Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 31 December 2017 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

	One Month	Three Months	Six Months	One Year	Three Years	Since Launch*
Net asset value	0.9%	3.9%	4.4%	5.2%	52.7%	108.4%
Share price	-0.3%	5.6%	5.8%	-1.1%	53.7%	93.7%
Russell 1000 Value Index	1.5%	4.5%	4.3%	3.8%	47.9%	132.0%

Source: BlackRock

*Launched on 24 October 2012.
 

At month end
Net asset value – capital only:	172.20p
Net asset value – cum income:	173.00p
Share price:	162.50p
Discount to cum income NAV:	6.1%
Net yield*:	3.0%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£119.2m
Gearing:	Nil
Options overwrite:	14.6%
Ordinary shares in issue**:	68,874,044
Ongoing charges***:	1.07%

* Based on dividends of 1.20p per share declared on 21 February 2017 and 1.25p per share declared on 3 May 2017, 8 August 2017 and 2 November 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 2017.

Benchmark
Sector Analysis	Total Assets (%)
Financials	27.6
Health Care	17.1
Energy	11.3
Industrials	9.3
Information Technology	9.0
Consumer Staples	7.1
Utilities	5.0
Consumer Discretionary	3.8
Materials	3.0
Telecommunication Services	2.8
Net current assets	4.0
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
USA	78.6
Netherlands	4.5
United Kingdom	4.1
Canada	3.0
Ireland	2.3
France	1.8
Denmark	0.9
China	0.4
South Korea	0.4
Net current assets	4.0
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Ten Largest Investments
Company	Country of Risk	Total Assets (%)
Bank of America	USA	4.1
JPMorgan Chase	USA	4.1
Pfizer	USA	3.7
Citigroup	USA	3.7
Wells Fargo	USA	3.1
Oracle	USA	2.9
Anthem	USA	2.6
Royal Dutch Shell	Netherlands	2.3
Microsoft	USA	2.2
Verizon Communications	USA	2.0

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

For the one-month period ended 31 December 2017, the Company’s NAV increased by 0.9% while the share price decreased by 0.3% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned 1.5% for the period. 

The largest contributor to relative performance during the month was stock selection in the consumer staples sector. Notably, our selection in the beverages industry proved to be beneficial, as seen in our overweight exposure to Diageo and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. In real estate, the Company benefited from a lack of exposure, as performance was challenged during the month of December. Stock selection in the energy sector also contributed to relative performance during the month, most notably in the oil, gas, & consumable fuels industry.

The largest detractor from relative performance was a combination of stock selection and allocation decisions in the information technology sector. Most notably, an overweight to software, an underweight to internet software & services, and stock selection among semiconductors & semiconductor equipment firms proved to be performance headwinds. Stock selection and allocation decisions in industrials also proved to be costly, with relative underperformance stemming from our selection among aerospace & defence firms and our decision to hold overweight exposure to industrial conglomerates. Lastly, stock selection in the materials and telecommunication services sectors dampened relative performance, as did an elevated cash balance.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: Notable portfolio transactions during the month included initiating new positions in Edison International and Regions Financial, while conversely exiting our position in Johnson & Johnson.

Options:  As of 31 December 2017, the Company’s options exposure was 14.6% and the delta of the options was 89.1. 

Positioning

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

Source: BlackRock.

15 January 2018

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.