Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 29 February 2020 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	-6.3%	-8.1%	-6.5%	6.0%	10.6%	62.4%
Share price	-11.9%	-13.2%	-13.5%	0.4%	13.6%	68.6%
Russell 1000 Value Index	-6.8%	-8.0%	-6.3%	4.7%	8.9%	58.2%

Source: BlackRock

At month end
Net asset value – capital only:	169.19p
Net asset value – cum income:	170.85p
Share price:	166.00p
Discount to cum income NAV:	2.8%
Net yield¹:	4.8%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£138.7m
Gearing:	Nil
Options overwrite:	16.4%
Ordinary shares in issue²:	81,204,044
Ongoing charges³:	1.1%

¹ Based on four quarterly interim dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 5 March 2019, 8 May 2019, 6 August 2019 and 7 November 2019 for the year ended 31 October 2019 and based on the share price as at close of business on 29 February 2020.

² Excluding 19,157,261 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 2019.

Benchmark Sector Analysis	Total Assets (%)
Financials	25.0
Health Care	17.3
Information Technology	8.8
Energy	8.3
Industrials	7.9
Consumer Staples	7.2
Communication Services	7.1
Consumer Discretionary	5.5
Utilities	2.5
Materials	1.3
Net current assets	9.1
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
United States	68.8
United Kingdom	6.2
Netherlands	4.0
Ireland	2.7
Germany	2.6
Switzerland	2.2
France	2.2
Japan	1.3
Canada	0.5
Norway	0.4
Net current assets	9.1
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Ten Largest Investments
Company	Country of Risk	Total Assets (%)
Verizon Communications	USA	4.0
JPMorgan Chase	USA	3.8
Citigroup	USA	3.1
Wells Fargo	USA	3.0
Bank of America	USA	2.6
Medtronic	Ireland	2.4
Williams Companies	USA	2.2
Anthem	USA	2.1
Koninklijke Philips	Netherlands	2.1
Comcast Corporation	USA	1.9

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

For the one-month period ended 29 February 2020, the Company’s NAV decreased by 6.3% and the share price by 11.9% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -6.8% for the period.

A sharp February sell-off in U.S. stocks was felt across the portfolio, with all eleven global industry classification standard (GICS) sectors in the benchmark index declining during the month. The portfolio's cash position, which averaged at 9.3%, contributed significantly to relative performance amid declining stock prices. Cash remains a source of stability in the portfolio and a tool to control the portfolio's level of market risk. Stock selection in information technology (IT) also boosted relative returns, including selection decisions in IT services and our overweight exposure to the software industry. Lastly, allocation decisions in utilities contributed modestly to relative performance.

The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the consumer staples sector. Selection decisions in the tobacco industry and a lack of exposure to food & staples retailing weighed on relative returns. In financials, stock selection and an overweight to the banks and insurance industries hurt relative results. Other notable detractors included stock selection and allocation decisions in the communication services and materials sectors.

The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy contributed to relative performance in February.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: In February, the portfolio initiated a new position in Fox and added to existing positions in Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson. Conversely, we exited our positions in Bristol-Myers Squibb and UnitedHealth.

Options:  As of 29 February 2020, the Company’s options exposure was 16.4% and the delta of the options was 87.6. 

Positioning

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

Source: BlackRock. Data as of 29 February 2020.

18 March 2020

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.