The NAVigator, from the Active Investment Company Alliance (AICA), talks all-weather investing and "excellence beyond indexing" through the use of closed-end funds (CEFs) & business-development companies (BDCs). AICA – a new organization that includes a diverse constituency that runs from investors through fund sponsors – aims to help investors & advisors plot a new and different course to financial success, via the tactical use of securities that mix active management within listed & non-listed…
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Treasury rates hit their highest level in nearly 20 years this week; in response, the Treasury announced it was doubling its long-end buyback capacity. John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors , discusses what it all means for fixed-income markets and how it is impacting closed-end funds and their investors. The two actions at the center of the action call for a barbell approach, says Scott, who…
When closed-end funds catch mentions in the mainstream media, the recommendations often focus on yield without digging deeper. In this episode of The NAVigator, John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors , looks at some recent closed-end fund recommendations from articles on Forbes and Seeking Alpha, and breaks down how those funds do through the "trifecta analysis" his firm uses to select funds,…
Discount-capture investor Rob Shaker, Portfolio Manager at Shaker Financial Services , says that while closed-end fund discounts have widened through a strong season of earnings and a market returning to flirt with new highs, much of that action has been "good widenings," where a fund's net asset value goes up more than the price of the closed-end fund itself. With the market "snapping around"…
Scott Caraher, Head of Senior Loans at Nuveen , says that the higher-for-longer interest rate environment has created "one of the most interesting and dynamic times" he has seen for senior loans in his 25-year career. Caraher, who manages Nuveen Floating Rate Income in both its closed-end and open-end forms, says that because senior loans don't face interest-rate risk, they are a powerful play in…
John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors , provides takeaways from the second quarter for closed-end funds and business-development companies, noting that the trend was for investors to make most of their money on net asset values rather than narrowing discounts, which creates potential for a strong second half of 2026 if there is an uptick in investor sentiment. Scott, the chairman of the…
Ray DiBernardo, Portfolio Manager for the XAI Madison Equity Premium Income fund, says he's concerned about the market's valuation levels — noting that it "has been expensive for quite some time" — and while he is not expecting "dark clouds and a horrible environment," there's more downside risk, which could lead to market compression that puts covered-call strategies back into the spotlight as a…
Axel Merk, President and Chief Investment Officer at Merk Investments , discusses Saba Capital's activist campaign that got him ousted as portfolio manager and president of ASA Gold and Precious Metals Ltd. , a closed-end fund that was up nearly 200% last year but that still was branded with the label of being a "poor performer." Merk, who took over the closed end fund in 2016 and helped to nearly…
Kevin Dreyer, Co-Chief Investment Officer for value at Gabelli Asset Management , says that there are plenty of values left in a market that has returned to record levels, particularly when valuing stocks based on "what an informed industrialist or buyer would pay to buy the whole business." Dreyer, part of the team running Gabelli Equity Trust and some of the firm's other closed-end funds, says…
John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors , attended the Private Credit Summit hosted this week in New York City by Dechert LLP, and came away with a sense that private-credit markets have not yet gotten to the overheated levels that could turn investor fears of a blow-up into a financial reality. Scott, also the chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance , discusses "stress tests" that…
Ken Burdon, Partner in the registered fund practice at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett , discusses the Supreme Court's recent ruling against activist investor Saba Capital , a decision that could have a chilling effect on shareholder activism in the future. Burdon says the decision removes a key path based on the Investment Company Act of 1940 that activists took in pursuing cases over fund fees and…
John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors , says that index discounts are wide when compared to their three-year history, which makes it important for investors to find names where wide discounts are supported by improving fundamentals. Scott, who also is chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance , says that both the national muni CEF index and the taxable bond CEF index have seen wider…
