CEF Basics: What happens to CEF discounts when interest rates rise?

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Data from the charts shown is as of 3.31.2015.

Definitions

The price at which a closed-end fund trades often varies from its NAV. Some funds have market prices below their net asset values – referred to as a discount. Conversely, some funds have market prices above their net asset values – referred to as a premium.

Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of the price of a fixed income investment to a change in interest rates. Duration is expressed as a number of years.

Yield is the income return on an investment. This refers to the interest or dividends received from a security and is usually expressed annually as a percentage based on the investment’s cost, its current market value or its face value.

Yield curve is a line that plots the interest rates, at a set point in time, of bonds having equal credit quality, but differing maturity dates. The shape of the yield curve is closely scrutinized because it helps to give an idea of future interest rate change and economic activity. There are three main types of yield curve shapes: normal (steep), inverted (negative), and flat. A normal yield curve is one in which longer maturity bonds have a higher yield compared to shorter-term bonds due to the risks associated with time. An inverted yield curve is one in which the shorter-term yields are higher than the longer-term yields. A flat yield curve is one in which the shorter- and longer-term yields are very close to each other. The slope of the yield curve is also seen as important: the greater the slope, the greater the gap between short- and long-term rates.

Fed Taper Talk: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that the central bank would begin paring back its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program should the economic data continue to improve. This caused an aggressive stock market sell-off and an increase in interest rates.

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Open-end mutual funds are distributed by ALPS Distributors Inc., FINRA Member firm. RiverNorth is not affiliated with ALPS.

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