BIF update
I was just checking out BIF & I see that since Christmas Eve 15, its NAV has completely dominated the SPY with a total gain of 35 1/4% while the SPY has only (only!) gained 29.54% incl divs of course. A stunning performance for a no leverage active mgr by any measure. But the strangeness of the action is despite the super hot underlying performance the market seems to have gotten some faith in the durability of its performance in that the mkt discount on the cef has shrunk from 21.54% to now under 15% this week. The crazy thing is that it seems to be keeping its discount under 15%.
The upside of any discount with a mkt beating performance is that the gains are stoked by the low cost way of getting the mkt topping returns. The total return for the name shows up as a spectacular 49.3% return since then because of the combo of mkt beating port return invested @ a discount which then is goosed by a shrinkage of the discount. Sort of a triple play if u will for cefvestors.
One wrinkle on this is it will soon be a yr since the last time BIF bumped up its distribution. With its very strong port returns for the last couple of yrs I might suspect that the BOD for it might ok a slight increase over the modest amount its currently paying. Whether that would call more attention to it is anyone's guess but even @ its currently reduced discount below 15% I'd think its still @ the least a strong hold given everything else that's out there.
I believe that George Spritzer is the S A Cef writer who first publicized it as a good cef so he has to get credit for that call.