19 Nov 2020 14:17
BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio UpdateBlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
PR Newswire
London, November 19
BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)All information is at 31 October 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 | -2.3% | -0.8% | 1.2% | -8.8% | 5.5% | 57.7% |
| Share price | -3.0% | -5.6% | -7.0% | -17.9% | 4.1% | 58.2% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | -1.3% | 1.8% | 4.4% | -7.5% | 8.8% | 58.5% |
Source: BlackRock
| At month end | |
| Net asset value – capital only: | 156.68p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 158.09p |
| Share price: | 145.50p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 8.0% |
| Net yield¹: | 5.5% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £126.4m |
| Gearing: | Nil |
| Options overwrite: | 18.2% |
| Ordinary shares in issue²: | 79,974,044 |
| Ongoing charges³: | 1.1% |
1 Based on four quarterly interim dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 7 November 2019 for the year ended 31 October 2019 and 20 March 2020, 5 May 2020 and 6 August 2020 for the year ended 31 October 2020, and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 October 2020.
² Excluding 20,387,261 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 | 24.8 |
| Health Care | 16.9 |
| Information Technology | 11.8 |
| Consumer Staples | 9.3 |
| Communication Services | 7.1 |
| Energy | 6.6 |
| Industrials | 6.4 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 5.1 |
| Utilities | 4.1 |
| Materials | 2.2 |
| Net current assets | 5.7 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| United States | 74.0 |
| Netherlands | 5.0 |
| United Kingdom | 4.2 |
| Germany | 3.7 |
| France | 2.3 |
| Ireland | 2.2 |
| Switzerland | 1.7 |
| Norway | 0.8 |
| Canada | 0.4 |
| Net current assets | 5.7 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Ten Largest Investments | ||
| Company | Country of Risk | Total Assets (%) |
| Verizon Communications | USA | 3.8 |
| Bank of America | USA | 3.0 |
| Citigroup | USA | 2.7 |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions | USA | 2.4 |
| Anthem | USA | 2.3 |
| American International Group | USA | 2.3 |
| Comcast Corporation | USA | 2.3 |
| Samsung Electronics | USA | 2.3 |
| Wells Fargo | USA | 2.2 |
| Medtronic | Ireland | 2.2 |
Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 31 October 2020, the Company’s NAV decreased by 2.3% and the share price by 3.0% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -1.3% for the period.
The largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection in the information technology sector. Notably, selection decisions in the semiconductors & semiconductor equipment and information technology services industries proved beneficial. In materials, stock selection in the chemicals industry boosted relative performance. Other modest contributors during the month included stock selection in consumer discretionary and the portfolio’s cash allocation.
The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the health care sector. Notably, selection decisions in the pharmaceuticals industry proved costly during the month. In consumer staples, stock selection and an overweight exposure to the beverages and tobacco industries weighed on relative results, as did stock selection in personal products and household products. Other notable detractors included stock selection in the industrials and communication services sectors.
The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy contributed to relative performance during the month.
Transactions/Options
Transactions: In October, the portfolio initiated new positions in Zimmer Biomet, Exelon, Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and First American Financial. Allocations to Citigroup, ConocoPhillips and American International Group were also increased during the month. Conversely, we exited our position in BP and reduced our exposure to Wells Fargo, Altria, BAE Systems, Medtronic and Verizon.
Options: As of 31 October 2020, the Company’s options exposure was 18.2% and the delta of the options was 89.9.
Positioning
As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the financials, energy and health care sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the industrials, real estate and materials sectors.
Source: BlackRock. Data as of 31 October 2020.
19 November 2020
Latest information is available by typing blackrock.com/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.