# BlackRock Limited Duration Income Trust BlackRock Limited Duration Income Trust is an Asset Manager based in Wilmington, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Asset Manager - **Headquarters:** Wilmington, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Wilmington, DE, United States - **Founded:** 2003 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** blackrock.com ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About BlackRock Limited Duration Income Trust (BLW) launched in 2003 as a closed-end management investment company organized under Delaware statutory trust law. Akiva Dickstein and Mitchell Garfin lead day-to-day portfolio management, operating within BlackRock's multi-trillion-dollar fixed-income platform. The trust was designed to offer investors access to a diversified short-duration credit portfolio through an exchange-listed structure, distinct from open-end mutual funds or separate accounts. The trust's strategy spans high-yield corporate bonds, senior floating-rate bank loans, asset-backed securities, and investment-grade corporate debt. It typically maintains an average portfolio duration below three years, aiming to mitigate interest-rate sensitivity while capturing credit spread. The fund employs a managed distribution policy and uses structural leverage — historically through auction-rate preferred shares or bank borrowings — to enhance distributable income. Portfolio holdings have included credits across sectors such as telecommunications, healthcare, and energy. As a BlackRock-managed vehicle, the trust benefits from the firm's institutional credit research and trading infrastructure, though its board of trustees retains independent governance authority. The trust does not disclose a separate AUM figure distinct from BlackRock's consolidated regulated fund reporting. In May 2024, the trust declared its standard monthly distribution of $0.0685 per share, consistent with its managed distribution policy (per BlackRock, May 2024). BlackRock maintains its principal executive office for the trust in Wilmington, Delaware. The trust's structural differentiator is its closed-end fund format: unlike an ETF or open-end mutual fund, BLW can hold less-liquid credit instruments because it does not face daily investor redemptions. Combined with leverage, this allows the portfolio managers to harvest an illiquidity premium that a daily-dealing retail credit fund cannot access. Governance sits with an independent board, though investment management remains fully delegated to BlackRock. ## Sectors - Private Credit - Fixed Income ## People - Akiva Dickstein — Portfolio Manager - Mitchell Garfin — Portfolio Manager ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions for the trust? Akiva Dickstein and Mitchell Garfin share portfolio management responsibility. Both are managing directors within BlackRock's fixed-income group and have managed the trust for multiple years. Dickstein focuses on multi-sector credit strategies, while Garfin co-heads BlackRock's U.S. High Yield bond platform. ### What's the difference between BLW and the BlackRock High Yield fund? BLW is a closed-end trust trading on the NYSE with a fixed share count, meaning its market price can diverge from net asset value. BlackRock High Yield is an open-end mutual fund that prices and transacts at NAV daily. BLW additionally employs leverage and invests across short-duration credit sectors broadly, not only high-yield bonds. ### What investment stages or credit-quality bands does BLW target? The trust invests predominantly in below-investment-grade securities, including single-B and CCC-rated corporate bonds and bank loans. It also holds smaller allocations to investment-grade corporates and asset-backed securities as risk mitigants. The focus remains on short-duration, income-producing credit instruments. ### Is the trust included in BlackRock's ESG or sustainable investing mandates? No. The trust's prospectus does not identify it as an ESG-integrated strategy. It operates as a traditional total-return credit vehicle pursuing income and capital preservation, without an explicit sustainability screen or impact objective. ### How does the trust's board governance work relative to BlackRock? The trust's board of trustees is comprised of individuals independent from BlackRock. The board oversees the investment management agreement, distribution policy, and leverage decisions. BlackRock serves as investment adviser subject to board oversight, meaning major changes to strategy or leverage levels require trustee approval. ### What happens to the trust's leverage if short-term rates rise significantly? Rising short-term rates increase the trust's cost of leverage, which can compress net distributable income unless offset by higher yields on floating-rate assets within the portfolio. The trust's allocation to senior floating-rate bank loans provides a partial hedge, since those loans reset their coupons higher as base rates rise. ## Related profiles - [PGIM Global High Yield Fund](https://altss.com/profile/pgim-global-high-yield-fund-inc) - [M Evo Global Acquisition Corp II](https://altss.com/profile/m-evo-global-acquisition-corp-ii) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/blackrock-ltd-duration-income-trust Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology