CEF Holdings --- May 2026

[joejetski]

At the risk of going OT, what OEFs do you embrace for the long term?

My favorite 2 bond OEFs (MFs) are:
PIMIX PIMCO Multisector
VWEAX Vanguard Corporate Bond Admiral
Both yields around 6%, steady Eddie. VWEAX has been around since 1980s. I started my IRA in the 1990s and my grandpa turned me onto VWEHX (Same fund, lower minimum). Later I learned about PIMIX and started a position. VG minimum was $25K, FIDO was $1M. I have built both up but used their income to start other positions.

 

[FlyingCircus]

I am liking my position in YYY, a fund of CEFs, more everyday. One year return is over 17%. Yield is about 12.5% and no ROC.
PDI, one year is 9.65%
GOF one year is -6.16%

I am very much enjoying my foundational position in SPHY, total return of over 20% since end '23, attached snapshot shows why the attraction...

 

[fjpajerski]

I didn't know about this product until you pointed the articles our. BANX appears way to risky for me relative to senior secured bank loans. No independent service rates bank loans, so the guy selling you a first-loss product.is the same guy who tells you these are BBB- / BB+. For now, I'm sticking with JFR and similars ---- and depending on crude outcomes, I may abandon floaters altogether.
Regards, Dick

<< My apology to DrVenture et.al. for inserting CEF material into this CEF thread. And apparently two letters are just too difficult for some to understand. Wonder what one letter can be used in place of OT? >>

Didn't know anything about RCR's ... still trying to grasp their pros and cons. But it's simpler, couldn't get past the lack of transparency of BANX and its RCR holdings. Folks grumble about the unknowns of the PIMCO CEFs, BANX seems to work in absolute darkness to those brave souls who dare to invest in it.
edit: BANX also reinforces what I've noticed about so many funds .... the real money in them is made by their fund management. They must now be past the comparison of their cars and yachts, now it's about their business jets no doubt.
--- Frank

 

[AudiDudi]

And YYY X div tmo and div on Friday.

 

[COcheesehead]

And YYY X div tmo and div on Friday.

That’s the other thing I like. Goes ex and pays in one day.

 

[AG-YH]

The NAV on PDI is a concern but I think its a function of the duration and higher rates. But in times like these, the distribution can weigh on it. Luckily, April leverage numbers are out and show some wiggle room to increase borrowing at 37%. The leverage ratio has been as high as 46%.

It will be interesting to see the May numbers next month. With the dollar higher I would expect coverage - all else equal - to be higher.

 

[MRG]

That’s the other thing I like. Goes ex and pays in one day.

That and LSEG, the third party Fidelity uses to predict yearly income says its going to start paying .13 a share. Yesterday it was .12. Amplify probably doesn't even know!

 

[COcheesehead]

That and LSEG, the third party Fidelity uses to predict yearly income says its going to start paying .13 a share. Yesterday it was .12. Amplify probably doesn't even know!

Interesting, if true. That would put the yield at 13.5% based on current numbers.

Edit:

I was just checking on this and I see Fidelity has added a distribution yield and SEC yield column to their portfolio dividend view. Not sure if that’s new or if I just overlooked it.

 

[dickoncapecod]

The NAV on PDI is a concern but I think its a function of the duration and higher rates. But in times like these, the distribution can weigh on it. Luckily, April leverage numbers are out and show some wiggle room to increase borrowing at 37%. The leverage ratio has been as high as 46%.

It will be interesting to see the May numbers next month. With the dollar higher I would expect coverage - all else equal - to be higher.

Hi. Why do you believe a dollar higher against other currencies would increase coverage?
TIA, Dick

 

[MRG]

Interesting, if true. That would put the yield at 13.5% based on current numbers.

Edit:

I was just checking on this and I see Fidelity has added a distribution yield and SEC yield column to their portfolio dividend view. Not sure if that’s new or if I just overlooked it.

I'm not sure its true. LSEG's predictions seem odd at best. Last week I took some profits in ASGI and their numbers don't match mine. Its not rocket science, number of shares times the distribution amount. There's some rounding options that we aren't privy too but thats fractional pennies.

They're not even paying attention to any reinvestment.

