Overview
(formerly BlackRock Sustainable American Income : BRSA, and before that BlackRock North American Income : BRNA) aims to provide an attractive level of income together with capital appreciation over the long term, whilst incorporating the ESG commitments described in the its investment policy.
Investment policy – this needs updating once it has been published!
The company invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of North American*equity securities, with a focus on large-cap and medium-cap companies that pay and grow their dividends.
The manager adopts a stock specific approach in managing the portfolio, selecting investments that it believes will both increase in value over the long term and provide income.
The company does not invest in companies which are not listed, quoted or traded on an exchange at the time of investment.
Typically, it is expected that the investment portfolio will comprise between 30 and 60 equity securities.
Sustainable investment principles
The manager takes into account the environmental, social and governance (ESG) characteristics of the relevant issuers of securities and seeks to deliver a superior ESG outcome versus the Russell 1000 Value Index (the benchmark) and a lower carbon emissions intensity score.
The manager also applies a screening policy to limit and/or exclude direct investment in companies which, in the opinion of the manager, have exposure to, or ties with, certain sectors (in some cases subject to specific revenue thresholds) including but not limited to:
(i) the production of certain types of controversial weapons;
(ii) the distribution or production of firearms or small arms ammunition intended for retail civilians;
(iii) the extraction of certain types of fossil fuel and/or the generation of power from them;
(iv) the production of tobacco products or certain activities in relation to tobacco-related products; and
(v) issuers which have been deemed to have failed to comply with United Nations Global Compact
Fundamentals
Price
Research History
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09 Feb 2023 40 min read
QuotedData’s Economic and Political Monthly Roundup February 2023
Economic and Political Monthly Roundup Investment companies | Monthly | February 2023 A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairs and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage […]
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07 Jul 2020 8 min read
QuotedData’s Economic Roundup – July 2020
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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08 Jun 2020 8 min read
QuotedData’s Economic Roundup – June 2020
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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10 Mar 2020 6 min read
QuotedData’s Economic Roundup – March 2020
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Polar Capital and Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you […]
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05 Jul 2019 6 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – July 2019
Economic & Political Roundup A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the […]
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18 Jan 2019 1 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – January 2019
QuotedData’s economic roundup – January 2019 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of […]
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11 Jul 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s Economic round up – July 2018
QuotedData’s Economic round up – July 2018 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or […]
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18 Jan 2018 1 min read
QuotedData – 2017 review of the year
QuotedData – 2017 review of the year – Many commentators, including us, were wary going into 2017. In the event, economic growth and markets surprised on the upside: US markets hit new highs despite three interest rate rises. Perceived low/no growth areas such as Europe and Japan burst into life. Asia’s technology stocks surged. India’s […]
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15 Mar 2017 1 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – March 2017
Our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of February 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. March Investment Companies Roundup
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27 Apr 2015 1 min read
The importance of income – where to find it?
Life used to be simpler. If you had a bit of spare cash or you wanted to save up for something you’d just stick some money in a bank or building society account. If you had a nest egg and wanted to invest it in something safe and live off the income, you’d maybe buy […]
News
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30 Apr 2025 4 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 30 April 2025 – DGI9, BRAI, AEET, PPET, NBPE, MGCI, GCP, CRT, CYN, FAIR
[QD comment MR: It is good to see one of PPET’s directors making a significant addition to his personal investment in the trust as it both significantly improves alignment with other shareholders and is also a sign of confidence in PPET’s private equity strategy in these times of increased market turbulence.] We also have: Stories […]
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23 Apr 2025 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 23 April 2025 – BRAI, CVCE/CVCG, PSH, EJFI
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 23 April 2025: We also have: Stories you may have missed from yesterday
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28 Feb 2025 2 min read
BlackRock American Income underperforms as continuation vote looms
BlackRock American Income (BRAI) – formerly BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust – has announced its results for the year ended 31 October 2024, during which its net asset value per share (NAV) returned 16.0% and the share price returned 13.8%, both underperforming its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, which it says returned 23.2% (all […]
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4 min read
BlackRock American Income proposes tender and investment policy change
BlackRock American Income (BRAI) has published a circular this morning in which it has announced proposals for a change in investment policy and a tender offer. These proposals are being made in advance of a continuation vote that is due at its AGM this year (separately, BRAI has published its full-year results this morning). Shareholder […]
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22 Jan 2025 3 min read
BlackRock Trusts off limits for Saba until at least 2027
Separately, the boards of BlackRock World Mining (BRWM), BlackRock Energy and Resources Income (BERI), BlackRock American Income (BRAI) and BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) have all issued statements this morning that say they have entered into agreements with Saba Capital Management LP, under which Saba has given a number of undertakings to each trust as follows: […]
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22 Nov 2024 3 min read
MAGA or TINA, the only way is up?
