BlackRock Enhanced Captial and Income Fund

CII

Market cap $939M

The BlackRock Enhanced Large Cap Core Fund has delivered strong total returns while also paying a solid monthly distribution to investors, but its discount has narrowed. The fund's call writing strategy can limit some upside, but its active management with a partial overwrite approach on individual names allows for flexibility. CII's tech sector allocation has increased meaningfully since our prior update, mirroring SPY more closely, which likely helped recent returns, but stretched valuations could be a concern.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)---- $BBN--Today, BlackRock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust (NYSE: BCX), BlackRock Enhanced Equity Dividend Trust (NYSE: BDJ), BlackRock Energy and Resources Trust (NYSE: BGR), BlackRock Enhanced International Dividend Trust (NYSE: BGY), BlackRock Health Sciences Trust (NYSE: BME), BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust (NYSE: BMEZ), BlackRock Enhanced Global Dividend Trust (NYSE: BOE), BlackRock Utilities, Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust (NYSE: BUI), Bla.

The BlackRock Enhanced Large Cap Core Fund, Inc successfully changed its investment strategy in December 2024, shifting its focus from a broad S&P 500 approach to being more concentrated. The fund's new strategy involves a high concentration of large-capitalization equities, with its top 10 holdings accounting for roughly 50% of the portfolio. CII employs a buy-write strategy using single-stock options on its holdings, a method that differs from competitors who typically use S&P 500 index options.

Closed-end funds (CEFs) that write call options can offer attractive monthly distributions to their investors. Thanks to discounts for CEFs, these distributions can be 'boosted' when compared to what the actual underlying NAV distribution rate becomes. Writing calls can take the form of writing against individual holdings or indexes.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, BlackRock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust (NYSE: BCX), BlackRock Enhanced Equity Dividend Trust (NYSE: BDJ), BlackRock Energy and Resources Trust (NYSE: BGR), BlackRock Enhanced International Dividend Trust (NYSE: BGY), BlackRock Health Sciences Trust (NYSE: BME), BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust (NYSE: BMEZ), BlackRock Enhanced Global Dividend Trust (NYSE: BOE), BlackRock Utilities, Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust (NYSE: BUI), BlackRock Enhanced Large Cap Core Fund, Inc. (NYSE: CII), BlackRock Science and Technology Trust (NYSE: BST), BlackRock Science and Technology Term Trust (NYSE: BSTZ), BlackRock Technology and Private Equity Term Trust (NYSE: BTX), BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust (NYSE: BCAT), and BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Term Trust (NYSE: ECAT) (collectively, the “Funds”) paid the following distributions per share

For income investors, closed-end funds remain an attractive investment class that covers various asset classes and promises high distributions and reasonable total returns. Closed-end funds, or CEFs, are generally characterized by higher volatility and deeper drawdowns than the broader market. For these reasons, they are not suited for everyone. In this monthly series, we highlight five CEFs with solid track records that pay high distributions and offer "excess" discounts. We try to separate the wheat from the chaff using our filtering process to select just five CEFs every month from around 500 closed-end funds.

CII offers an attractive value for income investors, trading at a discount to NAV and yielding 8.2% with monthly distributions. The fund's option strategy boosts income but caps upside, and its tech-heavy portfolio positions it to benefit from AI-driven growth. BlackRock Enhanced Large Cap Core Fund reliably supports its distributions with consistent earnings, though it underperforms traditional ETFs in strong bull markets.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)---- $BBN--Today, BlackRock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust (NYSE: BCX), BlackRock Enhanced Equity Dividend Trust (NYSE: BDJ), BlackRock Energy and Resources Trust (NYSE: BGR), BlackRock Enhanced International Dividend Trust (NYSE: BGY), BlackRock Health Sciences Trust (NYSE: BME), BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust (NYSE: BMEZ), BlackRock Enhanced Global Dividend Trust (NYSE: BOE), BlackRock Utilities, Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust (NYSE: BUI), Bla.

Covered call writing closed-end funds can offer higher distributions through option premiums, but they can also limit some upside potential. Some funds incorporate more flexible strategies to help negate some of that upside cap through overwriting only a portion of the fund. We are looking at two call writing funds today that are both looking like attractive opportunities for long-term investors at this time, based on valuation.

April's market volatility, driven by tariffs and led by tech sector declines, created opportunities to deploy cash. However, it was an opportunity to reposition my portfolio as well, with 2 swap trades to de-risk my portfolio. There were 2 corporate actions in the last month that also saw two more positions removed from my CEF portfolio, but overall, I was a net buyer for the month.