funds liquidity risk.
The Board of Directors (the Board) of the Fund, met on November 16-17, 2023 (the Meeting) to review the Program. The Board previously appointed BlackRock Advisors, LLC or BlackRock Fund Advisors (BlackRock), each an investment adviser to certain BlackRock funds, as the program administrator for the Funds Program, as applicable. BlackRock also previously delegated oversight of the Program to the 40 Act Liquidity Risk Management Committee (the Committee). At the Meeting, the Committee, on behalf of BlackRock, provided the Board with a report that addressed the operation of the Program and assessed its adequacy and effectiveness of implementation, including the management of the Funds Highly Liquid Investment Minimum (HLIM) where applicable, and any material changes to the Program (the Report). The Report covered the period from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023 (the Program Reporting Period).
The Report described the Programs liquidity classification methodology for categorizing the Funds investments (including derivative transactions) into one of four liquidity buckets. It also referenced the methodology used by BlackRock to establish the Funds HLIM and noted that the Committee reviews and ratifies the HLIM assigned to the Fund no less frequently than annually. The Report also discussed notable events affecting liquidity over the Program Reporting Period, including the imposition of capital controls in certain countries.
The Report noted that the Program complied with the key factors for consideration under the Liquidity Rule for assessing, managing and periodically reviewing the Funds liquidity risk, as follows:
a) | The Funds investment strategy and liquidity of portfolio investments during both normal and reasonably foreseeable stressed conditions. During the Program Reporting Period, the Committee reviewed whether the Funds strategy is appropriate for an open-end fund structure with a focus on funds with more significant and consistent holdings of less liquid and illiquid assets. The Committee also factored a funds concentration in an issuer into the liquidity classification methodology by taking issuer position sizes into account. Where a fund participated in borrowings for investment purposes (such as tender option bonds or reverse repurchase agreements), such borrowings were factored into the Programs calculation of a funds liquidity bucketing. A funds derivative exposure was also considered in such calculation. |
b) | Short-term and long-term cash flow projections during both normal and reasonably foreseeable stressed conditions. During the Program Reporting Period, the Committee reviewed historical redemption activity and used this information as a component to establish the Funds reasonably anticipated trading size utilized for liquidity classifications. The Fund has adopted an in-kind redemption policy which may be utilized to meet larger redemption requests. The Committee may also take into consideration a funds shareholder ownership concentration (which, depending on product type and distribution channel, may or may not be available), a funds distribution channels, and the degree of certainty associated with a funds short-term and long-term cash flow projections. |
c) | Holdings of cash and cash equivalents, as well as borrowing arrangements. The Committee considered the terms of the credit facility committed to the Fund, the financial health of the institution providing the facility and the fact that the credit facility is shared among multiple funds (including that a portion of the aggregate commitment amount is specifically designated for BlackRock Floating Rate Income Portfolio, a series of BlackRock Funds V, and BlackRock Floating Rate Loan ETF, a series of BlackRock ETF Trust II). The Committee also considered other types of borrowing available to the Fund, such as the ability to use reverse repurchase agreements and interfund lending, as applicable. |
There were no material changes to the Program during the Program Reporting Period other than the enhancement of certain model components in the Programs classification methodology. The Report provided to the Board stated that the Committee concluded that based on the operation of the functions, as described in the Report, the Program is operating as intended and is effective in implementing the requirements of the Liquidity Rule.
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Tailored Shareholder Reports for Open-End Mutual Funds and ETFs
Effective January 24, 2023, the SEC adopted rule and form amendments to require open-end mutual funds and ETFs to transmit concise and visually engaging streamlined annual and semiannual reports to shareholders that highlight key information. Other information, including financial statements, will no longer appear in a streamlined shareholder report but must be available online, delivered free of charge upon request, and filed on a semiannual basis on Form N-CSR. The rule and form amendments have a compliance date of July 24, 2024. At this time, management is evaluating the impact of these amendments on the shareholder reports for the Fund.