The problem with Trump’s use of the phrase “MAGA” – Make America Great Again – is that it implies America wasn’t already great. With its booming equity markets, robust economic growth, and strong fundamentals – such as energy independence, deep pools of domestic capital, and the inherent advantages of the US dollar’s reserve currency status […]
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14 Nov 2024 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 14 November 2024 – BRSA, BRAI, SYNC, AGR, NRR
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 14 November 2024: BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust (BRSA) is changing its name to avoid any issues with the FCA’s new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) which come into effect on 2 December 2024. The company will still seek to deliver a superior ESG outcome when selecting investments, but will remove the […]
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05 Feb 2024 2 min read
BlackRock Sustainable American Income reflects the challenges of ESG investing
BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust (BRSA) has released its financial year end results for the 12 month period ending 30 November 2023. Over the 12 months BRSA reported a NAV total return of -5.6%, and share price total return of -8.1%, both underperforming its reference index, the Russell 1000 Value Index, which returned -5.0%. The […]
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27 Jan 2023 7 min read
BlackRock Sustainable American Income hit by a combination of headwinds
BlackRock Sustainable American Income (BRSA) has published its annual results for the year ended 31 October 2022. During the period, BRSA provided NAV and share price total returns of 7.4% and 3.6% respectively, thereby underperforming its reference index , the Russell 1000 Value Index, which BRSA says provided a total return of 10.7% over the […]
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09 Feb 2022 3 min read
BlackRock Sustainable American Income delivers strong results following change in mandate
BlackRock Sustainable American Income delivers strong results following change in mandate – BlackRock Sustainable American Income (BRSA) has posted its full year results for the 12 months to 31 October 2021. During this period, its NAV was up by 36% while its share price returned 42.4%. This compares with a rise of 35.6% from its […]
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02 Aug 2021 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 2 August 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 2 August 2021: Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD) has decided not to invest in one of the European data centre platforms previously identified in its pipeline due to pricing considerations. It said, in certain instances, processes have been slowed as a result of unforeseen developments on the vendor side. The pipeline continues to evolve and […]
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30 Jun 2021 5 min read
BlackRock North America sets out revised objective
BlackRock North America sets out revised objective – yesterday, the board of BlackRock North American Income Trust published a shareholder circular setting out recommended proposals for the adoption of a new investment objective and investment policy, and notice of a general meeting of shareholders to approve this. The board says that it is keen that […]
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20 May 2021 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 20 May 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 20 May 2021: Fidelity Asian Values has announced that Kate Bolsover has been appointed as a non-executive director and senior independent director of City Merchants High Income. JPMorgan China Growth & Income has issued a further 50,000 ordinary shares for cash at 836 pence per share under its ordinary share block listing […]
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08 Mar 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 March 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 March 2021 – Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF) announced that strong operational performance has led to further significant growth in its NAV. As at 31 December 2020, the estimated unaudited NAV represented a 2.4% increase over the previous quarter. Post period end, the company has made further progress in the commissioning of […]
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08 Feb 2021 2 min read
Utilities weigh on BlackRock North American Income’s annual returns
BlackRock North American Income (BRNA) annual results to 31 October 2020 brought total NAV and market returns of -8.9% and -17.9%. By comparison, the benchmark Russell 1000 value index returned -7.5%. Performance – stock selection in utilities weighs BRNA’s underperformance of the benchmark was a reflection of stock selection, allocation decisions in utilities, and a negative contribution from […]
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13 Feb 2020 2 min read
Strong demand for BlackRock North American
Despite lagging its benchmark over the year to 31 October 2019, there was strong demand for BlackRock North American shares. Over the year to 31 October 2019, the NAV returned 8.5% and the share price 15.0%. This compares with a return of 9.8% on the Russell 1000 Value Index. The dividend was maintained at 8p. This […]
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18 Dec 2018 1 min read
BlackRock North American lags benchmark
BlackRock North American lags benchmark but higher dividend boosts share price – “For the financial year ending 31 October 2018, the NAV total return was modestly below that of the benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index. Over the same period, U.S. large cap stocks, as represented by the broader S&P 500 Index, advanced by 7.34% […]
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26 Feb 2018 1 min read
Investment Trust Insider on US trusts
James Carthew: where is a US growth trust when you want it? One of the strangest things about investment companies is how under-represented the US stock market is within the sector. Dedicated listed North American funds accounted for just 1.6% of the money in investment trusts and investment companies at the end of last year, […]
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18 Dec 2017 1 min read
