Summary: As I expose on this blog, virtually all ASX Closed End Funds (CEFs) should be eliminated; they have no defensible basis to continue existing. CEF boosters claim ASX LICs and LITs have a healthy future and will always exist. CaptiveCapital is the only site warning of their coming implosion, the speed of which depends primarily on how high their Total Expense Ratio is. Almost all ASX equity CEFs only exist because of the selling commissions financial planners and brokers received to put clients into them. These were finally banned in July 2020 and that marked the death knell of the industry as, after expenses, almost all sink into significant underperformance. Unlike before, shiny new ones can't replace the failures, so the whole ASX equity CEF sector is doomed to spiralling discounts.
In this post, I accurately track the elimination of ASX Closed End Funds since July 2020. The ASX's inaccurate list of remaining ones is shrinking. The financial services industry still tries to hide the speed of the decline. The danger for current investors now is that many ASX CEFs (and almost all of the ones with net assets under $150m) have entrenched major holders who've accumulated blocking stakes so they can hang on to the fees. These CEFs are still abject failures, but failure won't be winding up in the near term, it will just be massive discounts.
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| Scrap 'em and stack 'em. ASX CEF failures are memorialised here |
Details:
Jan 2024 Status:
- 35 out of 123 ASX CEFs have delisted since July 2020.
- Only 5 ASX CEFs have launched since July 2020 and apart from WAR (a Wilson Asset Management fund), none raised significant capital. Only 1 - HCF in Oct 2022 - launched since Dec 2021!
Total Shareholder Return (which include the discounts they trade at) for the 5 CEFs that launched since July 2020 (as of 1 Jan 2024):
SB2: Salter Brothers Emerging Companies; Listed 16/06/2021; TSR: -17.1% annualised
WAR: WAM Strategic Value; Listed 28/06/2021; TSR: -4.45% annualised
TVL: Touch Ventures; Listed 28/06/2021; TSR: -53.2% annualised
CDO: Candence Opportunities Fund; Listed 19/11/2021; TSR: -15.6% annualised
HCF: H&G High Conviction; Listed 25/10/2022; TSR: 1.8% annualised. (VAS delivered a 15% CAGR since 25 Oct 2022, so underperformance was still enormous). Also, note buyside liquidity is abysmal for HCF and the TSR would be considerably lower at a clearing price to exit a significant holding.
Remember, the negative TSRs are compound annualised growth rates (CAGR). The cumulative return of negative CAGR returns is much worse!
CEF boosters, like Geoff Wilson and Affluence Funds Management, keep repeating that one of the appeals of ASX CEFs is the quality of fund managers that list. It's a much smaller universe than Open End (mostly unlisted) funds, but apparently the "quality of managers is tremendous"! Well, how is that narrative playing out since July 2020?! Are the above funds that listed as CEFs high quality? If CEFs still have a bright future, where are the quality new ones listing and raising capital on the ASX? It's Jan 2024, over three years have ticked by. We're still waiting!
Of course, that's just what the financial services industry tells retail holders. More revealing is what they do. WAM Leaders (WLE) is one of Wilson Assets Managements few opportunities to raise capital, as it actually has outperformed slightly after fees (though this isn't indicative of significant alpha as its only existed since 2016). But Geoff Wilson knows he can't raise much more within the existing WLE CEF. So he launched a WAM Leaders unlisted fund aiming to raise up to $1 billion. So much for the superiority of the closed end structure!
List of ASX CEFs eliminated since July 2020, soon to be eliminated or uninvestable:
You'll never hear about most of the ASX CEFs eliminated. Obviously, they are all failures, and the vast majority of the financial services industry depends on the myth of active management, so they bury the failures.
Below is the full list out of 123 (118 at July 2020 plus the only 5 that launched since).
CEF boosters claim the LIC/LIT sector is just consolidating but healthy. But the facts are that 76 out of 123 (over 60%!!) have been delisted or will be delisted soon, or are uninvestable for some reason.
