Trent Walker
Principal Financial and Accounting Officer at BlackRock Technology & Private Equity Term Trust
Executive
About Trent Walker
Trent Walker is the Chief Financial Officer (principal financial and accounting officer) of BlackRock Technology and Private Equity Term Trust (BTX), serving since 2021; he is a Managing Director at BlackRock, Inc. since 2019 and was born in 1974 . Prior to BlackRock, he served as Executive Vice President at PIMCO from 2016 to 2019 . As CFO during 2025, BTX executed a large issuer tender offer to repurchase 50% of shares at 99.5% of NAV; final results showed 96,627,850 shares purchased at $7.4924, a material corporate action aimed at addressing the share price discount to NAV .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIMCO | Executive Vice President | 2016–2019 | Senior finance leadership at a major asset manager |
External Roles
- No public company board roles or external directorships were disclosed for Trent Walker in BTX’s fund filings reviewed .
Fixed Compensation
- Executive officers (including the CFO) receive no compensation from the Funds; compensation is paid by BlackRock or its affiliates, not by BTX .
Performance Compensation
- No fund-level equity awards (RSUs/PSUs/options), performance metric weightings, or bonus payout details are disclosed for executive officers; the funds do not compensate executive officers .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total beneficial ownership (BTX) | As of Feb 28, 2025, except for the CEO (7,100 shares), no executive officer beneficially owned BTX shares; this implies 0 shares for the CFO . |
| Ownership as % of outstanding | Not disclosed for the CFO; only that no executive officer (other than the CEO) beneficially owned BTX shares as of Feb 28, 2025 . |
| Vested vs unvested shares | Not disclosed . |
| Options (exercisable/unexercisable) | Not disclosed . |
| Shares pledged as collateral | No pledging was mentioned in the Offer to Purchase section addressing officers’ interests and arrangements; no pledging disclosure identified in reviewed filings . |
| Insider transactions | No reported insider transactions by Trent Walker in BTX over the past 18 months per GuruFocus; note this is a third-party aggregation, not an SEC filing . |
Employment Terms
| Term | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Current role | Chief Financial Officer (principal financial and accounting officer) of BTX . |
| Start date / tenure | Serving as CFO since 2021; officers are appointed annually . |
| Employer | BlackRock, Inc. (executive officers are BlackRock personnel serving the funds) . |
| Compensation from Fund | Executive officers receive no compensation from the Funds . |
| Severance / change-of-control | Not disclosed in BTX fund filings reviewed . |
| Clawback provisions | Not disclosed in BTX fund filings reviewed . |
| Non-compete / non-solicit | Not disclosed in BTX fund filings reviewed . |
Performance & Track Record Highlights (Context for CFO Tenure)
- 2025 issuer tender offer: BTX offered to repurchase up to 50% of outstanding shares at 99.5% of NAV; final results purchased 96,627,850 shares at $7.4924, a step often used to address trading discounts and capital allocation concerns .
- Shareholder engagement framework: The tender was part of arrangements including a standstill with Saba Capital (January 2025) and related board-approved actions, signaling active measures to manage the discount and shareholder relations .
Compensation Governance and Say-on-Pay (Fund Context)
- Fund executive officer pay: Not paid by the Fund; no fund-level NEO tables for executives like the CFO .
- Board/trustee holdings: CEO John M. Perlowski held 7,100 BTX shares; independent trustees generally reported no BTX holdings as of Feb 28, 2025 .
- Fund proxy focus: BTX’s 2025 proxy materials centered on investment policy changes and diversification status rather than executive pay items .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance alignment at the fund level is indirect: as the CFO is a BlackRock employee and not compensated by BTX, traditional fund-level pay–performance linkages (base, bonus, PSUs) are not applicable; incentives likely align with BlackRock corporate frameworks rather than BTX-specific TSR/EBITDA targets .
- Low direct ownership alignment: Disclosures indicate no BTX share ownership by executive officers other than the CEO, suggesting limited “skin in the game” at the fund level for the CFO; no pledging was identified in reviewed sections .
- Retention risk tied to BlackRock: Employment terms are not fund-specific; retention and severance dynamics derive from BlackRock corporate policies, which are not disclosed in BTX filings—portfolio managers and corporate finance infrastructure provide continuity .
- Trading signals: Absence of reported insider Form 4 activity by the CFO and the large tender offer execution point more to structural discount management than insider selling pressure; monitor future filings for any changes in officer/shareholder arrangements and subsequent discount trends .