The NAVigator

Епизоде

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  XA Investments' Choi on opportunities in the CLO market 18.09.2026 17мин

  Young Choi, Portfolio Manager for the XAI Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust, says there is more value and broad movement in the secondary markets for equity collateralized loan obligations, whereas opportunities in debt CLOs have been more specific and sporadic. Choi, the global head of trading at King Street and a portfolio manager for Rockford Tower, which took over as advisor for the XAI fund, discusses how the CLO market has been changed by the emergence of CLO ETFs, noting that they debuted in 2021 and needed nearly a year to achieve $1 billion in assets, but now are seeing roughly $2 billion in in-flows every month, adding a "significant new and growing buyer" into the marketplace and compressing spreads. Choi also discusses differences in the private credit and CLO markets, noting that any blow-up or problem in the private space could have spillover effects that create buying opportunities in CLOs.
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  If you never capture the discount, is a fund still a bargain? 11.09.2026 16мин

  John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors, answers listener questions today, including one from an investor with two closed-end funds that have been stuck with large discounts seemingly the entire time he has owned them. Scott, who also serves as chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, discusses how discounts change a fund's risk profile, even if they never get narrowed, and how investors should value and perceive those benefits. He also answers questions on achieving balance in a portfolio of closed-end funds, the drawbacks and benefits of using funds that invest in closed-end funds and more.
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  John Cole Scott says BDC 'software problems' aren't surfacing in the data 04.09.2026 17мин

  Business-development companies saw their share prices get hammered early this year as the market worried about an overexposure to parts of the software industry that could be negatively impacted by artificial intelligence. John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors, looked at BDC data before and since those problems and says it appears that fears of A.I. risk were exaggerated since "We're still not seeing software blowing up BDCs." Scott, who also serves as chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, thinks it may take another two quarters of data to confirm that trend, but he says that BDCs have not seen a dramatic rise in non-accruals or "exacerbated losses ... in a material way," with research showing the a lot of the most severe issues were isolated in "the bottom cohort" of BDCs, the outliers with the most exposure that made headlines amid the software downturn early this year.
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  Tortoise's Thummel on why natural gas will help the U.S. win the global A.I. race 28.08.2026 12мин

  Rob Thummel, Senior Portfolio Manager at Tortoise Capital, says that for all of the power needs created by artificial intelligence, producers still need their power costs to be reasonable, and he expects that natural gas will lead the way going forward. Thummel, who runs Tortoise Energy Infrastructure fund, says current conditions for energy infrastructure remain the most favorable he has seen in 30-plus years as a portfolio manager, largely because energy is "the foundation of the A.I. five-layer cake" famously described by Nvidia president Jensen Huang. Thummel says that while investors have been light on energy allocations historically, this would be a bad time to be underweight energy, because positive conditions are setting up tailwinds that could last for years.
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  How rising Treasury rates (and relief) impact closed-end investors 21.08.2026 13мин

  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 serves as chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance; for the time being, however, it, noting that at least for the time being it is more about portfolio tilts and mild changes than an overhaul or a big buying opportunity.
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  John Cole Scott breaks down recent media recommendations on CEFs 14.08.2026 13мин

  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, pointing out the shortcomings of using a rigid criteria or focusing on partial information to make decisions. Scott, who also is the chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, offers suggestions for what he would use in portfolios in place of the media recommendations.
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  How the market's recent rally created 'a good widening' of closed-end discounts 07.08.2026 14мин

  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" with heightened volatility, Shaker says that the indexes have been pulling up faster than closed-end funds can move, creating attractive buying opportunities. While liking that potential for gains, Shaker says that closed-end funds generally "have been pretty laid back," without much fear but also without much optimism, even as the market has resumed its climb higher.
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  Nuveen's Caraher on why senior loans are in a sweet spot now 31.07.2026 16мин

  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 a market where Federal Reserve policy on rate direction is uncertain, noting that it's possible to create strong portfolios yielding about 7 percent, which he called "incredibly attractive ... on both an absolute and relative basis."
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  John Cole Scott on Q2 and the rest of '26 for closed-end funds, BDCs 24.07.2026 15мин

  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 Active Investment Company Alliance, brought forward data from his firm's quarterly outlook presentation this week, noting that it shows that while headline risks have hurt BDC prices, underlying strength should make for a strong rebound later in the year, particularly as the actions of the Federal Reserve become more clear.
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  XA's DiBernardo on why worried investors should consider covered calls now 17.07.2026 14мин

  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 defensive play. DiBernardo, an analyst at Madison Investments, says the proliferation of options strategies should make investors more diligent about exploring strategies, and he discusses single-stock options versus index options and the risk-reward picture with each. DiBernardo notes that covered-call strategies aren't right for people "who believe the market will keep going straight up from here," but he notes that for nervous investors, the options strategy acts like portfolio insurance and the discount on a closed-end fund can help to make up for the upside potential that the strategy trades for that protection.
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  Gold fund manager Merk on ASA's fight with activist investors 10.07.2026 16мин

