Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 31 March 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	-12.0%	-19.2%	-19.0%	-9.1%	-1.8%	39.7%
Share price	-15.1%	-26.2%	-25.3%	-14.4%	-0.9%	42.0%
Russell 1000 Value Index	-14.6%	-21.7%	-21.8%	-13.0%	-5.6%	31.6%

Source: BlackRock

At month end
Net asset value – capital only:	147.90p
Net asset value – cum income:	150.31p
Share price:	141.00p
Discount to cum income NAV:	6.2%
Net yield¹:	5.7%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£122.1m
Gearing:	Nil
Options overwrite:	15.1%
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 8 May 2019, 6 August 2019 and 7 November 2019 for the year ended 31 October 2019 and on 20 March 2020 for the year ending 31 October 2020, and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 March 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	22.7
Health Care	18.2
Information Technology	8.9
Consumer Staples	8.7
Communication Services	7.4
Industrials	7.3
Energy	7.1
Consumer Discretionary	5.0
Utilities	3.9
Materials	1.6
Net current assets	9.2
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
United States	67.6
United Kingdom	5.8
Netherlands	4.6
Germany	3.0
France	2.9
Ireland	2.8
Switzerland	2.2
Japan	0.9
Norway	0.5
Canada	0.5
Net current assets	9.2
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Ten Largest Investments
Company	Country of Risk	Total Assets (%)
Verizon Communications	USA	4.4
Bank of America	USA	2.9
Citigroup	USA	2.7
Wells Fargo	USA	2.7
Medtronic	Ireland	2.5
Koninklijke Philips	Netherlands	2.4
JPMorgan Chase	USA	2.4
Sanofi	France	2.4
FirstEnergy	USA	2.1
Anthem	USA	2.1

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

For the one-month period ended 31 March 2020, the Company’s NAV decreased by 12.0% and the share price by 15.1% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -14.6% for the period.

The continued 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 for the second straight month. The portfolio's cash position, which averaged 10.1%, 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 consumer discretionary also boosted relative returns, including selection decisions in the household durables and multiline retail industries. Lastly, stock selection in communication services contributed to relative performance.

The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the financial sector. Selection decisions among insurance firms and overweight exposure to the insurance industry and banks weighed on relative returns. In utilities, underweight exposure to the electric utilities and multi-utilities industries hurt relative results. Other notable detractors included stock selection in consumer staples and stock selection and allocation decisions in materials.

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

Transactions/Options

Transactions: In March, the portfolio initiated new positions in UnitedHealth Group, Pioneer Natural Resources, Edison International, Visa, CME Group, Allstate, Nisource and Philip Morris International and added to existing positions in Constellation Brands and Bank of America. Conversely, we exited our positions in Humana, Oracle, Progressive, State Street, Baker Hughes and Fortive.

Options:  As of 31 March 2020, the Company’s options exposure was 15.1% and the delta of the options was 86.5. 

Positioning

As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the health care, information technology and energy 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 31 March 2020.

14 April 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.