Investment Trust Insider on Biotech
Investment Trust Insider on Biotech – inspired by the launch of our biotech news service on QuotedData, I wrote something for Citywire that looks at some of the exciting stories that have been published just in the last couple of weeks. James Carthew: biotech boom boosts generalist trusts This week I am returning to the […]
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15 Feb 2017 1 min read
BlackRock North American manager retiring
Bob Shearer, co-manager of BlackRock North American, has notified the Board of his intention to retire from BlackRock later this year and will therefore step down as co-manager of the Company at the end of August 2017. The Board and managers will review the portfolio management arrangements at that date, but the current intention is […]
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07 Feb 2017 1 min read
All trust sectors bar one made money in ’16
UK Smaller Companies was the only investment sector to lose money in 2016 despite a turbulent political and economic landscape, new research has revealed. See more here
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28 Jul 2016 6 min read
F&C Managed Portfolio beats benchmark despite widening discounts
F&C Managed Portfolio reports that, for the company’s financial year to 31 May 2016, the NAV total return (i.e. adding dividends paid to capital performance) was -4.8% for the Income shares and -4.5% for the Growth shares which represented outperformance against the -6.3% total return for the FTSE All-Share Index, the benchmark index for both […]
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30 Jun 2016 2 min read
BlackRock North American helped by holding in McDonalds
BlackRock North American has published interim results covering the six months to the end of April 2016. Over the period the company produced an 8.0% net asset return per share (‘NAV’) compared with a return of 7.5% in the Russell 1000 Value Index. The Company’s share price return was 11.1% over the same period (all figures […]
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18 Jan 2016 1 min read
BlackRock North American beats benchmark by avoiding oil exposure
BlackRock North American Income Trust reports performance just ahead of its benchmark for the year ended 31 October 2015. the NAV total return was 4.9% vs. 4.1% for the Russell 1000 Value Index. The share price total return was 4.7%. The total dividend for the year rose by 7.5% to 4.3p. The Board are asking […]
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12 Jun 2015 1 min read
BlackRock North American Board getting worried about performance
Over the six months ended 30 April 2015 BlackRock North American Income delivered a 5.7% return on net assets and a 6.7% return to shareholders. By contrast the return on the Russell 1000 Index was 7.1%. The Board, chaired by Simon Miller (pictured), felt the need to stress to the manager that performance against the index […]
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12 Dec 2013 1 min read
BlackRock North American Income : BRNA
Over the year to the end of October BRNA returned 17.1% in NAV terms and 16.5% in share price terms vs. a return for the Russell 1000 Value Index of 27.4% – underperformance relative to the index is attributed by the Board to the outperformance of “lower quality stocks” that BRNA does not hold.
Upcoming Events
Videos
In The Press
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22 Jan 2025 1 min read
Blackrock trusts agree peace deal with Saba Capital
By: Elliot Gulliver-Needham, Investment Reporter, CityAM, 22 January 2025: A host of Blackrock-run investment trusts have made a peace deal with US hedge fund Saba Capital, amid its activist campaign to take over the boards of several UK trusts. In a series of stock exchange announcements, the Blackrock trusts said that they had made an […]
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09 Oct 2024 1 min read
The investment trusts facing crunch shareholder votes
by Dave Baxter, Investors Chronicle, October 8, 2024: Several investment trusts face the prospect of contentious continuation votes in the coming months, putting further pressure on a sector already rife with consolidation. With share price discounts to net asset value (NAV) remaining wide, busy merger and acquisition activity has seen several trusts disappear this year. […]
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20 Apr 2023 1 min read
Delving into the dividend: nine income trusts delivering top total returns
by Kyle Caldwell from interactive investor, 19th April 2023: There are sound reasons to look beyond ‘dividend hero’ investment trusts, as this research shows. Many investors like to buy funds and investment trusts that invest in dividend-paying companies or income-producing bonds… Investors should look beyond the dividend heroes However, investors should not just simply stick […]
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21 Nov 2022 1 min read
The US trusts on wide discounts relative to their recent history
By Tom Aylott, Reporter, Trustnet, 21 November 2022: Trusts investing in the growth-oriented US market have faced challenging conditions this year as their investment style falls out of favour… On the bright side, declining markets could offer an attractive entry point for investors looking to increase their exposure to the US. Here, Trustnet looks at […]
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1 min read
Deep Dive: ESG lens may boost value opportunities
James Baxter-Derrington, Investment Week, 18 November 2022: Inflation and tightening monetary policy have combined to benefit value investors in the near term, while an ESG lens may provide long-term opportunities in the US and globally. Speaking to Investment Week, Aaron Dunn, co-head of value investing at Eaton Vance, said inflation and tight monetary policy will […]
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23 Dec 2021 1 min read
The Investment Trusts Handbook 2022: All Change, Please
JAMES CARTHEW explores when and why boards choose to change their fund manager. In my opinion, one of the greatest strengths of the investment companies industry is its system of governance. Boards of independent directors work for and on behalf of investors. Boards’ ability to fire underperforming managers helps to keep these managers on their […]
