Company: BDJ
Filing Date: 2025-09-04
Form Type: N-CSRS
Source: 0001193125-25-196068
Chunk: 36

Company: BlackRock Enhanced Equity Dividend Trust
Filing Date: 2025-09-04
Form: N-CSRS
Chunk 36
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 position in the European power networks business Elia Group SA was a top contributor at the individual holding level. The Trust initiated the position by participating in a placement as part of a €2.2 billion funding package to support the company’s grid investment plans. The cement and building materials producer Heidelberg Materials AG was also a top contributor. The stock was supported by positive earnings updates and the German government’s announcement of a €500 billion package to boost defense and infrastructure spending. This news also benefited the Trust’s position in the transport infrastructure group Vinci SA, which reported robust earnings and a strong order book in its quarterly results. The U.S. power utility PG&E Corp., which fell due to uncertainty following the California wildfires, detracted from returns. The electrical components company nVent Electric PLC, whose products include electrical equipment used in data centers, was initially impacted by concerns about China’s DeepSeek AI model announcement and the broader market decline in April 2025, and it failed to recover as strongly as other stocks in the subsequent rally. The electric utility Sempra declined following a downward revision to earnings growth, particularly for its California and Texas businesses. The Trust used an options overlay strategy in which calls were written on a portion of the portfolio’s holdings. This strategy detracted from relative performance. The Trust’s practice of maintaining a specified level of monthly distributions to shareholders did not have a material impact on the Trust’s investment strategy. Describe recent portfolio activity. The Trust is positioned for increased investment in power and grid infrastructure. On the traditional energy side, the Trust prefers U.S. midstream companies viewed as beneficiaries of the expected increase in U.S. energy demand. New purchases included companies that stand to benefit from the U.S. power generation buildout, as well as a European building materials producer and a Europe-based gas turbine manufacturer. On the other hand, the Trust exited positions in two European power utilities and an industrial compression equipment manufacturer. Describe portfolio positioning at period end. At the end of the period, 47.2% of the portfolio was invested in the utilities sector, with 35.4% in industrials and 10.2% in energy. The remainder was invested in other infrastructure- and power-related sectors. As of June 30, 2025, the Trust had in place an option overwriting program whereby 33.3% of the underlying equities were overwritten with call options on individual stocks. These call options were typically written at prices above the prevailing market prices (estimated to be 3.2% out of the