Peter Hayes

In 1915 Charles Edward Merrill founded Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) with Edmund C. Lynch in Baltimore, Maryland. The modern Merrill Lynch was formed in 1940 through mergers with E.A. Pierce & Cassatt and, soon after, Fenner & Beane. In 1973, Merrill Lynch adopted a holding company format, with Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. as the parent and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith as the operating subsidiary. Merrill Lynch Asset Management, Inc. (MLAM) was created as an integral business unit in the Merrill Lynch family in 1976. Fund Asset Management, doing business as Mercury Asset Management, was acquired in December 1997. In 2000, MLAM and Mercury were combined under the name Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. MLAM manages the Merrill Lynch family of mutual funds, as and acts as sub-advisor to other mutual funds.

BlackRock Taxable Municipal Bond Trust is a non-diversified and closed-end management investment company. Its primary investment objective is to seek high current income, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The trust seeks to achieve its investment objectives by investing primarily in a portfolio of taxable municipal securities known as Build America Bonds. The company was founded on August 27, 2010 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.

BlackRock Investment Management LLC (BIM) is a registered investment advisor headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. The firm was founded in 1999 and is a subsidiary of Trident Merger LLC, ultimately held by BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK). BIM manages assets for institutional and high net worth clients, separate accounts, pooled investment vehicles and US registered investment companies. They also sponsor an SMA (wrap fee) program.