Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
All information is at 31 October 2015 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
							One		Three				Six				One				Three		Since
							month		months				months				year				years		Launch*
							%		%				%				%				%		%
Sterling:
Share price							-0.4		-9.4				-8.1				-14.9				40.3		18.0
Net asset value							3.2		-3.2				-8.3				-5.7				42.0		27.2
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR)							1.7		-3.5				-11.1				-14.8				30.7		9.7
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR)							5.1		-4.5				-18.2				-11.5				-4.4		-13.0
US Dollars:
Share price							1.6		-10.4				-7.6				-17.8				34.7		17.2
Net asset value							5.2		-4.2				-7.8				-8.9				36.3		26.2
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR)							3.7		-4.5				-10.7				-17.8				25.3		8.7
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR)							7.1		-5.5				-17.8				-14.5				-8.4		-13.8
Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor’s Micropal * 17 December 2010.
At month end
US Dollar
Net asset value - capital only:																		165.17c
Net asset value - cum income:																		169.33c
Sterling:
Net asset value - capital only:																		106.94p
Net asset value - cum income:																		109.64p
Share price:																		103.38p
Total assets (including income):																		£165.1m
Discount to cum-income NAV:																		5.7%
Gearing:																		nil
Gearing range (as a % of gross assets):																		0-20%
Net yield*:																		4.0%
Ordinary shares in issue:																		150,621,621
Ongoing charges**:																		1.5%
Ongoing charges plus taxation and performance fee:																		1.5%
*The Company’s yield based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement is 4.0% and includes the 2014 final dividend of 4.00 cents per share declared on 1 December 2014, paid to shareholders on 20 February 2015 and the 2015 interim dividend of 2.40 cents per share announced on 18 May 2015 and paid to shareholders on 3 July 2015. **Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 30 September 2014.
Benchmark
Sector Analysis				Gross assets(%)*								Country Analysis							Gross assets(%)*
Financials				35.2								Bangladesh							11.4
Consumer Staples				17.2								Pakistan							11.1
Telecommunications				13.4								Argentina							9.5
Energy				12.5								Kuwait							8.3
Health Care				5.2								Sri Lanka							7.9
Industrials				4.3								Romania							7.1
Utilities				4.3								Kazakhstan							6.4
Consumer Discretionary				4.0								Ukraine							5.9
Materials Technology				1.8 1.7								Vietnam Nigeria							5.0 4.7
				-----								Morocco							4.6
Total				99.6								Kenya							2.8
				-----								Caribbean							2.4
Short positions				-1.2								Iraq							2.3
				=====								Slovenia							2.2
												Oman							2.0
												Other							6.0
																			-----
												Total							99.6
																			-----
												Short positions							-1.2
																			=====
*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).
Market Exposure
	30.11  2014     %	31.12  2014     %	31.01  2015     %		28.02  2015     %	31.03  2015     %		30.04  2015     %			31.05  2015     %			30.06  2015     %		31.07  2015     %				31.08  2015     %		30.09  2015     %		31.10  2015     %
Long	97.9	98.6	101.1		102.0	106.4		105.9			105.8			101.5		102.9				103.1		101.8		99.6
Short	2.8	2.6	1.6		1.6	1.7		1.7			1.1			1.0		1.5				1.5		1.0		1.2
Gross	100.7	101.2	102.7		103.6	108.1		107.6			106.9			102.5		104.4				104.6		102.8		100.8
Net	95.1	96.0	99.5		100.4	104.7		104.2			104.7			100.5		101.4				101.6		100.8		98.4
Company						Country of Risk									% of gross assets
MHP						Ukraine									4.2
Kuwait Foods (Americana)						Kuwait									4.0
BRD Societe Generale						Romania									3.4
Hub Power						Pakistan									3.3
Square Pharmaceuticals						Bangladesh									3.0
Distilleries Co of Sri Lanka						Sri Lanka									2.9
Halyk Savings Bank						Kazakhstan									2.9
Grupo Financiero Galicia						Argentina									2.8
Hatton National Bank						Sri Lanka									2.7
S.N.G.N Romgaz						Romania									2.7
Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht, representing the Investment Manager noted In October, the BlackRock Frontier Investment Trust's NAV returned 5.2%, outperforming the benchmark by 1.5% (on a US dollar basis with net income reinvested). Performance was dominated by positions in Argentina where the MSCI index rose 45% over the month, one of the best monthly performance numbers on record.  The market rallied strongly following Presidential elections in which Daniel Scioli, the incumbent party candidate was unable to achieve victory in the first round, taking elections to a second round for the first time in Argentine history. Despite polls estimating Scioli’s vote at around 40%, he only able to achieved 37% of the vote, whilst opposition candidate Mauricio Macri received 34% of the vote, putting him a close second.  The second round of elections will be held on Nov 22nd with current polls now putting Macri up to 10% ahead of Scioli.  Whoever wins the elections, we expect a shift towards normal economic policy with the playbook likely to include a substantial FX devaluation, negotiation with the hold out creditors and hence increased access to international markets and efforts to address rampant inflation which should eventually lead to a lower cost of capital for the country. The strongest single contributor to performance was Cable and Wireless Communications, a London listed telecoms company with operations across Central American and the Caribbean. The stock rose after announcing that they are currently in discussions with Liberty Global regarding a possible combination, which has since resulted in an offer for the company.  Having first bought into the company in mid-2012 at a price of 32p, we have made a return of nearly 150% post the announcement of the deal. Positions in Kazakhstan and Nigeria also contributed to relative performance.  In Nigeria, the fund continues to benefit from its underweight position as a number of domestic companies reported Q3 results below expectations due to the ongoing slowdown in the domestic economy.  In Kazakhstan, post the substantial devaluation of the currency, which had fallen more than 65% vs the US Dollar year to date to mid-November, we saw a rebound from the lows for and expect the market to have some support here given the extent of currency adjustment that has now taken place.   For an exporter such as Kazmunaigas, the devaluation should led to margin improvements and we have been using recent weakness to add to positions.
Portfolio Activity The team exited the remainder of its position in Herfy, a fast food chain operator based in Saudi Arabia.  Having sold the majority of our positions in Saudi Arabia over the summer, we took the opportunity of a market rebound in October to exit the final part of this position.  In light of the high fiscal deficit, projected by the IMF to be nearly 20% in 2015, and therefore the need for government to reduce spending, we believe that the market will struggle to perform from current high valuation levels. The team increased its position in Equity Bank Kenya.  A combination of factors including the final exit of Helios Partners as a shareholder, pressure on the Kenyan Shilling and a resultant spike in interbank rates and the failure of a small domestic bank meant that we were able to buy shares at valuations equal to the lowest level they have traded for the last 3 years. The team opened a position in Kazakh telecom company, KCELL. The stock has been weak throughout 2015. However, we believe that the current valuation does not adequately reflect a number of characteristics.  The company continues to generate free cash flow, which, allied with the companies favourable dividend payout policy is positive for shareholders. The Kazakh telecom industry has consolidated and, with fewer players competing on price, a degree of pricing discipline should return to the market. The team also took some profits in Cable and Wireless Communications in light of bid speculation as mentioned above.
19 November 2015
ENDS
Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brfi 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 BlackRock’s website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.