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BlackRock World Mining moves away from base metals

FUND PROFILE: Continued uncertainties over the global economy has seen BlackRock World Mining boost its exposure to precious metals
July 20, 2010

The £1.23bn BlackRock World Mining (BRWM) trust has been trading for the best part of 20 years, and despite suffering reversals greater than the FTSE World Mining Index when global demand contracted in the nine months following August 2008, it has still managed to deliver 583 per cent cumulative growth in net asset value (NAV) over the past decade.

Investors can choose to invest in the trust via BlackRock's dedicated savings plan, or alternately, through a stocks and shares individual savings account (Isa). An annual gross management fee of 1.25 per cent is applicable.

The fund's portfolio is managed by a team of experts, which includes BlackRock's precious metals guru Evy Hambro. The aim is to maximise total returns to shareholders through a portfolio of global mining and metal securities - up to 10 per cent of assets may be invested in physical metals.

The current fund allocation features a short-term maturity bond holding in commodity supplier Glencore. The portfolio also includes large positions in Vale Minerals, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

Since March there has been a move away from base metal producers in favour of gold and platinum exposure as uncertainties grow over the global economy. While gold prices have fallen from their historic highs earlier this year, there are investors concerned that large quantitative easing programmes could eventually feed through into an inflationary spiral.

BLACKROCK WORLD MINING TRUST (BRWM)
PRICE539pNAV654.75p
SIZE OF FUND£1.23bnPRICE DISCOUNT TO NAV18.59%
No OF HOLDINGS:na1 YEAR PERFORMANCE40.82%*
SET UP DATE15 Dec 933 YEAR PERFORMANCE -4.03%*
MANAGER START DATE15 Dec 935 YEAR PERFORMANCE18.25%*
TURNOVERnaTOTAL EXPENSE RATIO1.2%*
VOLATILITY (3-YEAR MEAN)9.35%*NET YIELD0.89%
TRACKING ERRORnaGEARING102.70%
SHARPE RATIO0.15*MORE DETAILSblackrock.co.uk

Source: BlackRock & *Morningstar

Performance figures as at 19 July 2010

Top 10 holdings (as at 31 May)

HoldingPercentage
Vale11.04
Rio Tinto9.25
BHP Billiton7.49
Teck Resources5.18
Glencore Finance (Europe) 5% 20145.17
Cea di Minas Buenaventura (ADR)5.12
Impala Platinum4.81
First Quantum Minerals4.25
Fresnillo3.14
Freeport McMoRan2.97

Sector breakdown

SectorPercentage
Diversified minerals45.7
Base Metals18.3
Gold13.3
Platinum7.7
Silver and Diamonds7
Industrial Minerals6
Net Current Assets1.1
Other0.9