Blackrock Health Sciences Trust

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust is a closed-end investment fund. Its investment objective is to provide total return through a combination of current income, current gains and long-term capital appreciation. The company was founded on March 31, 2005 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.

BME trading at a premium isn't new, and it continues to trade at a slight premium now. This fund has never cut its distribution since launching in 2005; only a handful of funds have achieved this.

BME: Steady Distributions From This Healthcare Fund

Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund

Alpine Global Dynamic Dividend Fund

Aberdeen Standard Global Infr Inc Fd

Cornerstone Strategic Value Fund Inc

Cornerstone Total Return Fund Inc

Delaware Investments Dividend and Income Fund

Delaware Enhanced Global Dividend & Income Fund

Eaton Vance Enhanced Equity Income Fund

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Opportunities Fund

First Trust / Aberdeen Emerging Opportunity Fund

Eagle Capital Growth Fund Inc

Gabelli Utility Trust

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund

New American High Income Fund

BlackRock Corporate High Yield Fund

Ivy High Income Opportunities Fund

Nuveen Core Equity Alpha Fund

John Hancock Investors Trust

Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund Inc

Virtus AllianzGI Convertible & Income Fund

Virtus AllianzGI Convertible & Income Fund II

Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc.

Nuveen Missouri Quality Municipal Income Fund

Tortoise MLP Fund

RiverNorth/DoubleLine Strategic Opportunity Fund, Inc.

Oxford Lane Capital

PCM Fund

Pimco California Municipal Income Fund

Pimco Municipal Income Fund II

Pimco California Municipal Income Fund III

RiverNorth Opportunities Fund, Inc.

Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund

Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund

Tortoise Energy Infrastructure

Virtus Total Return Fund

12 out of 23 CEF sectors positive on price and 6 out of 23 sectors positive on NAV last week. Tortoise offer tender results.

Weekly Closed-End Fund Roundup: Tortoise Tender Results, NCZ Resumes Distributions (November 6, 2022)

BlackRock Enhanced Equity Dividend Trust

BlackRock Science & Technology

BlackRock Science and Technology Trust II

John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund

PIMCO Dynamic Income Opportunities Fund

Cohen & Steers Tax-Adv Pref Secs and Inc Fund

Cohen & Steers Reit And Preferred Income Fund Inc

Cohen & Steers Infrastructure Fund Inc

Reaves Utility Income Fund

The volatility had continued since earlier this year when we last looked at my top ten CEFs. With closed-end fund discounts widening, there seem to be more opportunities in the space overall.

My Top 10 Closed-End Fund Holdings: October 2022

Health Sciences Trust is a closed end fund focused on healthcare equities. BME is a CEF that pays a 6% dividend yield which is now inadequate given 1-year Treasuries are yielding 4%.

BME: Overpriced Health-Care CEF, Paltry 6% Yield

BlackRock Enhanced Global Dividend Trust

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund

Ellsworth Growth and Income Fund

I have added to five positions in my portfolio, but I haven't included any new names. There was a mix of funds that were at attractive discounts, but also some that were pushing premiums.

5 Closed-End Fund Buys In The Month Of August 2022

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust II

On the surface, these two funds have similar sounding names but are quite different. BME holds more traditional healthcare names, while BMEZ invests in smaller, private, and biotech positions.

BME And BMEZ: 2 Quite Different Choices

CBRE Global Real Estate Income Fund

Tri-Continental

I so badly want to back up the truck, but.

How We're Trading This Mess: Cash Now, These 3 Big Dividends Later

BME focuses on an underlying portfolio of healthcare stocks with a covered call strategy. The fund has a long history of consistent distributions with no cuts since the fund's inception.

BME: Good Times, Bad Times, A Fund For All Times

Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund

Tortoise Essential Assets Income Term Fund

Investors received a bit of a reprieve in terms of losses as the market headed higher in March. I followed up February's 3 purchases with another 3 purchases for the month of March.

3 Closed-End Funds Bought In March 2022

BME is highly concentrated on large caps, but it is yet to recover from the pandemic.

BME: High Concentration In Large Cap Led To Huge Downfall

BMEZ is a CEF that pays monthly and yields 7.23%. It's trading at a 7.92% discount to NAV.

BMEZ: We Own BME, But Here's Why We're Buying BlackRock Health Sciences Trust II

BME is a closed-end fund managed by BlackRock that utilizes an equity-focused portfolio, supplemented with derivatives, to drive current income and total return. The fund has a current yield of 5.47% and has outperformed the S&P 500 since inception.

