BlackRock North Amer Portfolio Update

 
TIDMBRNA 
 
The information contained in this release was correct as at 31 December 2020. 
Information on the Company's up to date net asset values can be found on the 
London Stock Exchange Website at: 
 
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/ 
market-news-home.html . 
 
BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST PLC (LEI:549300WWOCXSC241W468) 
All information is at 31 December 2020  and unaudited. 
Performance at month end with net income reinvested 
 
 
                               One    Three      Six      One    Three      Five 
                             Month   Months   Months     Year    Years     Years 
 
Net asset value               1.0%     9.8%     7.8%    -0.8%    16.8%     69.9% 
 
Share price                   2.0%    11.9%    12.5%    -8.6%    17.7%     78.3% 
 
Russell 1000 Value Index      1.4%     9.9%    11.0%    -0.4%    18.1%     71.6% 
 
At month end 
 
Net asset value - capital only:                                                 175.03p 
 
Net asset value - cum income:                                                   175.71p 
 
Share price:                                                                    165.75p 
 
Discount to cum income NAV:                                                        5.7% 
 
Net yield1:                                                                        4.8% 
 
Total assets including current year revenue:                                     140.2m 
 
Gearing:                                                                            Nil 
 
Options overwrite                                                                 18.7% 
 
Ordinary shares in issue2:                                                   79,784,044 
 
Ongoing charges3:                                                                  1.1% 
 
1 Based on four quarterly interim dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 20 
March 2020, 5 May 2020, 6 August 2020 and 4 November 2020 for the year ended 31 
October 2020, and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 
December 2020. 
 
² Excluding 20,577,261 ordinary shares held in treasury. 
 
³ Ongoing charges represent the management fee and all other operating expenses 
excluding interest as a % of average shareholders' funds for the year ended 31 
October 2019. 
 
 
 
 
 
Sector Analysis                                             Total Assets (%) 
 
Financials                                                              26.3 
 
Health Care                                                             16.8 
 
Information Technology                                                  12.4 
 
Consumer Staples                                                         8.1 
 
Energy                                                                   7.1 
 
Industrials                                                              6.7 
 
Communication Services                                                   6.4 
 
Consumer Discretionary                                                   4.8 
 
Utilities                                                                4.2 
 
Materials                                                                2.2 
 
Net Current Assets                                                       5.0 
 
                                                                       ----- 
 
                                                                       100.0 
 
                                                                       ===== 
 
 
 
 
Country Analysis       Total 
                      Assets 
                         (%) 
 
United States           74.9 
 
Netherlands              4.6 
 
United Kingdom           4.3 
 
Germany                  3.9 
 
France                   2.2 
 
Ireland                  2.1 
 
Switzerland              1.7 
 
Norway                   0.9 
 
Canada                   0.4 
 
Net Current Assets       5.0 
 
                       ----- 
 
                       100.0 
 
                       ===== 
 
 
 
 
Top 10 Holdings        Country       % 
                                 Total 
                                Assets 
 
Citigroup              United      3.4 
                       States 
 
Verizon Communications United      3.1 
                       States 
 
Bank of America        United      2.8 
                       States 
 
Wells Fargo            United      2.6 
                       States 
 
American International United      2.4 
Group                  States 
 
Anthem                 United      2.3 
                       States 
 
Comcast Corporation    United      2.3 
                       States 
 
Samsung Electronics    United      2.2 
                       States 
 
Cisco Systems          United      2.2 
                       States 
 
Medtronic              Ireland     2.1 
 
 
Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment 
Manager, noted: 
 
For the one-month period ended 31 December 2020, the Company's NAV increased by 
1.0% and the share price by 2.0% (all in sterling). The Company's benchmark, 
the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned 1.4% for the period. 
 
The largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection and an 
underweight exposure to the industrials sector. Notably, selection decisions 
among industrial conglomerates and an underweight exposure to machinery proved 
beneficial. In information technology, stock selection and an overweight 
exposure to the technology hardware, storage and peripherals and IT services 
industries boosted relative performance. In consumer staples, stock selection 
in food and staples retailing helped relative results. Other contributors 
during the month included an overweight exposure to financials and an 
underweight exposure to consumer discretionary and utilities. 
 
The largest detractor from relative performance was the portfolio's cash 
balance, which remains a preferred defensive allocation of the portfolio 
management team. At the sector level, selection decisions in the communication 
services sector was the largest detractor from relative results. Within the 
sector, a lack of exposure to the entertainment industry proved costly during 
the month. In health care, stock selection in pharmaceuticals weighed on 
relative results, as did an overweight exposure to health care providers and 
services. 
 
The portfolio's option overwriting strategy detracted from relative performance 
during the month. 
 
Transactions/Options 
 
Transactions: In December, the portfolio initiated a new position in Ameren. 
Allocations to Cisco Systems and Morgan Stanley were increased during the 
month. Conversely, we reduced our exposure to Cognizant Technology Solutions, 
Constellation Brands and Samsung Electronics. 
 
Options:  As of 31 December 2020, the Company's options exposure was 18.7% and 
the delta of the options was 86.8. 
 
Positioning 
 
As of the period end, the Company's largest overweight positions relative to 
the benchmark were in the financials, health care and energy sectors. The 
Company's largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the 
industrials, real estate and communication services sectors. 
 
Source: BlackRock. Data as of 31 December 2020. 
 
19 January 2021 
 
Latest information is available by typing blackrock.com/uk/brna on the 
internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV 
terminal).  Neither the contents of the Manager's website nor the contents of 
any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager's website (or any other 
website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement. 
 
 
 
END 
 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2021 06:55 ET (11:55 GMT)