The BlackRock American Income Trust plc (LON:BRAI) is one of a kind. It is the first investment trust in the UK to adopt a systematic investment approach1, using big data and AI insights seeking to uncover fundamentally strong American companies overlooked by the market. We believe this modern investment approach, alongside an enhanced dividend and low management fees2, is the best possible option to achieve the trust’s aims – long term capital growth and an attractive level of income.
The adoption of a systematic approach3 allows us to analyse our investment universe in an instant. Not only does this aim to deliver reliable portfolio outcomes, it is also cost-efficient. Management fees on the trust are 0.35%. The trust pays a dividend of 1.5% of NAV (Net Asset Value) per quarter, equivalent to approximately 6% of NAV annually. These payments are typically made quarterly in April, July, October & January, though dates and the amount paid are not guaranteed.
Please be aware that the costs and fees shown may not be exhaustive. Please refer to the prospectus for more information.
The trust focuses on value companies. These are companies trading at lower valuations4, using the Russell 1000 Value index5 as a benchmark. By focusing on these companies, the trust can have a role as a source of diversification away from the typically highly valued US mega-cap growth companies6. For example, the largest two sectors in the Russell 1000 Value index are financials and industrials, while technology is only 12% of the overall weight. In contrast, the S&P 500 has around 33% in technology7.
The systematic investing approach
Systematic investing harnesses the same digital tools that are transforming other industries, interrogating new and growing sources of data to find differentiated insights. We analyse company fundamentals and macroeconomic news aiming to unlock new ways of seeking consistent portfolio outcomes. In an evolving market landscape, our ability to analyse over 1,000 stocks in less than two seconds enables us to keep our finger on the pulse. It is not a black box. The process is designed, implemented and overseen by humans. The portfolio manager is the architect of the system, controlling the inputs and seeking to mitigate the risks.
Risk management cannot fully eliminate the risk of investment loss.
This data-driven strategy combines data, AI, and human expertise seeking to deliver emotion-proof, bias-free investment decisions. For example, BlackRock’s AI tools will scan 1,000s of broker reports, social media data, news stories and transaction information, far more than could be absorbed by the human mind. These provide more information on a company’s prospects than could be achieved by a single analyst poring over a company report.
How the systematic approach to investing could benefit BlackRock American Income Trust investors?
The advantage of a systematic approach is not only in the type and amount of data that can be analysed. Humans can be prone to unconscious biases: it can remove these weaknesses and ensure that any investment analysis is forward-looking and up to date. Overall, it allows us to build insights into individual companies that we use to take greater or lower exposure, with the aim of driving above benchmark performance over time.
BlackRock’s systematic equity team has been at the forefront of data-driven investing for more than 40 years, looking to transform research and data into actionable insights across a variety of strategies. It has been running since 1985, but expands and evolves as more data becomes available, including large language models8.
A powerful data-driven way to invest
A systematic approach gathers and analyses information at scale, delivering unique insights. The result for investors is consistent, seeking risk-mitigated exposure to value stocks at low cost. The trust seeks to provide diversified access to attractively valued companies beyond the usual headline-grabbing tech giants, while delivering an enhanced income. We believe it is a powerful and modern approach to investing in US equities.
Risk management cannot fully eliminate the risk of investment loss.
1 Source: Source: theaic.co.uk – BlackRock American Income seeks to become first ‘systematic’ trust, March 2025
2 The average fee of US Equity active fund in 2024 was 1.02%. Source: Morningstar 2024 US Fund Fee Study. The trust current fee is 0.35%.
3 Systematic approach: A systematic approach refers to a disciplined and structured method of investing, where decisions are guided by predefined rules, data analysis, and consistent processes rather than personal judgment or market timing. This approach helps ensure repeatability, transparency, and risk control, often using algorithms to select and manage investments over time.
4 Lower valuations: It refers to companies whose share price is judged to trade below their fair value based on standard valuation metrics (such as P/E, P/B, or EV/EBITDA) compared to peers.
5 Russell 100 Value index: The Russell 1000 Value Index measures the performance of large U.S. companies that are considered undervalued based on financial metrics like low price-to-book ratios and slower growth forecasts. It includes stocks from the broader Russell 1000 Index that show strong value characteristics and is commonly used as a benchmark for mutual funds focused on value investing.
6 US Mega-cap growth companies: Mega-cap growth companies are the largest publicly traded firms, typically with market capitalizations (market capitalization is the total value of a company’s outstanding shares) over $200 billion, that are expected to grow earnings and revenues at a faster-than-average rate. These companies are often leaders in sectors like technology or healthcare.
7 Source: FTSE Russell 1000 Value Index factsheet and Standard & Poors 500 Index factsheet as of 30th September 2025.
8 Large Language Models: Large language models are AI systems trained on massive volumes of text. They learn linguistic patterns and can generate, summarize or translate human-style writing.
