John Cole Scott: BDC worries are creating headlines, opportunities
Release Date: 02/27/2026
CEF Advisors' Scott breaks down how bad news has impacted BDCs
The NAVigator
John Cole Scott, President of and the Chairman of the , looks at the recent issues in business-development companies, which got hammered in March as the market punished software investments, including lenders who made loans to software firms. While BDCs rebounded in April, they remain significantly down, and Scott discusses how the companies with the biggest troubles have higher yields and bigger discounts, but the top performers are delivering a better return on equity and are the better, safer bet while the industry gets through the current rough patch.
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Calamos' Freund: Concerns are 'distractions,' not market impediments
The NAVigator
Matt Freund, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Investments, says that productivity, GDP growth and earnings are "what matters," and that the headline risks that are driving consumer sentiment are "distractions" from a market backdrop that is solid. He says inflation remains the big risk, but notes that the investor sentiment is creating opportunities, particularly in closed-end funds, and especially in senior loans and high-yield bonds, where discounts have widened this year.
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Enduring investment lessons from the legendary Mark Mobius
The NAVigator
Dr. Mark Mobius, widely considered the father of emerging markets investor and a man who helped put the world into everyone's grasp during his long career running funds at Templeton, passed away in mid-April. John Cole Scott, President of , recounts Mobius' legacy and lasting lessons by digging into interviews conducted by his father, George Cole Scott, Founder of the Closed-End Fund Letter, with Mobius over the decades. Scott, the chairman of the , makes sure to include why Mobius felt that the closed-end fund structure was particularly useful for emerging markets investors following his...
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Liberty Street's Gutierrez on private investment trends in A.I.
The NAVigator
David Gutierrez, Vice President at Liberty Street Advisors and part of the team running the , says that private markets are similar enough to public markets that artificial intelligence is now one of the big sweet spots in both. However, he says the best opportunities involve infrastructure more than AI itself. Gutierrez notes that the Private Shares Fund—an actively managed, continuously offered closed-end interval fund investing in late-stage venture capital and private company opportunities—is focusing heavily on AI infrastructure right now. For instance, he explains how the...
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Veteran manager says that for all the headline risks, this is a 'generic widening'
The NAVigator
Rob Shaker, Portfolio Manager at says that while the headlines may have investors on edge, the fear-based selling that gripped the market around the start of war in Iran created a "generic widening" of discounts for closed-end funds. Shaker, who is a "discount-capture investor," says the current widening and recovery was caused mostly by "the irrational effects of excessive selling pressures overall," which means that the bad news is not creating fundamental problems for industries so much as temporary issues affecting share values. He says we could see more generic widening and narrowing...
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Despite scary headlines, low-A.I.-risk BDCs are worth a new look now
The NAVigator
With the market kicking business-development companies in the teeth, John Cole Scott , President of , digs into his firm's data looking at "artificial-intelligence risk scoring" to find BDCs that have been hurt by headlines without holding tainted portfolios. BDCs relied heavily on software companies, due to the tech sector's blend of strong fundamentals, innovation and ability to resist economic fluctuations, but have suffered as investors fear for the future of software in the face of challenges from artificial-intelligence companies. Scott, who also serves as chairman of the , went looking...
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Nuveen's Weyandt on why current events make listed real assets look good
The NAVigator
Matt Weyandt, a client Portfolio Manager on the listed real assets team at , discusses how buying "location-specific hard assets" in essential industries that deliver to a "Halo theme" — heavy asset, low obsolescence — creates a buffer against a market that is being driven by headlines and geopolitical risks. Weyandt says that real estate, infrastructure, utilities, midstream energy companies, communications and commodities are not immune to the headlines, but they are built to deliver regardless of market conditions, and he discusses Nuveen's wide range of options for accessing those...
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XA’s Flynn on how private credit market is challenging BDCs, interval funds
The NAVigator
Kim Flynn, president at , a firm that specializes in alternative investments, says recent private-credit bad news events have widened discounts and raised concerns over business-development companies and interval funds, but have likely created a buy-the-dip moment in the industry. She discusses how fund sponsors and advisers must do a better job educating investors on how these products get through worrisome times, but says she does not think the headlines or their attendant challenges on direct lenders will discourage yield-hungry private-credit investors in the long run.
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John Cole Scott on how headline risks are impacting closed-end funds
The NAVigator
John Cole Scott, President of , says that closed-end funds are being buffeted in two directions due to current headlines, with war in Iran impacting net asset values and anchored interest rates impacting levered closed-end funds and discounts shifting to reflect both situations. Scott, who also serves as the Chairman of the , says sectors that have benefitted from the chaos have been MPL and energy funds, while business-development companies and CLO equity funds have suffered. Scott also put his firm's "Trifecta analysis" to work, with four funds to consider now: ticker symbols , , and .
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Aberdeen's Gilhooly says oil could quickly reach $175 per barrel
The NAVigator
Robert Gilhooly, Senior Emerging Markets Economist at , says that the continuing war in Iran has put pressure on oil prices, but he expects them to stabilize short-term while the market determines what happens next. If the outlook becomes one where the Straits of Hormuz are closed off to shipments for a longer stretch of time, he says "If things get really bad, ." Gilhooly discusses the investment adage that the first shots of war signal a time to buy, and says that investors likely will see solid opportunities, but that they might want to wait a little longer for more clarity if they didn't...
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.