Hung Charley 4

What Happened Hung Charley, a portfolio manager at BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust (BTZ), executed conversions/exercises of derivative (phantom) share units and received a new phantom-share award on Jan 30, 2026. The filing shows a disposition to the issuer of 1,263.318 shares at $10.64 for $13,442 (likely a cash settlement/withholding), and a grant of 3,984.023 phantom shares valued at $10.64 each (total $42,390). Several other exercise/conversion entries (275.355; 241.003; 746.959 shares) are reported as derivative exercises/conversions on the same date.

Key Details

• Transaction date: January 30, 2026 (Form 4 filed Feb 3, 2026 — timely filing).
• Disposition to issuer: 1,263.318 shares @ $10.64 = $13,442 (code D).
• Grant/award: 3,984.023 phantom shares @ $10.64 = $42,390 (code A; cash-settled derivative).
• Other derivative exercises/conversions (code M) on 1/30/2026: 1,263.318 (acquired then disposed as above), 275.355 (disposed), 241.003 (disposed), 746.959 (disposed); per-share prices for these M entries are reported as N/A (cash-settled conversions).
• Shares owned after the transactions: not disclosed in the provided filing excerpt.
• Footnotes: these are phantom (cash-settled) shares. Prior grants dated Jan 31 of 2023, 2024, and 2025 vest in equal installments over the first three anniversaries (see F1–F5).

Context Phantom shares are cash-settled units that track common stock value and pay out in cash upon vesting — they do not transfer actual common stock. The disposition to the issuer for $13,442 is consistent with a cash settlement or withholding to satisfy taxes or net the payout rather than an open-market sale. This transaction is primarily an award/settlement event, not a conventional open-market purchase or sale that signals a straightforward bullish or bearish view.