  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 quadruple its assets in the last decade, says new management has no experience running a gold fund, and is only interested in narrowing the discount and generating fees for itself. He filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and made other efforts to save the fund, but says any form of salvation is unlikely at this point. He also discusses prospects for the gold market, which has cooled significantly this year.
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  Gabelli's Dreyer on why sports and value picks are an antidote to A.I. obsession 02.07.2026 13мин

  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 that finding businesses that are "A.I. resilient" and able to withstand and/or benefit from the development of artificial intelligence is important now, and he noted that sports teams are a big draw in that regard because " You can't have an algorithm or chatbot replicate the New York Knicks … but you and I can go out and buy MSGS, which owns the Knicks." 
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  CEF Data's Scott on the takeaways from Dechert's Private Credit Summit 26.06.2026 13мин

  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 Fitch Ratings did on some large perpetual business development companies to see how they would perform if market conditions changed dramatically, and found that the BDCs did not break under severe conditions. He also discusses how insurance companies putting money into the private credit and BDC industries is changing underwriting standards, adding a measure of safety that he says all private credit investors are likely to benefit from. Plus, he discusses his sense of where the market is in its current cycle, based on what he heard from institutional investors who were in attendance.
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  Landmark Supreme Court decision is a game-changer for investor activism 18.06.2026 16мин

  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 structure. It doesn't stop the activists from pursuing cases, but makes it harder to do so, forcing them into state courts. Critics of activism have long held that professional arbitrageurs used federal courts to pressure closed-end funds into transactions that benefit activists' short term profit agenda at the expense of the long-term returns and investment objectives that the majority of investors pursued when buying into a specific closed-end fund.
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  In a tight-spread, higher-for-longer rate market, discounts matter again 12.06.2026 14мин

  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 discounts that have "flipped relative values" especially given current economic conditions. Using his firm's "trifecta analysis," Scott examines four funds that he sees as the right kind of opportunities now.
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  Bluerock's Baffico says HALO trades will benefit from Private Credit Redemptions 05.06.2026 14мин

  Steve Baffico, Executive Vice President and head of listed products at Bluerock, which runs the Bluerock Private Real Estate fund, expects the real estate market to benefit as money moves from private credit , business-development companies and direct-lending strategies in pursuit of something with "hard assets and low obsolescence." That HALO trade should drive growth moving forward; Baffico discusses what the fund is focused on as it continues its transition from an interval fund to being a closed-end fund. That journey has included four hikes in distributions over the last four months, and Baffico says he explains what the firm is doing to quickly reach its target distribution rate of 8 to 8.5 percent.
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  Kayne's Hamilton: 'Historic' oil drawdowns create energy infrastructure opportunities 29.05.2026 14мин

  Gordon Hamilton, Senior Managing Director for Kayne Anderson, Portfolio Manager for the Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure fund, says that there will be a big call on U.S. energy infrastructure companies to meet global demand for propane, butane, crude oil and natural gas as the world gets through the current energy crisis created by war in Iran. Coupled with an energy "supercycle" driven by artificial-intelligence needs, it is creating a positive long-term demand picture where infrastructure should be able to have persistent performance even if current events or A.I. expectations add concerns to the market.
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  Sit's Doty says rates will rise, peak and shift downward by year's end 22.05.2026 17мин

  Bryce Doty, Senior Portfolio Manager at Sit Investment Associates, says that "the worst is over as far as yields going up," noting that the next shift could be down, but he calls the conditions "tricky" and emphasizes that investors "need to be in the right part of the curve." Doty's case hinges on oil prices;  if oil stays below $110, it's viewed as inflationary, but above that level "we have a problem, and so does the rest of the world." At that point, central banks will have to cut rates to "save economies from disaster." Doty, whose team manages $2.7 billion in closed-end fund-of-funds for separate accounts, likes two-year TIPS, municipal bonds and high-yield corporate bonds. He also discusses the IPO market, closed-end rights offerings and the quality of private credit investments.
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  CEF Advisors' Scott breaks down how bad news has impacted BDCs 15.05.2026 12мин

  John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors and the Chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, looks at the recent issues in business-development companies, which got hammered in March as the market punished software investments, including lenders who made loans to software firms. While BDCs rebounded in April, they remain significantly down, and Scott discusses how the companies with the biggest troubles have higher yields and bigger discounts, but the top performers are delivering a better return on equity and are the better, safer bet while the industry gets through the current rough patch.
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  Calamos' Freund: Concerns are 'distractions,' not market impediments 08.05.2026 16мин

  Matt Freund, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Calamos Investments, says that productivity, GDP growth and earnings are "what matters," and that the headline risks that are driving consumer sentiment are "distractions" from a market backdrop that is solid. He says inflation remains the big risk, but notes that the investor sentiment is creating opportunities, particularly in closed-end funds, and especially in senior loans and high-yield bonds, where discounts have widened this year.