General Information
Quarterly performance, semi-annual and annual reports, current net asset value and other information regarding the Fund may be found on BlackRocks website, which can be accessed at blackrock.com. Any reference to BlackRocks website in this report is intended to allow investors public access to information regarding the Fund and does not, and is not intended to, incorporate BlackRocks website in this report.
Householding
The Fund will mail only one copy of shareholder documents, including prospectuses, annual and semi-annual reports, Rule 30e-3 notices and proxy statements, to shareholders with multiple accounts at the same address. This practice is commonly called householding and is intended to reduce expenses and eliminate duplicate mailings of shareholder documents. Mailings of your shareholder documents may be householded indefinitely unless you instruct us otherwise. If you do not want the mailing of these documents to be combined with those for other members of your household, please call the Fund at (800) 441-7762.
Availability of Quarterly Schedule of Investments
The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year as an exhibit to its reports on Form N-PORT. The Funds Form N-PORT is available on the SECs website at sec.gov. Additionally, the Fund makes its portfolio holdings for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year available at blackrock.com/fundreports.
Availability of Proxy Voting Policies, Procedures and Voting Records
A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information about how the Fund voted proxies relating to securities held in the Funds portfolio during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available without charge, upon request (1) by calling (800) 441-7762; (2) on the BlackRock website at blackrock.com; and (3) on the SECs website at sec.gov.
BlackRocks Mutual Fund Family
BlackRock offers a diverse lineup of open-end mutual funds crossing all investment styles and managed by experts in equity, fixed-income and tax-exempt investing. Visit blackrock.com for more information.
Shareholder Privileges
Account Information
Call us at (800) 441-7762 from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM ET on any business day to get information about your account balances, recent transactions and share prices. You can also visit blackrock.com for more information.
Automatic Investment Plans
Investor class shareholders who want to invest regularly can arrange to have $50 or more automatically deducted from their checking or savings account and invested in any of the BlackRock funds.
Systematic Withdrawal Plans
Investor class shareholders can establish a systematic withdrawal plan and receive periodic payments of $50 or more from their BlackRock funds, as long as their account balance is at least $10,000.
Retirement Plans
Shareholders may make investments in conjunction with Traditional, Rollover, Roth, Coverdell, Simple IRAs, SEP IRAs and 403(b) Plans.
BlackRock Privacy Principles
BlackRock is committed to maintaining the privacy of its current and former fund investors and individual clients (collectively, Clients) and to safeguarding their non-public personal information. The following information is provided to help you understand what personal information BlackRock collects, how we protect that information and why in certain cases we share such information with select parties.
A D D I T I O N A L I N F O R M A T I O N |
47 |
Additional Information (continued)
If you are located in a jurisdiction where specific laws, rules or regulations require BlackRock to provide you with additional or different privacy-related rights beyond what is set forth below, then BlackRock will comply with those specific laws, rules or regulations.
BlackRock obtains or verifies personal non-public information from and about you from different sources, including the following: (i) information we receive from you or, if applicable, your financial intermediary, on applications, forms or other documents; (ii) information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others; (iii) information we receive from a consumer reporting agency; and (iv) from visits to our websites.
BlackRock does not sell or disclose to non-affiliated third parties any non-public personal information about its Clients, except as permitted by law or as is necessary to respond to regulatory requests or to service Client accounts. These non-affiliated third parties are required to protect the confidentiality and security of this information and to use it only for its intended purpose.
We may share information with our affiliates to service your account or to provide you with information about other BlackRock products or services that may be of interest to you. In addition, BlackRock restricts access to non-public personal information about its Clients to those BlackRock employees with a legitimate business need for the information. BlackRock maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that are designed to protect the non-public personal information of its Clients, including procedures relating to the proper storage and disposal of such information.
