BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. (DSU)
The fund invests primarily in U.S. debt markets, focusing on diversified portfolios of lower-rated corporate loans (BBB or below by S&P and Baa or below by Moody's) and unrated debt instruments deemed equivalent in quality by the investment adviser.
Expense Ratio
DSU has a high expense ratio of 2.47%, indicating above-average management fees.
Share Price Chart
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Compare to other instruments
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Performance
Performance Chart
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Returns By Period
BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. (DSU) returned 1.72% year-to-date (YTD) and 6.13% over the past 12 months. Over the past 10 years, DSU returned 7.85% annually, underperforming the S&P 500 benchmark at 10.68%.
DSU
1.72%
3.73%
1.80%
6.13%
15.09%
11.97%
7.85%
^GSPC (Benchmark)
-1.34%
5.02%
-2.79%
9.39%
13.76%
14.45%
10.68%
Monthly Returns
The table below presents the monthly returns of DSU, with color gradation from worst to best to easily spot seasonal factors. Returns are adjusted for dividends.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.83% | 0.46% | -1.51% | -0.36% | 2.32% | 1.72% | |||||||
| 2024 | 3.36% | 0.80% | 1.06% | -2.55% | 3.55% | -0.19% | 2.40% | -0.45% | 2.58% | -1.20% | 1.48% | -0.02% | 11.16% |
| 2023 | 7.43% | 1.33% | -2.75% | 2.39% | -2.12% | 5.60% | 4.11% | 2.00% | 1.48% | -2.84% | 6.11% | 4.72% | 30.36% |
| 2022 | -4.70% | -4.40% | -1.12% | -2.21% | -4.52% | -4.25% | 6.72% | 0.09% | -6.87% | 2.82% | 8.17% | -5.13% | -15.46% |
| 2021 | 0.96% | 2.47% | 2.90% | 0.55% | 2.67% | 2.51% | -2.53% | 4.52% | 0.53% | 2.27% | -0.68% | 1.90% | 19.42% |
| 2020 | 1.43% | -6.38% | -19.40% | 9.37% | 6.18% | -2.69% | 5.83% | 2.76% | 0.11% | -3.44% | 9.27% | 2.28% | 1.60% |
| 2019 | 7.37% | 3.44% | 0.08% | 1.76% | -2.60% | 3.34% | 2.51% | -1.84% | 1.11% | 0.86% | 1.97% | 3.99% | 23.88% |
| 2018 | -0.17% | -1.21% | 1.91% | -0.88% | -0.97% | -0.19% | 1.07% | 1.60% | -1.16% | -3.88% | -1.81% | -4.58% | -9.99% |
| 2017 | 1.24% | 2.30% | -0.78% | 2.17% | 0.33% | -0.53% | 2.52% | -0.77% | 1.21% | 1.02% | -0.86% | 2.50% | 10.74% |
| 2016 | -1.78% | 0.93% | 5.14% | 1.74% | 1.72% | -0.01% | 3.69% | 2.48% | -1.07% | -0.28% | 1.15% | 5.20% | 20.32% |
| 2015 | -1.34% | 4.49% | -1.47% | 2.52% | -1.21% | -2.31% | -0.17% | -1.85% | -3.91% | 4.19% | -2.61% | 1.81% | -2.25% |
| 2014 | 0.75% | 2.12% | 1.10% | 0.37% | 1.34% | 0.13% | -3.06% | 2.16% | -4.13% | 0.37% | 0.37% | -0.83% | 0.49% |
Risk-Adjusted Performance
Risk-Adjusted Performance Rank
The current rank of DSU is 51, indicating average performance compared to other mutual funds on our website. Here’s a breakdown of how it compares using common performance measures.
Risk-Adjusted Performance Indicators
The charts below present risk-adjusted performance metrics for BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. (DSU) and compare them to a chosen benchmark (^GSPC). These indicators evaluate an investment's returns against its associated risks.
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Dividends
Dividend History
BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. provided a 11.35% dividend yield over the last twelve months, with an annual payout of $1.18 per share. The fund has been increasing its distributions for 2 consecutive years.
| Period | TTM | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend | $1.18 | $1.18 | $1.05 | $0.70 | $0.73 | $0.83 | $0.83 | $0.82 | $0.82 | $0.75 | $0.82 | $0.89 |
Dividend yield | 11.35% | 11.01% | 9.70% | 7.56% | 6.21% | 7.96% | 7.43% | 8.41% | 6.98% | 6.60% | 8.07% | 7.96% |
Monthly Dividends
The table displays the monthly dividend distributions for BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc.. The dividends shown in the table have been adjusted to account for any splits that may have occurred.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.49 | |||||||
| 2024 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $1.18 |
| 2023 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.09 | $0.09 | $0.09 | $0.09 | $0.09 | $0.09 | $0.09 | $0.09 | $0.09 | $0.10 | $1.05 |
| 2022 | $0.00 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.70 |
| 2021 | $0.00 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.12 | $0.73 |
| 2020 | $0.00 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.12 | $0.83 |
| 2019 | $0.00 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.14 | $0.83 |
| 2018 | $0.00 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.14 | $0.82 |
| 2017 | $0.00 | $0.06 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.14 | $0.82 |
| 2016 | $0.00 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.15 | $0.75 |
| 2015 | $0.00 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.06 | $0.06 | $0.12 | $0.82 |
| 2014 | $0.08 | $0.08 | $0.08 | $0.08 | $0.08 | $0.08 | $0.08 | $0.08 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.14 | $0.89 |
Drawdowns
Drawdowns Chart
The Drawdowns chart displays portfolio losses from any high point along the way. Drawdowns are calculated considering price movements and all distributions paid, if any.
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Worst Drawdowns
The table below displays the maximum drawdowns of the BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc.. A maximum drawdown is a measure of risk, indicating the largest reduction in portfolio value due to a series of losing trades.
The maximum drawdown for the BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. was 71.27%, occurring on Mar 9, 2009. Recovery took 769 trading sessions.
The current BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. drawdown is 0.42%.
Depth | Start | To Bottom | Bottom | To Recover | End | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -71.27% | Feb 2, 2007 | 528 | Mar 9, 2009 | 769 | Mar 26, 2012 | 1297 |
| -45.36% | Feb 20, 2020 | 20 | Mar 18, 2020 | 210 | Jan 15, 2021 | 230 |
| -30.49% | May 17, 2002 | 48 | Jul 25, 2002 | 171 | Mar 31, 2003 | 219 |
| -24.2% | Dec 29, 2021 | 118 | Jun 16, 2022 | 362 | Nov 24, 2023 | 480 |
| -22.39% | Apr 16, 1998 | 670 | Dec 7, 2000 | 30 | Jan 23, 2001 | 700 |
Volatility
Volatility Chart
The chart below shows the rolling one-month volatility.
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