BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 30 September 2017 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

Source: BlackRock

*Launched on 24 October 2012.
 

* Based on dividends of 1.20p per share declared on 3 November 2016 and 21 February 2017 and 1.25p per share declared on 3 May 2017 and 8 August 2017.

** Excluding 31,487,261 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 2016.

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

For the one month period ended 30 September 2017, the Company’s NAV decreased by 1.0% while the share price decreased by 1.5% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -1.1% for the period. 

The largest contributor to relative performance during the month was stock selection in the financials sector. Notably, stock selection in the insurance industry and our overweight to the banks industry proved to be beneficial. Stock selection in the health care sector also boosted relative returns, led by stock selection decisions in the pharmaceuticals industry. Lastly, our decision to underweight the real estate and utilities sectors also contributed to relative performance during the month.

The largest detractor from relative performance was a combination of allocation decisions and stock selection in the information technology sector. Notably, our overweight position in the software industry proved to be costly, as did stock selection in the semiconductors & semiconductor equipment industry. The portfolio’s cash position was also a drag on relative performance, as was stock selection in telecoms and our underweight to the automobiles industry.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: Notable portfolio transactions during the month included initiating new positions in Lowe’s Companies, Inc., CDW Corporation, Medtronic plc and Equifax Inc. Notable sales during the month included the elimination of positions in Exxon Mobil Corporation, The Home Depot, Inc., Mondelez International, Inc. and Weyerhaeuser Co.

Options:  As of 30 September 2017, the Company’s options exposure was 17.3% and the delta of the options was 86.6. 

Positioning

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

16 October 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.