Fund and Service Providers
Investment Adviser and Administrator |
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm | |
BlackRock Advisors, LLC |
Deloitte & Touche LLP | |
Wilmington, DE 19809 |
Boston, MA 02116 | |
Accounting Agent and Transfer Agent |
Distributor | |
BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. |
BlackRock Investments, LLC | |
Wilmington, DE 19809 |
New York, NY 10001 | |
Custodian |
Legal Counsel | |
The Bank of New York Mellon |
Sidley Austin LLP | |
New York, NY 10286 |
New York, NY 10019 | |
Address of the Fund | ||
100 Bellevue Parkway | ||
Wilmington, DE 19809 |
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Glossary of Terms Used in this Report
Currency Abbreviation | ||
AUD | Australian Dollar | |
CAD | Canadian Dollar | |
EUR | Euro | |
GBP | British Pound | |
JPY | Japanese Yen | |
USD | United States Dollar |
Portfolio Abbreviation | ||
ADR | American Depositary Receipt | |
DAC | Designated Activity Co. | |
ETF | Exchange-Traded Fund | |
LP | Limited Partnership | |
MTN | Medium-Term Note | |
NVS | Non-Voting Shares | |
OTC | Over-the-Counter | |
REIT | Real Estate Investment Trust | |
S&P | Standard & Poors | |
SOFR | Secured Overnight Financing Rate | |
TBA | To-be-Announced |
G L O S S A R Y O F T E R M S U S E D I N T H I S R E P O R T |
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Want to know more?
blackrock.com | 800-441-7762
This report is intended for current holders. It is not authorized for use as an offer of sale or a solicitation of an offer to buy shares of the Fund unless preceded or accompanied by the Funds current prospectus. Past performance results shown in this report should not be considered a representation of future performance. Investment returns and principal value of shares will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Statements and other information herein are as dated and are subject to change.
BC-11/23-SAR
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(b) Not Applicable
Item 2 | Code of Ethics Not Applicable to this semi-annual report |
Item 3 | Audit Committee Financial Expert Not Applicable to this semi-annual report |
Item 4 | Principal Accountant Fees and Services Not Applicable to this semi-annual report |
Item 5 | Audit Committee of Listed Registrant Not Applicable |
Item 6 | Investments |
(a) The registrants Schedules of Investments are included as part of the Report to Stockholders filed under Item 1(a) of this Form.
(b) Not Applicable due to no such divestments during the semi-annual period covered since the previous Form N-CSR filing.
Item 7 | Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures for Closed-End Management Investment Companies Not Applicable |
Item 8 | Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Management Investment Companies Not Applicable |
Item 9 | Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Company and Affiliated Purchasers Not Applicable |
Item 10 | Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders There have been no material changes to these procedures. |
Item 11 | Controls and Procedures |
(a) The registrants principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, have concluded that the registrants disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act)) are effective as of a date within 90 days of the filing of this report based on the evaluation of these controls and procedures required by Rule 30a-3(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 15d-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
(b) There were no changes in the registrants internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act) that occurred during the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants internal control over financial reporting.
Item 12 | Disclosure of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-End Management Investment Companies Not Applicable |
Item 13 | Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation Not Applicable |
Item 14 | Exhibits attached hereto |
(a)(1) Code of Ethics Not Applicable to this semi-annual report
(a)(2) Section 302 Certifications are attached
(a)(3) Any written solicitation to purchase securities under Rule 23c-1 Not Applicable
(a)(4) Change in Registrants independent public accountant Not Applicable
(b) Section 906 Certifications are attached
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, each registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc.
By: |
/s/ John M. Perlowski | |||
John M. Perlowski | ||||
Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) of | ||||
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Date: January 19, 2024
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of each registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
By: |
/s/ John M. Perlowski | |||
John M. Perlowski | ||||
Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) of | ||||
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Date: January 19, 2024
By: |
/s/ Trent Walker | |||
Trent Walker | ||||
Chief Financial Officer (principal financial officer) of | ||||
BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund, Inc. |
Date: January 19, 2024