 

[COcheesehead]

They're not even paying attention to any reinvestment.

My first thought was compounding

 

[MRG]

My first thought was compounding

It's LEGS. I added to a different position and the income prediction is also wrong, it also was correct yesterday.

 

[upwiththesun]

Interesting, if true. That would put the yield at 13.5% based on current numbers.

Edit:

I was just checking on this and I see Fidelity has added a distribution yield and SEC yield column to their portfolio dividend view. Not sure if that’s new or if I just overlooked it.

Not new. At least I've been seeing it for almost a year now.

 

[COcheesehead]

Not new. At least I've been seeing it for almost a year now.

I rarely look at the dividend view since I track all income with my own spreadsheet.

 

[MRG]

Not new. At least I've been seeing it for almost a year now.

It's new to me. Yesterday it calculated 2000 shares of YYY with a .12 distribution giving $2880 per year. This morning it suddenly was $3120 annually. Nothing changed on my side.

Then this afternoon I bought some JBBB and its annual number is whacked out too. Yesterday before I purchased more it was correct.

 

[COcheesehead]

I was hoping Fidelity would produce an all inclusive income summary, CEFs, funds, individual issues, cash, etc, but they don’t so I made my own. I even account for accrued distributions which gives a more accurate picture of your cashflow.

 

[upwiththesun]

I rarely look at the dividend view since I track all income with my own spreadsheet.

Same. It was just a point of reference for others.

 

[zaharaone]

My income generators (bond OEFs and CEFs, REITs and BDCs) accumulate distributions in cash to support my next year's spending needs. Rest of my equity holdings reinvest distributions for growth. I am a buy and hold investor. I will rebalance, selling high and adding low, when I want to. I know not all knowledgable investors consider bond CEFs to be trading vehicles. Years ago I remember Jeffrey Gundlach say in a webcast he did not advise that. He hadn't bought a CEF in a long time, but he acknowledged he has never sold any that he bought. This works for me. Rather than trying to guess the punches coming, I will just take the punches and wait for recovery, while accumulating what my income generators give me.

This is also what I do. You have to be OK with watching the portfolio rise and fall over time, no matter what SPY is doing.

 

[zaharaone]

It's important to remember that PDI's distribution --- what PDI was paying --- has remained unchanged for years: 22.05 cents per share each month. The YIELD has varied through time because rate structures and expectations have changed through time. ALL fixed income products had lower but nonetheless attractive yields when a Fed funds were ZERO and 10yrs between 1% and 2%. I benefitted for years when PDI's 22c distribution computed out as a 9% yield, and I benefit now at 15-16%. The total return "secret" or obvious strategy is to avoid at least some of the market price declines as Fed policy rates and expectations rise.
Regards, Dick

It's not so easy to do, though. If you sell you are timing the market. You have to know when to get out and then you have to spend week after week wondering when to get in and then you have to be right or at least close. In the meantime you are sitting on cash -- and less cash, because when you got out you had to pay any capital gains that you accrued, and generally this is significant because you are trying to get out at the top. To defray this you have to invest in something else. This leaves you wondering what that should be. So basically you are selling to avoid one risk but if you want to make any money on your capital you must immediately accept another. And of course to make this worthwhile at the present moment you would need to sell an investment like PDI making 15% and generate at least that much from whatever you buy in its place -- not easy. So add all of that up and you get the very different approach of the buy-and-hold investor, which is to adopt an infinite timeframe, stop caring about whether your principal rides up or down, and only focus on avoiding a dividend cut. In the case of PDI I have been invested since 2012. There has never been a dividend cut. The NAV has been as high as 35 or so and now it is at the lower end of a long oscillation. For all we know there will be deflation next year. No one knows the future in investing. Regards, Paul

 

[dickoncapecod]

