Menu
Tis the start of the holiday season and along with Thanksgiving, Chanukah and Christmas comes year end Closed-End Fund distributions.
****Your online account value may appear lower than what it really is because of accrued (earned) but unpaid distributions****
Tis the start of the holiday season and along with Thanksgiving, Chanukah and Christmas comes year end Closed-End Fund distributions. Towards the end of each year Closed-End Funds (CEFs) must distribute realized capital gains. These distributions can be quite large and between now and the payment date which may not be until the end of December, will give the impression that online account values are lower than they actually are. If you look at your monthly Charles Schwab statements, they will show accrued interest under these positions.
Why? CEFs pay these distributions to existing shareholders as of a certain date, the ex- dividend date. Shareholders that own the CEF the day prior to the ex-dividend date will receive the year end distribution however investors that purchase the CEF on or after the ex-dividend date do not receive the distribution. The confusion lies in the fact that there may be long-periods of time between the ex-dividend date and the payable date, in some cases close to two months.
Please provide an example? A recent example is the CEF General American Investors (GAM) which went ex-dividend yesterday (Wednesday 11/09/2016). Shareholders as of Tuesday will receive the distribution. It is significant because the distribution is so large, in this case $3.08 per share which represents a distribution of 9.5% based on Tuesday’s closing value of $32.30. The problem is the distribution will not be paid until December 30th of this year, which is over 50 days later. Between Wednesday November 9th and December 30th, this 9.5% distribution will not be accounted for in your total online account value since the price of GAM will be adjusted down by $3.08 per share to account for the distribution. For example, you owned 1,000 shares of GAM, the $3.08 per share distribution would equal $3,080, which is yours but will not be accounted for anywhere online until it is paid on December 30th.
Access your personal financial planning home page. Your homepage allows you to organize, store, and monitor all your personal financial information, including access to all of your accounts, credit cards, mortgages, insurance, and investments from a wide range of sources.
Access your account information, Blue Bell quarterly reports and commentary as well as Schwab statements and tax documents.
As a client of Blue Bell Private Wealth Management, LLC (“Company”), by selecting the “I Agree” button, I elect to participate in the password-protected access portion of Company Internet web site. I understand that my participation will allow me to review certain investment-related information published by Company and unaffiliated third parties. This password-protected access is made available to clients of Company free of charge. This authorization shall continue until canceled in writing.
I understand that the password-protected section is a secure web site intended only to allow a client access to information relative to his/her/its specific account. I also understand that I will be assigned an individual password. I agree not to share my password with any other person. I hereby release and hold Company harmless from any adverse consequences relative to any failure by me to keep the identity of my password secure.
