BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
All information is at
Performance at month end with net income reinvested.
One Three One Three Five Since
month months year years years Launch*
% % % % % %
Sterling:
Share price 5.2 0.0 10.6 39.2 115.4 171.4
Net asset value 1.6 -3.2 6.8 28.6 102.6 181.1
Benchmark (NR)** 0.4 -2.0 5.0 0.5 36.6 90.1
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 5.6 1.2 10.9 14.0 37.5 98.6
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 3.3 -0.7 6.7 8.7 29.0 71.1
US Dollars:
Share price 6.2 7.1 17.2 49.1 135.3 136.0
Net asset value 2.6 3.6 13.1 37.8 121.3 144.1
Benchmark (NR)** 1.4 5.0 11.2 7.5 49.0 65.7
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 6.6 8.4 17.4 22.0 50.0 71.8
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 4.3 6.3 13.0 16.3 40.7 47.9
Sources:
*
** The Company’s benchmark changed from MSCI Frontier Markets Index to MSCI Emerging ex Selected Countries + Frontier Markets + Saudi Arabia Index (net total return, USD) effective 1/4/2018.
At month end US Dollar Net asset value - capital only: 211.58c Net asset value - cum income: 218.50c Sterling: Net asset value - capital only: 156.89p Net asset value - cum income: 162.02p Share price: 157.50p Total assets (including income): £306.7m Discount to cum-income NAV: 2.8% Gearing: Nil Gearing range (as a % of gross assets): 0-20% Net yield*: 4.8% Ordinary shares in issue**: 189,270,248 Ongoing charges***: 1.41% Ongoing charges plus taxation and performance fee****: 2.33%
*The Company’s yield based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement is 4.8% and includes the 2024 final dividend of
** Excluding 52,552,553 ordinary shares held in treasury.
***The Company’s ongoing charges are calculated as a percentage of average daily net assets and using the management fee and all other operating expenses excluding performance fees, finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain non-recurring items for Year ended
**** The Company’s ongoing charges are calculated as a percentage of average daily net assets and using the management fee and all other operating expenses and including performance fees but excluding finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain non-recurring items for Year ended
Sector Gross market value Country Gross market value
Analysis as a % of net assets Analysis as a % of net assets
Financials 47.9 Saudi Arabia 13.9
Consumer 13.2 Indonesia 11.8
Discretionary
Real Estate 12.7 United Arab Emirates 10.9
Industrials 11.8 Turkey 9.6
Materials 9.0 Greece 7.5
Information 7.2 Poland 7.2
Technology
Communication 6.0 Hungary 6.6
Services
Consumer Staples 4.8 Vietnam 6.2
Health Care 3.5 Kazakhstan 5.8
Energy 1.8 Georgia 5.1
----- Pakistan 5.1
117.9 Multi-International 4.9
----- Philippines 4.2
Short Positions -3.4 Thailand 4.0
----- Kenya 3.0
Bangladesh 2.9
Malaysia 2.9
Czech Republic 2.5
Chile 1.7
Egypt 1.2
Cambodia 0.9
-----
117.9
-----
-3.4
Short Positions
----
*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).
Market Exposure
30.06 31.07 31.08 30.09 31.10 30.11 31.12 31.01 28.02 31.03 30.04 31.05
2024 2024 2024 2024 2024 2024 2024 2025 2025 2025 2025 2025
% % % % % % % % % % % %
Long 118.4 116.1 112.3 107.9 110.1 109.6 112.4 118.5 121.0 118.5 111.3 117.9
Short 2.9 3.5 3.6 3.9 3.6 3.3 4.0 4.2 3.9 4.3 3.8 3.4
Gross 121.3 119.6 115.9 111.8 113.7 112.9 116.4 122.7 124.9 122.8 115.1 121.3
Net 115.5 112.6 108.7 104.0 106.5 106.3 108.4 114.3 117.1 114.2 107.5 114.5
Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Gross market value as a % of net assets Bank Mandiri Indonesia 5.3 Emaar Properties United Arab Emirates 5.2 Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia 5.0 OTP Bank Hungary 4.1 PZU Poland 4.1 FPT Vietnam 4.1 Etihad Etisalat Saudi Arabia 3.5 Eldorado Gold Turkey 3.4 Akbank Turkey 3.4 LPP Poland 3.2
Commenting on the markets,
The Company’s NAV rose by 2.6% in May, outperforming its benchmark, the MSCI Frontier +
Global equity markets maintained their upward momentum in May, supported by resilient economic data and hopes that US interest rates may be nearing a peak.
Returns in our universe were led by
gains in the Asian markets.
Within EM Asia,
A diverse set of holdings contributed to May performance. DigiPlus, an online gaming company in
Not all holdings fared as well. Kaspi, online Kazakh financial platform, declined by 9.2% despite reporting a 21% year-over-year increase in revenue and a 16% rise in net income for Q1 2025 as results slightly missed expectations and analysts were concerned that full year results could be hit by increased regulations.
Chilean beverages company, Compania Cervecerias Unidas fell by 11.2% as the company faced pricing pressure in key export markets and rising input costs tied to global commodity price volatility, despite reporting a Q1 profit of
We made a few tactical adjustments in May, increasing our position in Turkiye Is Bankasi, reflecting our view that liquidity conditions in
Looking ahead, we remain constructive on the outlook for smaller emerging and frontier markets. As inflation trends lower in many of our target countries, we expect central banks to resume rate cuts—especially once US bond yields stabilise. This backdrop sets the stage for a cyclical recovery in domestically driven economies. Valuations across our investment universe remain attractive, both in absolute and relative terms. Many of these markets are still under-researched, and we believe this creates fertile ground for finding high-conviction, alpha-generating opportunities.
Sources:
1
BlackRock as at
2
MSCI as at
ENDS
Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/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.
Release