It's not so easy to do, though. If you sell you are timing the market. You have to know when to get out and then you have to spend week after week wondering when to get in and then you have to be right or at least close. In the meantime you are sitting on cash -- and less cash, because when you got out you had to pay any capital gains that you accrued, and generally this is significant because you are trying to get out at the top. To defray this you have to invest in something else. This leaves you wondering what that should be. So basically you are selling to avoid one risk but if you want to make any money on your capital you must immediately accept another. And of course to make this worthwhile at the present moment you would need to sell an investment like PDI making 15% and generate at least that much from whatever you buy in its place -- not easy. So add all of that up and you get the very different approach of the buy-and-hold investor, which is to adopt an infinite timeframe, stop caring about whether your principal rides up or down, and only focus on avoiding a dividend cut. In the case of PDI I have been invested since 2012. There has never been a dividend cut. The NAV has been as high as 35 or so and now it is at the lower end of a long oscillation. For all we know there will be deflation next year. No one knows the future in investing. Regards, Paul

Hi Paul. Buy and hold doesn't fit me because for years I have required large cash flows, first to fund expensive care for my spouse and now to fund large tax-saving intergenerational gifting. I would not be comfortable doing those things with a randomly fluctuating portfolio principal. Actively managing my portfolio to maintain principal and increase distribution cash flows now facilitates gifting and it's my principal retirement hobby. (And critically, I'm not trying to do this with equities.)
Regards, Dick

 

[PaulR888]

Hi Dick ... Another Paul here. Two other critical distinctions I see for you is 1) what you are doing now in retirement is consistent with what I would expect from you knowing your professional background and 2) you have very high, relative to most of us here, %s invested in CEFs, you watch the markets regularly, and given the circumstances you explained above, but I knew before because I have followed you for years, for you to just stand there and do nothing would be hard to accept. Enjoy your Friday ... Another Paul

P.S. I can't wait for June to learn your current holdings. Any GOF today?

 

[GaltintheGulch]

Hi Dick ... Another Paul here. Two other critical distinctions I see for you is 1) what you are doing now in retirement is consistent with what I would expect from you knowing your professional background and 2) you have very high, relative to most of us here, %s invested in CEFs, you watch the markets regularly, and given the circumstances you explained above, but I knew before because I have followed you for years, for you to just stand there and do nothing would be hard to accept. Enjoy your Friday ... Another Paul

P.S. I can't wait for June to learn your current holdings. Any GOF today?

bought some GOF today when it hit my below market open limit order

 

[COcheesehead]

GOF and YYY divies pending reinvestment as of today.

 

[Old Dog Seeks New Tricks]

There is one thing that is important for my peace of mind. Whether or not it's important in and of itself, of that I'm not sure of.

When I look at the column in my Fidelity account that says: total gain/loss I always want that column to be green.
At this time all 4 CEFs are showing green. So, something must be ok here b/c there is more cash than i've ever had before. Plus, there is more distribution than I've ever had in the past.
So: green---more cash---more monthly distribution (meaning more than I spend)

also, my window for PDI has moved down a bit to 17.00--16.00. From my math it is yielding 18% at this time. Even if the distribution is cut, it will still be yielding probably more than anything around that has a reliable management in charge.

edit: I'm trying to model @Old Dog Seeks New Tricks type of thinking.

omg - i have been off-line for several days / traveling for a funeral / don't get old / i'm troubled that you might have somehow connected my 'thinking' with something that might be construed as positive / in truth i think i have more lucky than smart /

 

[Old Dog Seeks New Tricks]

i'll be off-line again to start June, so here's where i sit in combined portfolios / IRA is largest, than taxable account.
Stocks = 50% - largest holdings are JPM, LLY, BRL/B, GOOG, NVDA, GS -- all long held positions /

CEFs = 27% (PDI, PHK, PFN, WDI, PFL, are the largest holdings -
Note: I haven't the inclination, let alone the metallic testicularity of Dick and others. I started buying PDI last year near $19.60. Sounds and looks horrible for sure but that was near 13.5% and seemed like a miracle no-brainer vs the 4%ish in T-bills/MMAs.
$16.57 my best buy. Avg near $18.25. So, yes, I have a loss. Also, Schwab tells me that my income last year was $137K vs 2026 looks to be $278k. Color me ok.

CASH/MMFs = 21% -- maybe, probably I should move more into CEFs. But -
Oil, all-time highs in equities, Fed tightening maybe, and all the rest = in truth, I have no good idea what makes sense, let alone good sense to me at this moment.
Discuss