BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 31 January 2020 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

	One Month	Three Months	Six Months	One Year	Three Years	Five Years
Net asset value	-2.1%	1.2%	-1.6%	14.4%	23.4%	77.2%
Share price	-1.3%	2.1%	-3.5%	16.2%	30.4%	94.8%
Russell 1000 Value Index	-1.7%	1.7%	-1.9%	14.6%	22.3%	72.9%

Source: BlackRock

At month end
Net asset value – capital only:	180.45p
Net asset value – cum income:	182.29p
Share price:	188.50p
Premium to cum income NAV:	3.4%
Net yield¹:	4.2%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£148.0m
Gearing:	Nil
Options overwrite:	14.7%
Ordinary shares in issue²:	81,204,044
Ongoing charges³:	1.1%

¹ Based on four quarterly interim dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 5 March 2019, 8 May 2019, 6 August 2019 and 7 November 2019 for the year ended 31 October 2019 and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 January 2020.

² Excluding 19,157,261 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.

Benchmark Sector Analysis	Total Assets (%)
Financials	25.7
Health Care	17.2
Energy	8.8
Information Technology	8.4
Industrials	8.2
Consumer Staples	7.1
Communication Services	6.8
Consumer Discretionary	5.5
Utilities	2.6
Materials	1.3
Net current assets	8.4
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	100.0
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Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
United States	69.9
United Kingdom	6.5
Netherlands	3.8
Ireland	2.8
Germany	2.8
Switzerland	1.9
France	1.5
Japan	1.4
Canada	0.6
Norway	0.4
Net current assets	8.4
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	100.0
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Ten Largest Investments
Company	Country of Risk	Total Assets (%)
JPMorgan Chase	USA	3.9
Verizon Communications	USA	3.9
Citigroup	USA	3.3
Wells Fargo	USA	3.1
Bank of America	USA	2.8
Medtronic	Ireland	2.5
Williams Companies	USA	2.1
Koninklijke Philips	Netherlands	2.0
BP Group	United Kingdom	2.0
American International Group	USA	2.0

Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:

For the one-month period ended 31 January 2020, the Company’s NAV decreased by 2.1% and the share price by 1.3% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -1.7% for the period.

At the sector level, the largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection in the industrials sector. Notably, selection decisions in the aerospace and defence industry proved beneficial. In the information technology (IT) sector, an overweight exposure to the software industry and stock selection in communications equipment boosted relative returns. Other contributors to relative performance included an underweight exposure to materials and stock selection in the consumer discretionary sector.

The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the health care sector. Selection decisions in health care providers and services, health care equipment and supplies and the pharmaceuticals industries weighed on relative results. In utilities, an overweight exposure to the electric and multi-utilities industries hindered relative returns. Other detractors from relative performance included stock selection in financials and an underweight position in the real estate sector.

The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy detracted modestly from performance in January.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: In January, the portfolio initiated a new position in The Progressive Corporation and added to existing positions in Cisco Systems and Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Conversely, we trimmed our existing positions in Samsung Electronics, Baker Hughes and The Travelers Companies.

Options:  As of 31 January 2020, the Company’s options exposure was 14.7% and the delta of the options was 86.9. 

Positioning

As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the health care, financials and information technology sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the real estate, utilities and materials sectors.

Source: BlackRock. Data as of 31 January 2020.

20 February 2020

Latest information is available by typing blackrock.co.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.

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