Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc
All information is at30 September 2016 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested

   


 
One
Month
Three
Months
Six
Months
One
Year
Three
Years
Since
Launch
(24 Oct 2012)
Net asset value -0.2% 5.1% 17.9% 33.7% 55.4% 74.1%
Share price 3.1% 12.0% 22.9% 44.6% 47.8% 66.8%
Russell 1000 Value Index 0.6% 6.5% 19.7% 35.5% 64.6% 99.3%
Source: BlackRock

   

At month end
Net asset value – capital only:   148.02p
Net asset value – cum income:                                 149.93p
Share price:                                                  145.50p
Discount to cum income NAV:  3.0%
Net yield*:                                                      3.2%
Total assets including current year revenue:                  £103.4m
Gearing:                                                          Nil
Options overwrite:                              17.87%
Ordinary shares in issue**: 68,949,044
Ongoing charges***: 1.24%

   

* Based on dividends of 1.20p per share declared on 3 August 2016 and 4 May 2016 and 1.10p per share declared on 18 February 2016 and 4 November 2015.
** Excluding 31,412,261 ordinary shares held in treasury.
*** 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 2015.

   

Benchmark
Sector Analysis Total Assets (%)
Financials 24.8
Health Care 14.8
Industrials 12.0
Energy 11.3
Information Technology 9.2
Consumer Staples 7.3
Consumer Discretionary 6.0
Utilities 5.4
Materials 3.4
Telecommunication Services 2.3
Net current assets 3.5
-----
100.0
=====

   

Country Analysis Total Assets (%)
USA 89.3
United Kingdom 2.2
France 2.0
Canada 1.4
Netherlands 0.8
China 0.5
Ireland 0.3
Net current assets 3.5
-----
100.0  
=====

   

Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Total Assets (%)
Pfizer USA 3.4
JPMorgan Chase USA 3.2
Bank of America USA 3.0
General Electric USA 3.0
Wells Fargo USA 2.5
Citigroup USA 2.3
Merck USA 2.2
Microsoft USA 2.2
Occidental Petroleum USA 2.0
Exxon Mobil USA 1.9

   

Bob Shearer and Tony DeSpirito, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
Performance

For the one month period ended 30 September 2016, the Company’s NAV decreased by 0.2% while the share price increased by 3.1% (all on a total return basis in sterling).  The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, gained 0.6% for the period. 

The largest contributor to relative performance during the month was stock selection in the health care sector.  Notably, an overweight to UnitedHealth Group and Quest Diagnostics in the health care providers & services industry proved to be beneficial. An underweight to the real estate sector also added to relative performance, as did stock selection in telecom services. Lastly, stock selection in financials contributed modestly to relative returns for the month.

The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the energy sector.  Notably, an overweight to Occidental Petroleum and not owning benchmark holding EOG Resources proved to be costly. Stock selection in the information technology and consumer discretionary sectors also dampened relative returns, as did stock selection in the industrials and consumer staples sectors. Notable stock-level detractors for the month included The Kroger Co., a grocery store operator, and Wells Fargo, a diversified U.S. bank.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: During the month of September we increased our allocation to the energy sector by adding to our positions in Hess Corporation and Suncor Energy. Conversely, we decreased our allocation to the tobacco industry by trimming our positions in Altria Group and Reynolds American Inc. Lastly, we trimmed our exposure to Home Depot and used the proceeds to increase our position in Publicis Groupe SA.

Options:  As at 30 September 2016, the Company’s options exposure was 17.87% and the delta of the options was 90.07%. 

Positioning
The Company is currently overweight to the health care, industrials, consumer discretionary, financials, and materials sectors.  We are underweight to the real estate, energy, consumer staples, telecom, utilities, and information technology sectors.
18 October 2016
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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