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For the month, only 43% of all closed -end funds (CEFs) posted net asset value (NAV)-based returns in the black, with 45% of equity CEFs and 42% of fixed income CEFs chalking up returns in the plus column. For the second consecutive month, Lipper’s mixed-assets CEFs macro-group (-0.08%) mitigated losses better than its two equity-based brethren: domestic equity CEFs (-0.35%) and world equity CEFs (-0.88%). The Energy MLP CEFs classification (+3.11%, September’s laggard) for the first month in five outperformed all other equity classifications, followed by Emerging Markets CEFs (+1.58%) and Utility CEFs (+0.83%). Developed Markets CEFs (-3.61%) posted the worst returns in the equity universe.
For the third month in a row, domestic taxable fixed income CEFs remained at the top of the charts, posting a 0.32% return on average, followed by world income CEFs (+0.04%) and municipal bond CEFs (-0.34%). While fixed income investors were generally more risk averse toward the end of the month, they still pushed General Bond CEFs (+0.45%) to the top of the domestic taxable fixed income leaderboard for the first month since December 31, 2017.
For October, the median discount of all CEFs widened 65 bps to 10.01%—wider than the 12-month moving average median discount (8.27%). In this report, we highlight October 2020 CEF performance trends, premiums and discounts, and corporate actions and events.
Highlights
Download our Closed-End Funds FundMarket Insight Report: The Month in Closed-End Funds: October 2020 here.
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