Mr. Charles Choon Sik Park

Chief Compliance Officer and Anti-Money Laundering Officer

Mr. James Edward Keenan C.F.A., CFA

Portfolio Mang.

Mr. Leland Tiffany Hart

Mr. C. Adrian Marshall CFA

Mr. Mitchell S. Garfin C.F.A., CFA

BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc. The fund is managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC. It invests in fixed income markets of the United States. The fund primarily invests in a diversified portfolio of companies' debt instruments, including corporate loans, which are rated in the lower rating categories of the established rating services (BBB or lower by S&P's or Baa or lower by Moody's) or unrated debt instruments, which are in the judgment of the investment adviser of equivalent quality. It was formerly known as Debt Strategies Fund Inc. BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. was formed on March 27, 1998 and is domiciled in the United States.

BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund is a fixed-income CEF. The fund focuses on leveraged loans, which compose over 80% of the collateral.

DSU: Revisiting A Fully Covered 8.5% Dividend From A BlackRock CEF

Rising interest rates have been pushing down the market but not all assets are negatively affected by rising rates. DSU invests in both high-yield debt and corporate loans, the latter of which should hold their value in a rising-rate environment.

DSU: This Fund Is Raising Its 9.22% Distribution And Trades At A Huge Discount

Credit asset classes (corporate loans, high yield bonds, etc.) pay investors interest (i.e. real cash). So even when all assets (stocks, bonds, etc.) are dropping in price, funds that hold credit assets keep cranking out the cash to pay distributions.

Choosing Closed-End Credit Funds Over Equity Funds: Collecting Real Cash Vs. 'Eating Your Seed Corn'

Loan funds have seen consistent outflows, setting up a contrarian play. DSU in particular piques my interest because it has a steep discount to NAV. This discount is wider than what similar funds from BlackRock are offering at their market prices.

DSU: Reaching For Yield The Contrarian Way

Recent market volatility has opened up discount valuation divergences between very similar CEFs.

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BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc.

9.48