Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 30 June 2018 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	1.1%	8.7%	1.6%	6.1%	58.2%	81.8%
Share price	3.7%	17.9%	9.1%	15.5%	77.2%	81.4%
Russell 1000 Value Index	1.0%	7.5%	0.7%	5.0%	51.1%	87.9%

Source: BlackRock

At month end
Net asset value – capital only:	170.84p
Net asset value – cum income:	171.75p
Share price:	173.00p
Premium to cum income NAV:	0.7%
Net yield¹:	4.6%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£118.3m
Gearing:	Nil
Options overwrite:	14.8%
Ordinary shares in issue²:	68,874,044
Ongoing charges³:	1.1%

¹ In line with the dividend policy announced in the Annual Report on 13 December 2017 of dividends amounting to 8.00p per share for the year ending 31 October 2018 and based on the share price as at close of business on 30 June 2018.

² Excluding 31,487,261 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 2017.

Benchmark Sector Analysis	Total Assets (%)
Financials	26.5
Health Care	16.9
Energy	12.5
Information Technology	10.9
Consumer Staples	7.8
Industrials	7.8
Utilities	4.9
Consumer Discretionary	3.6
Telecommunication Services	2.8
Materials	2.2
Net current assets	4.1
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
USA	79.0
United Kingdom	5.4
Canada	3.3
Netherlands	2.8
Ireland	2.8
France	0.9
Denmark	0.7
Germany	0.7
China	0.3
Net current assets	4.1
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Ten Largest Investments
Company	Country of Risk	Total Assets (%)
JPMorgan Chase	USA	4.0
Bank of America	USA	3.9
Pfizer	USA	3.7
Citigroup	USA	3.3
Wells Fargo	USA	3.0
Oracle	USA	2.7
Microsoft	USA	2.6
Suncor Energy	Canada	2.5
Anthem	USA	2.4
Verizon Communications	USA	2.4

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

For the one-month period ended 30 June 2018, the Company’s NAV increased by 1.1% while the share price increased by 3.7% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned 1.0% for the period.

The largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection and allocation decisions in the energy sector. Notably, stock selection and an overweight to the oil, gas & consumable fuels industry boosted relative returns. In information technology, a combination of stock selection and an underweight to semiconductors added to relative returns. Other notable contributors included stock selection in telecoms and an underweight to the industrials sector.

The largest detractor from relative performance was an underweight to real estate. Real estate was the second best performing sector in the Russell 1000 Value Index during the month, with benchmark sector constituents generating an average return of 4.5% (in sterling). In health care, stock selection in the pharmaceuticals industry also proved to be costly. Other modest detractors from relative performance included stock selection in the utilities and consumer staples sectors.

The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy contributed modestly to absolute returns in June.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: In June we initiated new positions in Philip Morris International Inc. and Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Other notable additions included increasing our existing allocations to BP plc, ONEOK, Inc. and MetLife, Inc. Conversely, we trimmed our existing positions in Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell, as well as exited our positions in Prudential Financial, Inc., British American Tobacco plc, Plains GP Holdings, L.P. and Publicis Groupe SA.

Options:  As of 30 June 2018, the Company’s options exposure was 14.8% and the delta of the options was 90.8. 

Positioning

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

Source: BlackRock.

16 July 2018

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.