Closed-end funds: Discounts, premia and performance.

Abstract

Closed-end funds have been an anomaly in finance because the market prices of their shares differ from their aggregate net asset values per share. They often purchase shares of restricted securities at prices which are discounted from the prices of unrestricted securities. However, restricted securities are valued as if they were unrestricted securities in the determination of fund net asset values. In addition, closed-end funds hold securities which are illiquid and difficult to price. Closed-end funds' discounts and premia can be explained by the mispricing of restricted and illiquid securities. Finally, results of time series regressions over a 21 year period show that closed-end fund discounts and premia cannot be explained by the general level of stock prices. This conclusion contradicts the prior research on this topic.