Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at31 January 2017 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 -1.6% 5.8% 14.0% 37.5% 68.9% 94.8%
Share price -3.7% 5.6% 19.3% 48.9% 65.2% 88.6%
Russell 1000 Value Index -1.1% 5.9% 14.0% 40.5% 74.6% 121.0%
Source: BlackRock

   

At month end
Net asset value – capital only:   164.99p
Net asset value – cum income:                                 166.53p
Share price:                                                  163.25p
Discount to cum income NAV:  2.0%
Net yield1:                                                      2.9%
Total assets including current year revenue:                  £114.8m
Gearing:                                                          Nil
Options overwrite:                              17.13%
Ordinary shares in issue2: 68,949,044
Ongoing charges3: 1.04%

   

1 Based on dividends of 1.20p per share declared on 3 November, 3 August and 4 May 2016 and 1.10p per share declared on 18 February 2016.

2 Excluding 31,412,261 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 2016.

   

Benchmark
Sector Analysis Total Assets (%)
Financials 27.4
Health Care 14.0
Energy 10.9
Industrials 10.1
Information Technology 9.8
Consumer Staples 6.8
Consumer Discretionary 5.5
Utilities 5.4
Materials 3.5
Telecommunication Services 2.1
Real Estate 0.1
Net current assets 4.4
-----
100.0
=====

   

Country Analysis Total Assets (%)
USA 87.7
United Kingdom 2.4
France 2.0
Canada 1.6
Netherlands 1.0
Ireland 0.5
China 0.4
Net current assets 4.4
-----
100.0  
=====

   

Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Total Assets (%)
JPMorgan Chase USA 4.0
Bank of America USA 3.9
Pfizer USA 3.4
Wells Fargo USA 2.9
Citigroup USA 2.8
General Electric USA 2.5
Microsoft USA 2.2
Merck USA 2.1
Oracle USA 2.1
Comcast USA 1.9

   

Bob Shearer and Tony DeSpirito, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
Performance
For the one month period ended 31 January 2017, the Company’s NAV decreased by 1.6% whilst the share price fell by 3.7% (all in sterling).  The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, declined by 1.1% for the period. 

The largest contributor to relative performance during the month was stock selection in the consumer discretionary sector.  Notably, our overweight position in Comcast (+6.4% in GBP) proved to be beneficial.  Stock selection in information technology also added to relative returns as our decision to own non-benchmark holding Samsung contributed positively. Lastly, an underweight to real estate also added modestly to relative performance.

The largest detractor from relative performance is stock selection and allocation decisions in the industrials sector.  Notably, not owning benchmark railroad operator CSX Corporation (+26.8% in GBP) proved to be costly.  Within the sector, an underweight to the machinery industry and stock selection in aerospace & defence also hurt relative performance.  Lastly, stock selection in the health care, energy and financials sectors dampened relative returns during the month.

Transactions/Options
Transactions: Notable portfolio changes include initiating new positions in Koninklijke Philips NV and McKesson Corporation. Koninklijke Philips operates in three segments including health care, electronics and lighting whilst McKesson is a global pharmaceutical drugs distributor.  Further, we exited our position in Reynolds American Inc., a tobacco manufacturer, during the month.

Options:  As at 31 January 2017, the Company’s options exposure was 17.13% and the delta of the options was 89.29%. 

Positioning
The Company is currently overweight to the health care, consumer discretionary, materials, and financials sectors.  We are approximately equal-weight in the information technology and industrials sectors, and underweight to real estate, energy, telecom, consumer staples, and utilities sectors.
20 February 2017
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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