New York-listed BlackRock is making its Multi-Asset Income Fund available to retail and high net worth investors.

The fund provides an “unconstrained strategy” for finding income, the firm says, and is able to invest globally and across a wide range of asset classes. The fund was previously called the BlackRock Income Portfolio Fund, available to institutional investors only. With the name change, the approach has also been broadened, and the fund can now invest in alternative asset classes including MLPs and REITs.

The fund is managed by a team within BlackRock’s multi-asset client solutions team, which consists of 150 people and managed $80 billion in retail client assets as of 31 December 2011.

“Low yields and high volatility have made generating investment income more challenging than ever,” said Michael Fredericks, US retail head of the multi-asset client solutions team.

“Income-seeking investors need to look beyond traditional asset classes and consider the new income opportunities emerging across sectors and geographies worldwide,” he added.