Fund Evaluator:

BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A Overview

BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A (BMEAX) is an actively managed Nontraditional Equity Derivative Income fund. BlackRock launched the fund in 1998.

The investment seeks high current income while maintaining prospects for capital appreciation. The fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in equity securities and equity-related instruments, including equity-linked notes. It may invest in securities of companies with any market capitalization, but will generally focus on large cap securities. The fund may invest up to 50% of its assets in equity-linked notes that provide exposure to equity securities and covered call options or other types of financial instruments.

About BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A (BMEAX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 6.02 years: Cem Inal (2025), David Zhao (2017), Tom Pierce (2021), Kyle McClements (2017). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Russell 1000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Russell 1000 Value TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A has 106 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 39.4% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Nontraditional Equity fund group. BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A has 9.3% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 91.3%. There is 9.3% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A has -0.5% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $340 million in total assets, which is above the $233 million average for the Derivative Income category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

BMEAX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Derivative Income category. BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A has an expense ratio of 1.10%, which is 2% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A has a portfolio turnover rate of 130%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 114% for the Derivative Income category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A returned 3.4%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Derivative Income category had an average return of 1.7%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A has a trailing yield of 7.26%, which is above the 4.47% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

BlackRock High Equity Income Investor A Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 13.4%, 5.4 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 23.2% over the past year (grade of A), 13.2% over the past three years (grade of C) and 10.0% per year over the past five years (grade of A) and 10.0% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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