REG-BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust Plc: Portfolio Update
26/11/2025 14:30
BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003K5E043LHLO706)
All information is at 31 October 2025
and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested.
One Three One Three Five Since
month months year years years Launch*
% % % % % %
Sterling:
Share price 2.7 4.4 24.7 55.8 121.9 202.4
Net asset value 3.7 5.7 17.3 44.6 120.4 220.7
Benchmark (NR)** 4.4 6.2 14.7 16.2 60.9 118.2
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 3.1 9.0 34.9 53.8 61.8 148.6
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 6.7 13.9 25.2 55.6 41.0 114.5
US Dollars:
Share price 0.2 3.6 27.5 78.0 125.7 156.2
Net asset value 1.2 5.0 19.9 65.2 124.2 171.2
Benchmark (NR)** 1.9 5.4 17.2 32.6 63.5 85.3
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 0.6 8.2 37.9 75.6 64.4 109.5
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 4.2 13.1 27.9 77.6 43.3 80.8
Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor’s Micropal
* 17 December 2010.
** The Company’s benchmark changed to MSCI Frontier + Emerging ex Selected
Countries Index (net total return, USD) effective 1/4/2018.
At month end
US Dollar
Net asset value - capital only: 231.99c
Net asset value - cum income: 238.83c
Sterling:
Net asset value - capital only: 176.57p
Net asset value - cum income: 181.77p
Share price: 172.50p
Total assets (including income): £344.0m
Discount to cum-income NAV: 5.1%
Gearing: Nil
Gearing range (as a % of gross assets): 0-20%
Net yield*: 4.4%
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 4.4% and includes the 2024
final dividend of 6.00 cents per share, declared on 5 December 2024 paid to
shareholders on 14 February 2025 and the 2025 interim dividend of 3.65 cents
per share, declared on 29 May 2025, paid to shareholders on 24 June 2025.
** 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 30 September 2024.
**** 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 30 September 2024.
Sector Gross market value as a % of net assets Country Gross market value as a % of net assets
Analysis Analysis
Financials 54.0 Saudi Arabia 14.3
Consumer Discretionary 10.8 United Arab Emirates 10.3
Real Estate 9.5 Turkey 9.3
Industrials 8.4 Poland 8.4
Communication Services 8.0 Egypt 8.3
Materials 6.6 Indonesia 7.7
Information Technology 5.3 Kazakhstan 6.2
Consumer Staples 4.3 Pakistan 5.8
Energy 3.7 Greece 5.2
Health Care 3.4 Vietnam 5.2
----- Hungary 5.1
114.0 Kenya 5.1
----- Thailand 5.0
Short Positions -1.6 Multi-International 4.1
----- Georgia 4.0
Bangladesh 3.2
Philippines 2.8
Malaysia 2.5
Chile 1.5
-----
114.0
-----
Short Positions -1.6 ----
*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).
Market Exposure
30.11 2024 % 31.12 2024 % 31.01 2025 % 28.02 2025 % 31.03 2025 % 30.04 2025 % 31.05 2025 % 30.06 2025 % 31.07 2025 % 31.08 2025 % 30.09 2025 % 30.10 2025 %
Long 109.6 112.4 118.5 121.0 118.5 111.3 117.9 121.2 113.0 114.3 112.2 114.0
Short 3.3 4.0 4.2 3.9 4.3 3.8 3.4 3.4 2.5 2.4 1.7 1.6
Gross 112.9 116.4 122.7 124.9 122.8 115.1 121.3 124.6 115.5 116.7 113.9 115.6
Net 106.3 108.4 114.3 117.1 114.2 107.5 114.5 117.8 110.5 111.9 110.5 112.4
Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Gross market value as a % of net assets
Bank Mandiri Indonesia 4.7
Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia 4.2
OTP Bank Hungary 3.7
LPP Poland 3.7
Etihad Etisalat Saudi Arabia 3.7
Emaar Properties United Arab Emirates 3.6
Akbank Turkey 3.2
Lucky Cement Pakistan 3.1
Equity Group Kenya 3.0
PKO Bank Polski Poland 2.9
Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher, representing the
Investment Manager noted:
The Company’s NAV returned 1.2% in October 2025, underperforming its
benchmark, the MSCI Frontier + Emerging ex Selected Countries Index
(“Benchmark Index”), which returned 1.9%. For reference, the MSCI Emerging
Markets Index returned +4.2% while the MSCI Frontier Markets Index returned
0.6% over the same period. All performance figures are on a US Dollar basis
with net income reinvested.
A number of markets demonstrated strong performance through October, with
markets as diverse as Bahrain (13.3%), Colombia (8.9%) and Hungary (8.7%)
being the top performers in the universe. Our portfolio saw strong returns
from the UAE, where real estate stocks continue to benefit from the strong
demand environment, and Kenya where we are tentatively hopeful that we could
be reaching the end of a protracted, approximately a 15-year asset quality
cycle.
At the stock level, a broad range of names showed meaningful positive
contributions. Kenyan Bank, Equity Group (14.1%) was the biggest contributor
to returns as it jumped to record highs after reporting strong Q3 results, as
easing inflation and improving credit quality supported growth. Vietnamese IT
Services name, FPT (12.2%) rallied after reporting strong Q3 profit margins,
further boosted by new partnerships with Chelsea FC, and Clearlake Capital to
drive digital transformation in private equity. OTP Bank
(10.4%) in Hungary also helped, following analyst upgrades. Emaar Properties
(8.7%) rebounded after a September sell-off. Bank Mandiri (7.5%) was another
contributor, rebounding after the stock had reached an excessively low
valuation.
On the flipside, in the Philippines, exposure to online gaming company
DigiPlus (-18.0%) detracted as investors remained cautious on regulatory
change. Ayala Land (-19.2%) detracted amid expectations of slower Philippine
bank lending tightening liquidity conditions, coupled with concerns over a
corruption probe weighing on business sentiment. Eldorado Gold (-11.3%)
declined alongside a correction in the gold price, despite multiple analyst
upgrades and solid Q3 financial results. Turkiye Is Bankasi (-11.9%) declined
on a re-emergence of political tensions in Turkey. Wizz Air (-11.5%) on
concerns of weakening pricing in the airline sector.
We made a few tactical changes in October. In Egypt, we initiated a position
in electronic payments network Fawry, which we believe may benefit from. In
Poland, we topped up Polish bank positions on weakness given their attractive
valuation. We participated in the IPO of the African digital microlender
Optasia, which we believe can continue to show strong loan growth. We took
some profits in Brac Bank and OTP Bank following strong performance.
Looking ahead, we remain constructive on the outlook for smaller emerging and
frontier markets. With inflation easing across many of our key markets and
U.S. bond yields remaining relatively stable, we anticipate that central banks
in our target countries will begin to resume interest rate cuts in the near
term. 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 31 October 2025
2 MSCI as at 31 October 2025
26 November 2025
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 (https://mb.cision.com/Main/22403/4272907/3809089.pdf)
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