The NAVigator

Wendy Huang, business development manager for primary markets at the London Stock Exchange Group, discusses the differences between American markets and closed-end funds and those in England and explains why fund sponsors and businesses are finding it particularly lucrative and timely to take their issues overseas now.

Anne Kritzmire, an independent closed-end fund trustee, explains how the role of directors differs in closed-end funds compared to traditional mutual funds, where boards are known for passing everything management's way. She explains the ways in which independent directors in closed-end funds have a more active hand in oversight on key factors like leverage, involvement in alternative and illiquid investments, dividend payout policies and interactions with activist shareholders, and how that involvement is crucial in protecting investors.

Michael Roomberg, manager of the Miller/Howard High Income Equity Fund, says that the end of election uncertainty -- and sustainable fiscal policy that provides a tailwind for domestic consumption -- and the development of vaccines for coronavirus fueled a rally in value stocks at the end of 2020 that should carry through 2020, especially as investors get more excited about stocks and broaden their interest beyond the few names that drove the market a year ago. While value has struggled as an asset class since the turn of the century, Roomberg notes that it outperformed growth stocks for the majority of the 1990s, and he thinks that, pos-pandemic, high-dividend value stocks are set up for that kind of run of outperformance again.

William Costigan, managing director at Guggenheim Partners and senior member of the active fixed-income team, says that with real interest rates low and nominal yields on Treasuries at or below zero, investors must look to creatively expand their bond exposure. He calls for investors to be more creative, more thoughtful and do more homework' -- looking at, for example, alternative credits -- if they are going to be satisfied with returns in the current environment.

Larry Antonatos, portfolio manager overseeing real asset strategies at Brookfield Asset Management, says that infrastructure investments will benefit in 2021 from the political changes in Washington that may spur additional government investments, as well as the end of the pandemic, which should lead to economic expansion. He says that real assets -- and infrastructure in particular -- will benefit from job creation in the short run and long-term GDP growth down the line to pick up performance in the year ahead and beyond.

John Cole Scott of Closed-End Fund Advisors, the founding chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, compares 2020 to unusual years from the past, looks at the best and worst performing investment areas for closed-end funds from this year and looks ahead at the opportunities ahead in 2021.

Cheryl Pate, portfolio manager for Angel Oak Capital, says that banks took steps to shore up their balance sheets and now are sitting on excess reserves, which should boost earnings in the latter half of 2021. Coupled with a positive picture on interest rates, inflation and government oversight, she says valuations are poised to show gains next year, although she notes that she has a slight preference for owning financial debt versus equity in the year ahead.

Andrew Kerai, senior credit strategist and portfolio manager at RiverNorth Capital Management, says that investors looking to improve fixed income returns should consider middle-market corporate credits and other issues in the private credit market, but he notes that investors should be attuned to downside risks, noting that they make more with a manager who does better avoiding defaults than with one who chases higher yield but takes on more risk.

James Clark, client portfolio manager at Nuveen Asset Management, says that real assets and infrastructure investments -- normally consistent, defensive investments -- have seen those appealing characteristics under attack because of the pandemic shutdowns, but he noted that Covid-19 tended to accelerate trends that were in place rather than disrupting those movements. With the development of a vaccine,he expects pricing to firm up as uncertainty starts to melt away -- 'the worst case scenario has been taken off the table for a lot of folks' -- but for those positive trends to continue, particularly in an area like industrial real estate.

Jonathan Browne, director of closed-end fund research at Robinson Capital, says that investors should be looking to closed-end funds to help solve the yield challenges they face today, when low interest rates have challenged the traditional 60-40 portfolio and when bonds have performed in lock-step with the stock market. While the industry keeps developing new and different investment solutions, Browne notes that closed-end funds are a more simple half-step toward alternatives that can be just as effective.