BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust plc (LON:BRSA) has announced its latest portfolio update.
All information is at 31 December 2021 and unaudited.
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Performance at month end with net income reinvested
| One Month | Three Months | Six Months | One Year | Three Years | Five Years | |
| Net asset value | 4.5% | 6.3% | 8.7% | 24.0% | 48.5% | 52.4% |
| Share price | 3.4% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 27.8% | 44.9% | 48.8% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | 3.8% | 7.3% | 9.1% | 26.3% | 53.1% | 54.9% |
At month end
| Net asset value – capital only: | 208.82p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 209.36p |
| Share price: | 203.25p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 2.9% |
| Net yield1: | 3.9% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £168.0m |
| Gearing: | 2.3% |
| 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 23 March 2021, 5 May 2021, 5 August 2021 and 3 November 2021 for the year ended 31 October 2021, and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 December 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 | 24.0 |
| Health Care | 17.9 |
| Information Technology | 14.8 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 11.2 |
| Materials | 5.7 |
| Utilities | 5.5 |
| Industrials | 5.4 |
| Communication Services | 5.3 |
| Energy | 5.2 |
| Consumer Staples | 4.5 |
| Real Estate | 0.9 |
| Net Current Liabilities | -0.4 |
| —- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== | |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| United States | 82.5 |
| Japan | 4.6 |
| United Kingdom | 4.3 |
| France | 2.5 |
| Canada | 1.9 |
| Switzerland | 1.7 |
| Australia | 1.2 |
| Germany | 1.0 |
| Denmark | 0.7 |
| Net Current Liabilities | -0.4 |
| —– | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== | |
| Top 10 Holdings | Country | % Total Assets |
| Cisco Systems | United States | 4.0 |
| AstraZeneca | United Kingdom | 3.2 |
| Comerica | United States | 3.1 |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions | United States | 3.0 |
| Wells Fargo | United States | 2.9 |
| SS&C Technologies Holdings | United States | 2.7 |
| Zimmer Biomet | United States | 2.6 |
| Komatsu | Japan | 2.6 |
| American International | United States | 2.6 |
| Anthem | United States | 2.6 |
Tony DeSpirito, David Zhao and Lisa Yang, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 31 December 2021, the Company’s NAV increased by 4.5% and the share price by 3.4% (all in sterling). The Company’s reference index, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned +3.8% for the period.
The largest contributor to relative performance was selection decisions in the information technology sector. Specifically, an overweight exposure to the communications equipment industry, in addition to stock selection within software, helped relative returns. Within health care, selection decisions boosted relative results, including stock selection within health care providers and services. Other contributors during the period included stock selection within the materials sector.
The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the consumer discretionary sector. Specifically, stock selection in household durables and automobiles dampened relative results. Our allocation decisions in real estate also hurt relative returns with underexposure to REITs proving costly. In consumer staples, our allocation decisions in household products also weighed on relative returns. Other modest detractors during the period included allocation decisions within food products and stock selection in beverages.
Transactions
Notable new purchases in the portfolio during the month included Laboratory Corporation of America, Hess and MTU Aero Engines. Conversely, the Company exited its positions in Quest Diagnostics, Equinor and Fox and trimmed its positions in Cisco Systems, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Lowe’s.
Positioning
As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the reference index were in the consumer discretionary, information technology and financials sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the reference index were in the industrials, real estate and consumer staples sectors.
Source: BlackRock.
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