BME: High Yield And Strong Growth From Healthcare

BlackRock Innovation & Growth Trust

October saw the broader indexes return to higher levels after September's dip. I wasn't aggressively buying for the month but found a few pockets worth putting capital to work in.

3 Closed-End Funds Bought In October

DNP Select Income Fund Inc

GGM Macro Alignment ETF

Gabelli Global Utility & Income Trust

Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities Fund

Guggenheim Enhanced Equity Income Fund

PIMCO Corporate & Income Strategy Fund

PIMCO Dynamic Income Fund

Pimco Income Opportunity Fund

There were a total of 7 closed-end funds that have never cut their distributions with inceptions before 2008/09's GFC. We will see the loss of one of those names with PKO set to merge with PDI.

Closed-End Funds: Revisiting The Funds That Have Never Cut Distributions And Have An Inception Pre-2008

Virtus AllianzGI Diversified Income & Convertible Fund

Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund

Blackrock Core Bond Trust

BlackRock Utilities Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust

Calamos Dynamic Convertible & Income Fund

Calamos Convertible And High Income Fund

BlackRock Enhanced Capital and Income Fund

Flaherty & Crumrine Dynamic Preferred & Income Fund

DoubleLine Income Solutions Fund

Eaton Vance Enhanced Equity Income Fund II

Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Income Fund

Eaton Vance Tax Advantaged Global Dividend Opportunities Fund

Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund

Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust

Nuveen Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund

Cohen & Steers Select Preferred and Income Fund

A reliable selection criterion for building a portfolio of funds that are likely to produce above-average returns over the long haul is the goal of every CEF investor. For me, the flexible combination of a positive NAV since inception, discount on NAV, and leverage represents a practical rule of thumb for long-term CEF investing.

CEF Focus Investing - My Rule Of Thumb In Action

PIMCO Dynamic Credit and Mortgage Income Fund

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Market volatility has been ramping up throughout the month of September as historically it has been the weakest month. We are at historically narrow discounts/premiums for closed-end funds and that could mean things get even more volatile.

A History Lesson And Where We Are For Closed-End Funds

BME's portfolio is dominated by large-cap healthcare names that are rather boring.

BME: Defensive Healthcare Exposure With A Distribution Yield Of ~5%

BlackRock Health Sciences is a close-ended fund with a healthcare focus. The fund utilizes complex options strategies to optimize its overall returns.

BlackRock Health Sciences: Clever Options Strategies And Asset Allocation

A 5% yield in a hot sector is attractive if the distribution is well supported.

Evaluating CEFs: BME Offers Good Income In A Hot Sector

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Buy-Write Opportunities Fund

Clough Global Opportunities Fund

Clough Global Equity Fund

Clough Global Dividend and Income Fund

Morgan Stanley

Oxford Lane Capital Corp 6.75 % Cum Red Pfd Shs Series -2024-

Oxford Lane Capital Corp 7 1/2 % Term Cum Pfd Shs Series -2023-

Brookfield Real Assets Income Fund

Cohen & Steers Quality Income Realty Fund

We recently touched on rights offerings and tender offers, and today we'll discuss at-the-market offerings.

At-The-Market Offerings Are A Win-Win

Eaton Vance Risk-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund

Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Bond & Opportunity Stategies Fund

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Diversified Equity Income Fund

Tying together our previous coverage of mistakes and misunderstandings related to taxes.

Closed-End Fund Tax Benefits (Or Not) Of Distributions

BME is a healthcare-focused fund that has a long and successful track record. This fund is one of the most consistent dividends payers, never cutting their distribution since inception - and that is with an inception pre-2008.

BME: Healthcare Exposure, Paying A ~5% Yield

Looking at 4 funds that I picked up as we entered the bear market a year ago.

4 Closed-End Fund Bear Market Buys - Revisiting Where They Are Now

First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund

Gabelli Equity Trust

Not all funds were forced to cut distributions during market panics. Today's list is of funds that have been paying the same or more regular distribution for a long time.

Closed-End Funds: These Funds Have Never Cut Distributions And Have An Inception Pre-2008

Annexon, Inc

ASA Gold and Precious Metals Ltd

Genmab - ADR

Kymera Therapeutics

Masimo

Oak Street Health

Seagen

Sigilon Therapeutics

Taysha Gene Therapies

BMEZ delivered solid results throughout 2020, helped by the healthcare sector overall. This fund doesn't just invest in your typical healthcare companies though and tilts towards smaller and private investments.

BMEZ: Healthcare Exposure With A ~4% Yield And Growth Potential

News for Blackrock Health Sciences Trust ETF (BME)