XFLT - Weekly Closed-End Fund Roundup: November 26 2023
2023-12-05 11:37:15 ET
Summary
- 19 out of 22 CEF sectors are positive on price, and 21 out of 22 sectors are positive on NAV.
- KYN/KMF merger completes.
- NXG Cushing Midstream Energy Fund rights offering begins.
The Weekly Closed-End Fund Roundup will be put out at the start of each week to summarize recent price movements in closed-end fund ((CEF)) sectors in the last week, as well as to highlight recently concluded or upcoming corporate actions on CEFs, such as tender offers. Data is taken from the close of November 24th, 2023 .
JPMorgan releases a nice Weekly Market Recap every week. These are the key index levels this week:
Weekly performance roundup
For CEFs, 19 out of 22 sectors were positive on price (down from 22 last week) and the average price return was +0.79% (down from +2.66% last week). The lead gainer was Real Estate (+1.92%) while MLPs lagged (+0.84%).
21 out of 22 sectors were positive on NAV (same as last week), while the average NAV return was +0.60% (down from +1.81% last week). The top sector by NAV was California Munis (+1.23%) while the weakest sector by NAV was Senior Loans (-0.35%).
The sector with the highest premium is Limited Duration (-1.93%), while the sector with the widest discount is Asia Equity (-15.46%). The average sector discount is -8.77% (same as last week).
The sector with the highest premium/discount increase was Real Estate (+1.22%), while MLPs (-1.64%) showed the lowest premium/discount decline. The average change in premium/discount was +0.06% (down from +0.68% last week).
The sector with the highest average 1-year z-score is Commodities (+0.87), while the sector with the lowest average 1-year z-score is Covered Call (-0.93). The average z-score is -0.16 (up from -0.22 last week).
The sectors with the highest yields are Senior Loans (+13.82%), Emerging Market Income (+12.70%), and Real Estate (+11.29%). Discounts are included for comparison. The average sector yield is +8.76% (down from +8.80% last week).
Individual CEFs that have undergone a significant decrease in premium/discount value over the past week, coupled optionally with an increasing NAV trend, a negative z-score, and/or are trading at a discount, are potential buy candidates.
| Fund |
| Ticker |
| P/D decrease |
| Yield |
| P/D |
| Z-Score |
| Price Change |
| NAV Change |
| NXG Cushing Midstream Energy Fund |
| ( SRV ) |
| -5.55% |
| 15.21% |
| -6.68% |
| -0.3 |
| -4.31% |
| 1.41% |
| XAI Octagon FR & Alt Income Term Trust |
| ( XFLT ) |
| -4.25% |
| 15.11% |
| 2.74% |
| -0.2 |
| -3.98% |
| 0.00% |
| Nuveen CA AMT - Free Quality Muni Inc |
| ( NKX ) |
| -4.02% |
| 4.88% |
| -11.47% |
| 0.1 |
| -3.21% |
| 1.20% |
| BlackRock Long-Term Muni Advantage |
| ( BTA ) |
| -4.01% |
| 5.53% |
| -4.84% |
| 0.2 |
| -2.48% |
| 1.64% |
| Herzfeld Caribbean Basin |
| ( CUBA ) |
| -3.51% |
| 29.10% |
| -52.33% |
| -4.2 |
| 0.28% |
| 1.51% |
| BlackRock Energy & Resources |
| ( BGR ) |
| -3.27% |
| 6.27% |
| -12.22% |
| -0.4 |
| -1.26% |
| 2.43% |
| ClearBridge MLP and Midstream TR |
| ( CTR ) |
| -3.08% |
| 8.48% |
| -15.63% |
| 0.4 |
| -1.37% |
| 1.62% |
| ClearBridge Energy Midstream Opportunity |
| ( EMO ) |
| -3.07% |
| 7.92% |
| -13.49% |
| 0.2 |
| -2.38% |
| 1.71% |
| BNY Mellon Muni Bond Infrastructure Fund |
| ( DMB ) |
| -3.00% |
| 3.73% |
| -15.11% |
| -2.9 |
| -2.23% |
| 1.25% |
| ClearBridge MLP and Midstream |
| ( CEM ) |
| -2.87% |
| 8.39% |
| -15.33% |
| -0.2 |
| -0.81% |
| 1.66% |
Conversely, individual CEFs that have undergone a significant increase in premium/discount value in the past week, coupled optionally with a decreasing NAV trend, a positive z-score, and/or are trading at a premium, are potential sell candidates.
