John Cole Scott: BDC worries are creating headlines, opportunities
Release Date: 02/27/2026
John Cole Scott breaks down recent media recommendations on CEFs
The NAVigator
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 , 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 , offers suggestions for what he would use in portfolios in...
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How the market's recent rally created 'a good widening' of closed-end discounts
The NAVigator
Discount-capture investor Rob Shaker, Portfolio Manager at , 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...
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Nuveen's Caraher on why senior loans are in a sweet spot now
The NAVigator
Scott Caraher, Head of Senior Loans at , 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...
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John Cole Scott on Q2 and the rest of '26 for closed-end funds, BDCs
The NAVigator
John Cole Scott, President of , 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 , brought forward data from his firm's 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...
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XA's DiBernardo on why worried investors should consider covered calls now
The NAVigator
Ray DiBernardo, Portfolio Manager for the 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...
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Gold fund manager Merk on ASA's fight with activist investors
The NAVigator
Axel Merk, President and Chief Investment Officer at , discusses activist campaign that got him ousted as portfolio manager and president of , 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 and , but says any form of salvation is unlikely at this point. He also...
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Gabelli's Dreyer on why sports and value picks are an antidote to A.I. obsession
The NAVigator
Kevin Dreyer, Co-Chief Investment Officer for value at , 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 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...
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CEF Data's Scott on the takeaways from Dechert's Private Credit Summit
The NAVigator
John Cole Scott, President of , 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 , 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...
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Landmark Supreme Court decision is a game-changer for investor activism
The NAVigator
Ken Burdon, Partner in the registered fund practice at , discusses the , 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...
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In a tight-spread, higher-for-longer rate market, discounts matter again
The NAVigator
John Cole Scott, President of , 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 , 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.
info_outlineThe stock market has been beating up business-development companies, with the sell-off largely being blamed on the artificial intelligence boom and the high number of loans that BDCs make to software firms. Behind the theory that software companies will struggle to pay debts as artificial intelligence renders their products less useful and attractive, there are real loans, and John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors, digs into the math that is impacting the lenders and BDCs in general. Scott, who also serves as Chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, discusses two BDCs and shows how the headlines could be creating values that make the industry more attractive, not less, for investors who understand and measure the risk.