BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust plc (LON:BRSA) has announced its latest portfolio update.
All information is at 31 October 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 | 3.6% | 7.0% | 6.2% | 36.0% | 34.5% | 59.8% |
| Share price | 3.8% | 9.2% | 2.3% | 42.4% | 34.4% | 57.5% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | 3.4% | 4.9% | 6.5% | 35.6% | 37.8% | 59.7% |
At month end
| Net asset value – capital only: | 205.42p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 206.09p |
| Share price: | 198.25p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 3.8% |
| Net yield1: | 4.0% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £165.3m |
| Gearing: | Nil |
| 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 29 October 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 | 25.3 |
| Health Care | 18.5 |
| Information Technology | 14.9 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 11.3 |
| Communication Services | 5.7 |
| Energy | 5.3 |
| Utilities | 5.2 |
| Industrials | 4.9 |
| Consumer Staples | 3.9 |
| Materials | 3.9 |
| Real Estate | 0.9 |
| Net Current Assets | 0.2 |
| —- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| United States | 79.3 |
| Japan | 4.8 |
| United Kingdom | 3.5 |
| France | 3.3 |
| Canada | 2.7 |
| Switzerland | 1.9 |
| Norway | 1.8 |
| Australia | 1.3 |
| Denmark | 1.2 |
| Net Current Assets | 0.2 |
| —– | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Top 10 Holdings | Country | % Total Assets |
| Cisco Systems | United States | 4.0 |
| AstraZeneca | United Kingdom | 3.5 |
| Comerica | United States | 3.4 |
| Wells Fargo | United States | 3.3 |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions | United States | 3.2 |
| Komatsu | Japan | 3.0 |
| Zimmer Biomet | United States | 2.9 |
| American International Group | United States | 2.9 |
| SS&C Technologies Holdings | United States | 2.8 |
| Ralph Lauren | United States | 2.5 |
Tony DeSpirito, David Zhao and Lisa Yang, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 31 October 2021, the Company’s NAV increased by 3.6% and the share price by 3.8% (all in sterling). The Company’s reference index, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned 3.4% for the period.
The largest contributor to relative performance was security selection in the information technology sector. Specifically, selection decisions within software helped relative returns as did an underweight exposure to the semiconductors and semiconductor equipment industry. Within industrials, selection decisions boosted relative results including stock selection within road and rail and machinery, as well as an underweight exposure to aerospace and defence. Consumer discretionary stock selection also proved accretive, particularly within the specialty retail industry. Other meaningful contributors during the period included an underweight exposure to communication services and security decisions within financials.
The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the energy sector, specifically the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. Our selection decisions in real estate also hurt relative returns. Notably, stock choices in the equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) proved costly as did an underweight exposure to the sector overall. In consumer staples, our security selection in food products also weighed on relative returns. Other modest detractors during the period included stock decisions in health care and utilities.
Transactions
Notable new purchases in the portfolio during the month included CDK Global, Dollar General and EQT. Conversely, the Company exited its position in Carrier Global, Open Text and Omnicom Group and trimmed its positions in Danone S.A., Gildan Activewear and Consolidated Edison.
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 financial sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the reference index were in the industrials, real estate and consumer staples sectors.
Source: BlackRock. Data as of 31 October 2021.
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