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LONDON (Alliance News) - Three BlackRock trusts Thursday reported largely positive performances over October, as they all saw increases in net asset value.
BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust said its net asset value, on an undiluted basis, rose by 5.0% in the month of October, while the the shares rose by 3.5%, all in sterling terms with income reinvested. The company's benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Free Index rose by 5.6%.
That said, in dollar terms, the trust underperformed against the MSCI EM Latin America index by 0.6 percentage points.
"Positive contributions to performance stemmed primarily from underweight positions in Colombia and Chile. The largest individual contributors included overweights to BB Seguridade and Itau. Not owning Cencosud in Chile also contributed positively. Weighing on performance was stock selection in Brazil and Mexico. The largest individual detractors included an underweight to Petrobras, an overweight to Brasil Foods and overweights to Femsa and Cemex," Will Landers, representing the investment manager, said in a statement.
BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust said its NAV per share rose by 5.1% on a capital only basis during October. The benchmark index rose by 3.4% while the FTSE 100 Index rose by 4.2%, both on a capital only basis. The trust benefited from holdings in ITE Group PLC and Polar Capital Holdings PLC, but had profit warnings from Anite PLC and Next Fifteen Communications Group PLC.
Meanwhile, BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust said its NAV rose by 2.6% in sterling terms with net income reinvested during October. The MSCI Frontier Market Index returned 2.5% in October. Frontier Markets underperformed mainstream Emerging Markets which rose 4.9% triggered by the delay of the US Federal Reserve tapering of its Quantitative Easing Program. The company's NAV per share increased by 1.9% in October in dollar terms, underperforming the benchmark by 0.6%.
"We maintain the contention that Quantitative Easing does little to address Emerging Markets economic imbalance and that Frontier Countries generally remain better positioned," Sam Vecht, representing the investment manager, said in a statement.
Latin American shares were Thursday quoted at 459.48 pence, down 0.3%, while Smaller Companies shares were up 0.9% at 816.99 pence. Frontiers shares were Thursday quoted at 114.12 pence, up 0.3%.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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