Portfolio Update

The information contained in this release was correct as at 30 June 2021. Information on the Company’s up to date net asset values can be found on the London Stock Exchange Website at:

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html. 

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST PLC (LEI:549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 30 June 2021  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	0.1%	3.7%	14.1%	23.0%	31.1%	67.7%
Share price	-1.6%	-1.1%	13.7%	27.9%	22.6%	73.9%
Russell 1000 Value Index	1.7%	5.1%	15.8%	28.5%	35.8%	69.6%

At month end

Net asset value - capital only:	196.20p
Net asset value - cum income:	196.38p
Share price:	184.50p
Discount to cum income NAV:	6.1%
Net yield1:	4.3%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£157.6m
Gearing:	Nil
Options overwrite	0.2%
Ordinary shares in issue2:	80,229,044
Ongoing charges3:	1.1%

¹ Based on four quarterly interim dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 6 August 2020 and 4 November 2020 for the year ended 31 October 2020, and on 23 March 2021 and 5 May 2021 for the year ending 31 October 2021, and based on the share price as at close of business on 30 June 2021.

² Excluding 20,132,261 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 2020.

Sector Analysis	Total Assets (%)
Financials	26.0
Health Care	17.1
Information Technology	11.1
Industrials	7.2
Energy	7.0
Consumer Discretionary	7.0
Consumer Staples	6.8
Communication Services	5.9
Utilities	4.3
Materials	2.0
Net Current Assets	5.6
	----
	100.0
	=====

Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
United States	73.6
United Kingdom	6.7
Netherlands	3.3
France	3.1
Germany	2.9
Ireland	1.8
Japan	1.0
Canada	0.8
Norway	0.6
Switzerland	0.6
Net Current Assets	5.6
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Top 10 Holdings	Country	% Total Assets
Wells Fargo	United States	3.6
Citigroup	United States	3.4
American International Group	United States	2.6
Cisco Systems	United States	2.6
Bank of America	United States	2.5
Verizon Communications	United States	2.3
Anthem	United States	2.3
Morgan Stanley	United States	2.2
General Motors	United States	2.1
Comcast	United States	2.1

Tony DeSpirito, David Zhao and Lisa Yang, representing the Investment Manager, noted:

For the one-month period ended 30 June 2021, the Company’s NAV increased by 0.1% and the share price decreased by 1.6% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned +1.7% for the period.

The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in health care, as selection decisions in the health care equipment and supplies industry meaningfully weighed on relative returns. Stock selection and an overweight exposure to health care providers and services companies and a lack of exposure to the biotechnology and life sciences tools and services industries also proved costly in the sector. In financials, stock selection and an overweight exposure to insurance companies weighed on relative returns, as did an overweight exposure to the banks industry. Other detractors during the period included stock selection and an underweight exposure to communication services and stock selection in the energy sector.

The largest contributor to relative performance was an underweight exposure to the materials sector, including underweight allocations to the metals and mining and chemicals industries. In industrials, our decision to not invest in airlines companies and an underweight exposure to the machinery industry boosted relative returns. At the industry level, an overweight exposure to software and communications equipment companies also contributed to relative results during the period.

The portfolio’s options overwriting strategy added modestly to relative performance during the month.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: In June, the portfolio initiated new positions in Apollo Global Management, Panasonic, Seal Air, Komatsu, Centerpoint Energy and Rogers Communications. Conversely, we exited our positions in The TJX Companies and Applied Materials, and reduced our exposure to Berkshire Hathaway, Henkel AG, The Blackstone Group, Equinor and Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Options: As of 30 June 2021, the Company’s options exposure was 0.2% and the delta of the options was 94.0.

Positioning

As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the financials, energy and consumer discretionary sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the real estate, industrials, and communication services sectors.

Source: BlackRock. Data as of 30 June 2021.

19 July 2021

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.