Does portfolio x-ray work for close-end funds? None of mine show up there.

gnorton173

:)

NotACPA

Name such fund, so that we can test it out.

gnorton173

ADX, JPS, UTG are a few that I hold.

Jim_Harman

I just tried ADX and it looks like it does not work with the X-Ray.

gnorton173

Thank you for checking Jim. They are a small niche of the investment world and don't receive much coverage but I was hopeful.

Rocket J Squirrel

You get what Morningstar chooses to provide to Quicken.

Jim_Harman

It is interesting that Morningstar will produce an X-Ray for ADX on their website (subscription required)

It is hard to tell if the lack of support for these funds for the X-Ray in Quicken is an oversight or by design.

@gnorton173 if this capability is important to you, you might post on the Windows product ideas section of this forum with a title like "Add support for closed end funds to Portfolio X-Ray". Be sure to list the funds that are not currently working.

gnorton173

Thanks for the insight Jim. I don't have a M* subscription so I was unaware. Since we are almost exclusively in CEFs I would really like to have the X-Ray capability and will follow your suggestion to post on product ideas page.

Rocket J Squirrel

gnorton173 said:

Since we are almost exclusively in CEFs

Now that you've posted the idea, @gnorton173 , can we chat about investing? I'm curious why you prefer CEFs over open-ended funds.

NotACPA

Rocket J Squirrel said:

gnorton173 said:

Since we are almost exclusively in CEFs

Now that you've posted the idea, @gnorton173 , can we chat about investing? I'm curious why you prefer CEFs over open-ended funds.

My guess would be because CEFs trade all day, like stocks, rather than being priced at End of Day only.

Rocket J Squirrel

NotACPA said:

My guess would be because CEFs trade all day, like stocks, rather than being priced at End of Day only.

So do open-ended ETFs.

Jim_Harman

ETFs trade all day too.

CEFs are different from open end mutual funds or ETFs because they hold a fixed amount of the underlying securities ("closed end") and often sell at a significant premium or discount to their net asset value. For example the Adams Diversified Equity ADX is currently selling at about a 13% discount. If demand picks up for some reason, the share price would increase independent of the value of the underlying assets.

Some CEFs use leverage as well.

See this Bogleheads article for more info
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Closed-end_funds

gnorton173

There are several reasons I use CEFs, chief among them is the yield they provide. 7% to 9% is not uncommon and many pay monthly.

While many are leveraged (up to 50% by regulation) and potentially volatile I find with a mix of stock, bond and preferred funds and a few REIT stocks my portfolio is less volatile than the SP500 and over the past year has returned more than the SP500.

Reason #2 would be the opportunity to buy shares at a discount to NAV.

Then reason #3 would be that CEFs are typically small market cap and unattractive to the big boys so market inefficiencies can persist long enough for an amateur to take advantage.

For those interested I have been following (kinda) the advice of Brett Owens who does a monthly newsletter called Contrarian Income Report (contrarianoutlook'dot'com) the goal of which is to build a portfolio that generates enough distribution income that it is unnecessary to sell shares to provide retirement income.

Rocket J Squirrel

Thanks for the reply, @gnorton173 . That is food for thought for me. As a retiree, I’ve been using a bond & CD ladder for current income without selling stock-based funds.