| Fund |
| Ticker |
| P/D Increase |
| Yield |
| P/D |
| Z-Score |
| Price Change |
| NAV Change |
| Gabelli Utility Trust |
| ( GUT ) |
| 12.57% |
| 10.00% |
| 109.06% |
| 0.2 |
| 6.76% |
| 0.35% |
| Gabelli Multimedia |
| ( GGT ) |
| 6.45% |
| 16.73% |
| 44.11% |
| -0.2 |
| 5.84% |
| 1.11% |
| Eaton Vance National Municipal Opprs Tr |
| ( EOT ) |
| 3.18% |
| 4.57% |
| -6.74% |
| -0.4 |
| 4.10% |
| 0.57% |
| Columbia Seligman Premium Technology Gr |
| ( STK ) |
| 3.01% |
| 5.99% |
| 13.16% |
| 2.2 |
| 4.50% |
| 1.75% |
| Cohen & Steers Qual Inc Realty |
| ( RQI ) |
| 2.92% |
| 8.70% |
| -5.64% |
| 0.0 |
| 4.25% |
| 1.04% |
| abrdn Global Income Fund Inc. |
| ( FCO ) |
| 2.91% |
| 13.40% |
| 62.44% |
| 1.8 |
| 1.29% |
| -0.52% |
| Barings Corporate Investors |
| ( MCI ) |
| 2.84% |
| 8.73% |
| 2.22% |
| 2.9 |
| 0.86% |
| 0.00% |
| Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund |
| ( JLS ) |
| 2.75% |
| 10.41% |
| -11.87% |
| 1.9 |
| 3.25% |
| 0.05% |
| Tekla World Healthcare Fund |
| ( THW ) |
| 2.73% |
| 12.41% |
| -2.00% |
| -1.7 |
| 3.39% |
| 0.52% |
| PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II |
| ( PFN ) |
| 2.68% |
| 12.47% |
| 2.52% |
| 0.0 |
| 3.29% |
| 0.60% |
New!
From our screener, here are the CEFs with the highest yields, widest discounts, and lowest 1-year z-scores:
From our screener, here are the CEFs with the best 1-year performance, highest premiums, and highest 1-year z-scores:
Recent corporate actions
These are from the past month. Any new news in the past week has a bolded date:
November 21, 2023 | First Trust Announces Completion of First Trust Dynamic Europe Equity Income Fund's Reorganization into First Trust Active Global Quality Income ETF.
November 13, 2023 | Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund Announces Completion of Merger with Kayne Anderson NextGen Energy & Infrastructure.
November 13, 2023 | Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund and Kayne Anderson NextGen Energy & Infrastructure Announce Preliminary Results of Election of Merger Consideration.
November 13, 2023 | Templeton Global Income Fund Announces Final Results of Tender Offer.
November 7, 2023 | Tortoise Announces Final Results of Tender Offers for its Closed-End Funds.
November 6, 2023 | Nuveen Preferred & Income Closed-End Funds Announce Completion of Mergers.
October 27, 2023 | Tekla Funds Approve New Investment Advisory Agreements With abrdn Inc.
October 25, 2023 | Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Income Trust and Eaton Vance Senior Income Trust Announce Final Results of Tender Offers.
Upcoming corporate actions
These are from the past month. Any new news in the past week has a bolded date:
November 10, 2023 | NXG Cushing® Midstream Energy Fund (NYSE: SRV) Announces Terms of Rights Offering and Announces December Monthly Distribution.
October 24, 2023 | The Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund, Inc. Updates Important Dates for Rights Offering.
October 23, 2023 | First Trust Advisors Announces Fund Board Approval of Mergers of First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund, First Trust MLP and Energy Income Fund, First Trust New Opportunities MLP & Energy Fund, and First Trust Energy Infrastructure Fund into First Trust Energy Income Partners Enhanced Income ETF.
October 23, 2023 | First Trust Advisors Announces Proposed Reorganization of Four First Trust Advised Closed-End Funds into Three abrdn Advised Closed-End Funds.
July 10, 2023 | Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Total Income Fund Announces Distributions; Provides Update on Pending Merger.
Recent activist or other CEF news
These are from the past month. Any new news in the past week has a bolded date:
November 21, 2023 | PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund ( PDX ) Notes Effectiveness of Certain Previously-Announced Changes.
October 26, 2023 | XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Term Trust Announces Board Approval of Proposal to Become Perpetual Fund and New Sub-Advisory Agreement with Octagon Credit Investors.
Distribution changes this month
These are sorted in ascending order of distribution change percentage. Funds with distribution changes with ex-dates this month are included. Other statistics such as yield, distribution coverage (post distribution boost/cut), discount and z-score information. The funds are separated into cutters and boosters.
Cutters
Boosters
Strategy statement
Our goal aims to provide consistent income with enhanced total returns. Our CEF rotation strategy includes trading between CEFs to exploit fluctuations in valuations. This is because CEF prices are inefficient, with investors often overreacting to both the upside or downside, or being unaware of upcoming corporate actions. This could help capture alpha from CEFs for the nimble investor.
Remember, it's really easy to put together a high-yielding CEF portfolio, but to do so profitably is another matter! Our experience has been that it is very possible to earn profitable returns in CEFs. While there are numerous opportunities in the closed-end fund sector, it is essential to remain vigilant of the associated risks. Blindly chasing yield is not a prudent strategy.
For further details see:
Weekly Closed-End Fund Roundup: November 26, 2023