Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

All information is at 31 August 2016 and unaudited.

Performance of ordinary share portfolio at month end with net income reinvested.

	One month	Three months	One year	Three years	Five years	Since  Launch*
Sterling:
Share price	-2.0	12.9	27.4	25.8	92.6	49.2
Net asset value	1.2	14.8	21.7	29.7	84.9	52.6
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR)	0.2	7.4	12.9	18.5	44.6	22.8
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR)	3.9	24.4	31.3	22.1	21.7	10.5
US Dollars:
Share price	-3.3	1.6	8.5	6.7	55.2	25.8
Net asset value	-0.2	3.3	3.9	9.9	49.0	28.5
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR)	-1.1	-3.4	-3.8	0.3	16.3	3.1
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR)	2.5	11.9	11.8	3.4	-2.1	-7.2

Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor’s Micropal * 17 December 2010.
At month end - Ordinary Shares
US Dollar
Net asset value - capital only:				161.72c
Net asset value - cum income:				164.83c
Sterling:
Net asset value - capital only:				123.47p
Net asset value - cum income:				125.85p
Share price:				125.00p
Total assets (including income):				£206.8m
Discount to cum-income NAV:				0.7%
Gearing:				nil
Gearing range (as a % of gross assets):				0-20%
Net yield*:				4.1%
Ordinary shares in issue:				164,333,108
Ongoing charges**:				1.5%
Ongoing charges plus taxation and performance fee:				1.6%
*The Company’s yield based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement is 4.1% and includes the 2015 final dividend of 4.15 cents per share declared on 18 December 2015, paid to shareholders on 19 February 2016 and the 2016 interim dividend of 2.60 cents per share announced on 16 May 2016 and paid to shareholders on 1 July 2016. **Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 30 September 2015.
The following relates specifically to the ordinary share portfolio.
Benchmark
Sector Analysis	Gross assets(%)*		Country Analysis		Gross assets(%)*
Financials	37.1		Argentina		13.1
Consumer Staples	18.4		Pakistan		12.5
Telecommunication	10.2		Romania		11.6
Utilities	7.9		Bangladesh		9.4
Materials	7.5		Kazakhstan		8.8
Energy	6.7		Sri Lanka		7.4
Health Care	6.2		Vietnam		6.6
Industrials	5.2		Morocco		5.8
Information Technology	4.3		Ukraine		5.7
Consumer Discretionary	2.2		Kenya		5.1
	-----		Kuwait		3.6
Total	105.7		Nigeria		3.3
	=====		Eurasia		2.4
			Estonia		2.1
			Slovenia		2.1
			Saudi Arabia		2.0
			Caribbean		1.8
			Philippines		1.6
			Egypt		0.8
					-----
			Total		105.7
					-----
			Short positions		0.0
					=====
*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).

Market Exposure
	30.09  2015     %	31.10  2015     %	30.11  2015     %	31.12  2015     %	31.01  2016    %		29.02  2016     %	31.03  2016     %	30.04  2016     %		31.05  2016     %	30.06  2016     %	31.07  2016     %	31.08  2016     %
Long	101.8	99.6	100.3	99.5	102.5		102.2	108.1	109.2		108.8	110.5	103.4	105.7
Short	1.0	1.2	1.7	1.7	1.4		1.1	1.2	1.3		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Gross	102.8	100.8	102.0	101.2	103.9		103.3	109.3	110.5		108.8	110.5	103.4	105.7
Net	100.8	98.4	98.6	97.8	101.1		101.1	106.9	107.9		108.8	110.5	103.4	105.7
Ten Largest Equity Investments
Company						Country of Risk				% of gross assets
MCB						Pakistan				4.1
KazMunaiGas Exploration Production						Kazakhstan				3.6
Banco Macro						Argentina				3.6
Grupo Financiero Galicia						Argentina				3.4
BRD Groupe Societe Generale						Romania				3.3
Halyk Bank						Kazakhstan				3.3
Square Pharmaceuticals						Bangladesh				3.3
MHP						Ukraine				3.2
Electrica						Romania				3.1
S.N.G.N. Romgaz						Romania				3.1

Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht, representing the Investment Manager noted:

In August, the Company’s NAV marginally declined by 0.2%, but outperformed the MSCI Frontier benchmark by 0.9% (on a US Dollar basis with net income reinvested). The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose by 2.5%.

August performance was broadly driven by stock specifics, while being relatively spread out across countries and sectors. Kazakhstan financial, Halyk Bank, was the largest individual contributor, gaining 25% over the month, after a strong second quarter earnings report. The bank saw a net profit beat of KZT 34.2bn in the second quarter of 2016, up 21% from the previous year, driven by higher-than-expected net interest income. Similarly, Romanian bank, BRD, also benefitted the portfolio (+16%) on the back of good results and positive macroeconomic momentum. Following news of a corporate restructure last month, Sri Lankan Consumer Staple, Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka (‘DCSL’), continued to perform well in August, gaining 11% ahead of the final shareholder approval vote in early September.

On the other hand Kenyan financial, Equity Group, weighed on the portfolio, falling by 27% in August, following legislation that caps the interest rates of new loans at 400bps above the base rate set by the CBK. As a result, investors remain cautious over the earnings outlook of the banking sector, while raising questions over the current administration’s handling of future economic policy. Ukrainian IT name, Luxoft, was also among the period’s largest individual detractors, losing 13% as results proved disappointing to the markets. We trimmed our exposure to Argentine utility, Pampa Energia, taking some profits following strong performance this year.

21 September 2016

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brfi 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 BlackRock’s website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.