Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
All information is at 31 October 2015 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
		One			Three		One		Three				Five	^^Since
		month			months		year		years				years	31.03.06
		%			%		%		%				%	%
Sterling:
Net asset value^		2.5			-11.1		-32.0		-34.5				-50.0	14.3
Share price		8.9			-5.4		-29.7		-32.8				-50.5	11.7
MSCI EM Latin America		4.1			-11.4		-32.3		-37.1				-46.1	21.6
US Dollars:
Net asset value^		4.6			-12.0		-34.3		-37.1				-51.6	2.0
Share price		11.0			-6.3		-32.1		-35.5				-52.1	-0.4
MSCI EM Latin America		6.1			-12.3		-34.6		-39.7				-47.9	8.3
^cum income ^^Date which BlackRock took over the investment management of the Company. Sources: BlackRock, Standard & Poor’s Micropal
At month end
Net asset value – capital only:										319.68p
Net asset value – cum income:										322.13p
Share price:										295.00p
Total Assets#:										£126.8m
Discount (share price to cum income NAV):										8.4%
Average discount* over the month – cum income:										10.7%
Net cash at month end**:										1.4%
Gearing range (as a % of net assets):										0-25%
Net yield##:										6.7%
Ordinary shares in issue***:										39,369,620
Ongoing charges****:										1.2%
#Total assets include current year revenue. ## calculated using total dividends declared in the last 12 months as at the date of this announcement as a percentage of month end share price. *The discount is calculated using the cum income NAV (expressed in sterling terms). **Net cash/net gearing is calculated using debt at par, less cash and cash equivalents and fixed interest investments as a percentage of net assets. ***Excluding 2,071,662 shares held in treasury. **** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 31 December 2014.
Geographic Exposure
			% of Total Assets			% of Equity Portfolio *						MSCI EM Latin American Index
Brazil			43.5			44.1						45.8
Mexico			41.4			41.9						37.1
Peru			7.5			7.6						3.0
Chile			3.7			3.8						9.8
Colombia			1.3			1.4						4.3
Argentina			1.2			1.2						0.0
Net current assets (inc.Fixed interest)			1.4			0.0						0.0
			-----			-----						-----
Total			100.0			100.0						100.0
			-----			-----						-----
	*excluding net current assets & fixed interest
Sector			% of Total Assets				% of Benchmark
Materials			14.6				13.3
Consumer Discretionary			5.0				7.0
Consumer Staples			22.9				23.1
Financials			32.0				27.2
Health Care			1.1				0.3
Industrials			6.6				6.9
Information Technology			2.3				2.2
Energy			4.9				6.3
Telecommunication Services			6.3				7.9
Utilities			2.9				5.8
Fixed Income			1.0				0.0
Net current assets			0.4				0.0
			-----				-----
Total			100.0				100.0
			-----				-----

Ten Largest Equity Investments (in percentage order)
Company	Country of Risk	% of Equity Portfolio		% of Benchmark
Femsa	Mexico	6.6		4.0
AmBev	Brazil	5.5		5.2
Grupo Financiero Banorte	Mexico	4.9		3.0
Itau Unibanco	Brazil	4.7		4.6
Credicorp	Peru	4.4		1.7
Walmart de Mexico	Mexico	4.2		3.1
Cemex SAB	Mexico	4.2		1.8
America Movil	Mexico	4.1		6.3
Banco Bradesco	Brazil	3.8		4.1
BB Seguridade Participacoes	Brazil	3.8		1.1
Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the Investment Manager noted;
Performance For the month of October 2015, the Company’s NAV rose by 2.5% and the share price rose by 8.9% (all in sterling terms), whilst the Company’s benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Free Index, rose by 4.1%. Contributing positively to returns was our off-benchmark allocation to Argentina, the best performing country in the region in anticipation of a win by opposition candidate Mauricio Macri in the 22 November run-off.  The largest individual contributor to performance was Argentine oil stock YPF, which benefited from the election result. Weighing on performance was stock selection in Brazil and Mexico.  At the stock level Cemex SAB, Petrobras and BRF were the largest detractors.  Cemex SAB suffered after reporting third quarter results which were negatively impacted by the Mexican peso devaluation and its effect on the company’s balance sheet. The below benchmark exposure to Petrobras weighed on performance as the stock participated in the month’s market rally.  Our exposure to BRF also weighed on returns after the company reported weaker than expected domestic results within a third quarter reporting which was in line with expectations.
Transactions/Gearing During the month we reduced our underweight to oil by adding to YPF in Argentina and reintroducing Petrobras.  Adding Petrobras was also meant to reduce the portfolio’s risk in case of a change in government in Brazil.  These moves were partially funded by taking profits in Brazilian fuel distributor Ultrapar Participacoes and reducing exposure to Grupo Televisa as a result of continued Grupo Financiero pressure on media revenues.  We increased exposure to Mexico by adding to Banorte given improvements in loan growth.  We also exited Brazilian consumer goods stock Hypermarcas on valuation grounds. Net cash was approximately 1.4% at the end of October.
Positioning The portfolio continues to be defensively positioned, especially in Brazil where the economic fundamentals continue to deteriorate.  Mexico continues to be the positive highlight in the region as its gradual domestic recovery expands, which is visible in the country’s improvement in retail sales and loan growth.  Brazil continues to see a deterioration in fiscal numbers, reduction in GDP forecasts for 2015 and 2016, and growth in unemployment.  Our views on the Andean region remain unchanged from last month where we favour Peru over Chile and Colombia.  We are closely monitoring Argentina following the surprising result in the recent Presidential election.
26 November 2015
ENDS
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