Walter O’Connor, CFA, is a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Municipal Funds team within BlackRock’s Global Fixed Income Group. He is also a member of the Municipal Bond Operating Committee, which oversees all municipal bond portfolio management, research and trading activities. Mr. O’Connor’s service with the firm dates back to 1991, including his years with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), which merged with BlackRock in 2006. At MLIM, he was a portfolio manager for municipal bond retail mutual funds. Prior to joining MLIM, Mr. O’Connor was with Prudential Securities, where he was involved in trading, underwriting, and arbitrage for municipal securities and financial futures. Mr. O’Connor earned a B.A. degree in finance and philosophy from the University of Notre Dame in 1984.

Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. Vice President of BlackRock, Inc. since 2017;Associate of BlackRock, Inc. since 2011.

Dr. Maloney is a United States citizen. He joined Gottex in September 2003 as Head of Manager Research. In 2008, Dr. Maloney became Chairman of the Research Committee, and also Head of Risk Management in 2009. In 2010, Dr. Maloney became a member of the Gottex Executive Committee. In 2012, Dr. Maloney became the Chief Investment Officer of the Fund of Hedge Funds Business at Gottex. From 1995 to 2003, Dr. Maloney worked for Putnam Investments, where he was a Managing Director. From 2002 to 2003, he managed the Product Design Team and worked with the equity and fixed income portfolio management teams to design and position products to meet client objectives for risk, return and style positioning. From 1998 to 2001, he was the Director of the Financial Engineering at Putnam, where his team drove the development of risk systems, portfolio construction tools, and derivatives analytics and infrastructure. From 1995 to 1998, he was the Director of Quantitative Research in Fixed Income. Dr. Maloney was a professor of finance and economics at the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College from 1983 to 1995. He has an MA and PhD in Finance and Economics from Washington University and a BA in Economics from Trinity College. Dr. Maloney has published a number of articles in academic and professional journals.

Phillip Soccio, CFA, Director and portfolio manager, is a member of the BlackRock's Fixed Income Portfolio Management Group.Prior to assuming his current role in 2007, Mr. Soccio was a member of BlackRock's Cash Management Group, where he was responsible for managing various tax-exempt money market funds. From 1998 to 2000, he was a member of BlackRock's Account Management Group responsible for institutional client service and marketing support. Mr. Soccio began his career at BlackRock in 1998.