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The NAVigator: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Active Investment Company Alliance
The NAVigator, from the Active Investment Company Alliance (AICA), talks all-weather investing and "excellence beyond indexing" through the use of closed-end funds (CEFs) & business-development companies (BDCs). AICA – a new organization that includes a diverse constituency that runs from investors through fund sponsors – aims to help investors & advisors plot a new and different course to financial success, via the tactical use of securities that mix active management within listed & non-listed structures. Subscribe now to get regular updates on everything you need to know to succeed with CEFs & BDCs.
Latest Episodes
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- 5 days ago16 min
Powerlaw's Dinsdale on using a CEF to play public venture capital
Mike Dinsdale, Chief Executive Officer at Powerlaw Capital Group — which launched Powerlaw Corp., a late-stage private technology closed-end fund on the Nasdaq in May — says that public venture capital is a new asset class that lets ordinary investors participate in private, pre-IPO markets. As companies like SpaceX and OpenAI reach unprecedented valuations, Dinsdale says the importance of capturing private markets grows. Where most closed-end funds entering the space have used an interval-fund structure — like the two pre-IPO funds featured in last week's episode of The NAVigator — Powerlaw (ticker PWRL) has daily liquidity, giving investors more control. It also has locked in a 6% distribution; Dinsdale explains how that is accomplished, given that venture capital typically doesn't throw off a lot of income.
- 1 weeks ago23 min
Two pre-IPO fund managers on whether new issues can meet the hype
The NAVigator goes to Schwab IMPACT in Boston this week — the world's largest gathering of registered investment advisers — and meets with managers of two new interval funds in an area generating the most hype, interest and attention from investors, pre-IPO shares. Som Priestley is the head of global investment solutions, Americas, for T. Rowe Price and co-manager of the T. Rowe Price Goldman Sachs Private Markets Fund, which launched this summer. Laurence Russian is founding partner at ABS Global Investments and portfolio manager of The Pre-IPO & Growth Fund, which opened in January, and in this first-ever two-interview episode of The NAVigator, they discuss pre-IPO market conditions, looking beyond the big names, whether companies staying private longer is diminishing the quality of the issues that are coming public, the risks to their funds but also the broader markets if the big-name IPOs fall short of expectations and more.
- 2 weeks ago20 min
Bluerock's Baffico on narrowing a big discount amid changed market conditions
Steve Baffico, Executive Vice President and head of listed products at Bluerock, discusses the fund's continuing transition and how making the move from a fund-of-funds to owning hundreds of individual properties is challenged by current market conditions. That has contributed to one of the widest discounts in the closed-end fund industry, currently standing above 40 percent, but Baffico explains the steps the company is taking to narrow that discount, why the firm has not done a share buy-back with the cash it is raising through the fund's transition, but why a buy-back might make sense later in the process. He also discusses trouble in the life-sciences real estate sector and more.
- 3 weeks ago14 min
CEF Advisors' Q3 report: Taxable bond funds at '99th percentile of cheapness'
John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors, discusses a topsy-turvy third quarter for closed-end funds, in which prices fell roughly twice as far as the portfolios underneath them, but income mostly held up. Scott, who also serves as chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, says that resulting widening of discounts was particularly noticeable in taxable bond funds, which reached "the 99th percentile of cheapness," a level seen previously only during times of extreme market stress. Scott also discusses using hybrids like convertibles and preferreds, how convertibles had a tough quarter but saw discounts widen mildly, while preferreds had a more average quarter and saw discounts widen dramatically, highlighting why preferreds are safer during times when interest rate fluctuations are uncertain or rising, whereas convertibles tend to be a better opportunity when rates are clearly falling.
- Oct 9, 202614 min
With traditional markets 'raging,' SEI's Shetty sees opportunity in alternatives
Nathan Shetty, Chief Investment Officer at SEI, discusses the evolving role of alternative investments, which have been de-emphasized by the media and financial planners due to the success of traditional equities. Shetty notes that sticky inflation and unpredictable interest rates are shifting the way alternatives can serve portfolios now, and says the focus should be on complementing equity strategies, mitigating risk and achieving true diversification. Shetty, who oversees the team that manages the SEI Alternative Income fund, says he is "not anti-A.I., but pro-productivity," looking past the A.I. eco-system to the businesses that benefit from the evolving technology. He also foresees some challenges ahead for credit markets, but does not think they will be disruptive to markets in the near term.
- Oct 2, 202619 min
Are closed-end discounts putting Anthropic on sale pre-IPO?
With Anthropic preparing to launch an initial public offering that could value the company at over $2 trillion, John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors, looks at buying pre-IPO stakes in closed-end funds, interval funds and ETFs that invest in private markets, and says that getting exposure to Anthropic and other popular IPOs isn't the hard part, paying for the right wrapper is. Scott, who also serves as chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, evaluates several funds of different structures to show what investors would actually be buying, how much they are paying per dollar of private exposure and why they have to come up with an exit strategy before they get in. He also discusses which fund and structure he would use for clients, and why some investors with different goals might make another choice.
- Sep 25, 202617 min
Aberdeen's Kence on A.I.'s impact in the high-yield market
Matt Kence, Portfolio Manager at Aberdeen Investments, discusses the current state of the high-yield market and how it is responding to rising interest rates, noting that fundamentals remain surprisingly robust, with moderate levels of leverage and strong interest coverage. Kence, who manages the Aberdeen Credit Income Strategies fund (ticker ACP) says that defaults in the high-yield space have been well below long-term averages, but he does note that the selection of individual credits is critical right now, with the market seeing strong new issuance. Kence discusses the impact that artificial intelligence is making on the market — while noting that A.I. investments are a much bigger part of the private-credit market than the high-yield bond space — noting that while A.I.-adjacent industries like power generation feel stable, the spreads there are narrower than with less-proven companies developing A.I. products directly, making the bigger opportunity with the tech companies.
- Sep 18, 202617 min
XA Investments' Choi on opportunities in the CLO market
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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About The NAVigator
The NAVigator, from the Active Investment Company Alliance (AICA), talks all-weather investing and "excellence beyond indexing" through the use of closed-end funds (CEFs) & business-development companies (BDCs). AICA – a new organization that includes a diverse constituency that runs from investors through fund sponsors – aims to help investors & advisors plot a new and different course to financial success, via the tactical use of securities that mix active management within listed & non-listed structures. Subscribe now to get regular updates on everything you need to know to succeed with CEFs & BDCs.
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