- Category 1: Delisted (35). Including PGG, EAI, MHH, MLT, OZG, WIC, PAF, TGG, WLS
- Category 2: Suspended. Bentley Capital - BEL
- Category 3a: Conversion to Open End (In Progress). FOR, MGF, NBI
- Category 3b: Conversion to Open End (Likely). SEC
- PMC, PAI under strategic review
- Category 3c: Takeover (Proposed). QVE
- Category 4: Ignore. (Not investable). ZER, HGV, OEQ, BHD, 8IH, AIQ, ECL
- Category 5: Activist Target (In Progress). HM1, PIA, VG1
- Category 6: Sub-scale. FPC, FPP, FSI, GC1, GFL, HCF, IBC, KAT, LRT, LSX, MEC, NAC, NGE, SB2, TCF, NCC, TEK, TVL, WAA, ECP
- Category 7. Structured to self-liquidate (so will eventually Delist). CD1, CD2, CD3
- Category 8. Founders Investment Vehicle. CIN
Delisted since July 2020:
8EC 8IP Emerging Companies Limited
ABW Aurora Absolute Return Fund
AEG Absolute Equity Performance Fund Limited
AGM Australian Governance & Ethical Fund
AIB Aurora Global Income Trust
ALF Australian Leaders Fund
APL Antipodes Global Investment Company
AUP Aurora Property Buy Write Income Trust
AYF Australian Enhanced Income Fund
AYK Australian Masters Yield Fund No4
AYZ Australian Masters Yield Fund No5
BSN Bisan Limited
CLF Concentrated Leaders Fund
CVF Contrarian Value Fund Limited
EAF Evans & Partners Asia Fund
EAI Ellerston Asian Investments Limited
EFF Evans & Partners Australian Flagship Fund
EGD Evans & Partners Global Disruption Fund
EGF Evans & Partners Global Flagship Fund
EGI Ellerston Gobal Investments Limited
HHY Hastings High Yield Fund
HML Henry Morgan Limited
MA1 Monash Absolute Investment Company Limited
MAX Millinium's Alternatives Fund
MLT Milton Corporation Limited
MVT Mercantile Investment Company Limited
OZG Ozgrowth Limited
PAF PM Capital Asian Opportunities Fund
PGG Partners Group Global Income Fund
SVS Sunvest Corporation Limited
TGG Templeton Global Growth
URB URB Investments Limited
WIC Westoz Investment Company
WLS WCM Global Long Short Limited
Remaining ASX CEFs (LICs and LITs);
8IH 8I Holdings Ltd (not worth covering on this blog)
ACQ Acorn Captial Investment Fund Limited
AFI Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited (AFIC)
AIQ Alternative Investment Trust (not worth covering on this blog)
ALI Argo Global Listed Infrastructure Limited
AMH AMCIL Limited
ARG Argo Investments Limited
AUI Australian United Investment Company Limited
BEL Bentley Capital Limited (suspended; not worth covering on this blog)
BHD Benjamin Hornigold Limited
BKI BKI Investment Company Limited
BTI Bailador Technology Investments limited
CAM Clime Capital Limied
CD1 Cordish Dixon Private Equity Fund I
CD2 Cordish Dixon Private Equity Fund II
CD3 Cordish Dixon Private Equity Fund III
CDM Cadence Capital
CDO Candence Opportunities Fund Limited
CIN Carlton Investments
DJW Djerriwarrh Investments Limited
DUI Diversified United Investment Limited
ECL Excelsior Capital Ltd (not worth covering on this blog)
ECP ECP Emerging Growth Limited
FGG Future Generation Global Investment Company Limited
FGX Future Generation Investment Fund Limited
FOR Forager Australian Shares Fund (delisting 2024)
FPC Fat Prophets Global Contrarian Fund Limited
FPP Fat Prophets Global Property Fund
FSI Flagship Investments Limited
GC1 Glennon Small Companies Limited
GCI Gryphon Capital Income Trust
GFL Global Masters Fund
GVF Global Value Fund Limited
HCF H&G High Conviction Limited
HGV Hygrovest Limited (not worth covering on this blog)
HM1 Hearts and Minds Investments Limited
IBC Ironbark Capital Limited
KAT Katana Capital Limited
KKC KKR Credit Income Fund
LRT Lowell Resources Fund
LSF L1 Long Short Fund
LSX Lion Selection Group Limited
MEC Morphic Ethical Equities Fund Limited
MFF MFF Capital Investments Limited
MGF Magellan Global Fund (delisting 2024)
MIR Mirrabooka Investments Limited
MOT Metrics Income Opportunities Trust
MXT Metrics Master Income Trust
NAC NAOS Ex-50 Opportunities Company Limited
NBI NB Global Corporate Income Trust (delisting May 2024)
NCC NAOS Emerging Opportunities Company Limited
NGE New Guinea Energy Ltd
NSC NAOS Small Cap Opportunities Company Limited
OEQ Orion Equities Limited (not worth covering on this blog)
OPH Ophir High Conviction Fund
PAI Platinum Asia Investments Limited
PCI Perpetual Credit Income Trust
PE1 Pengana Private Equity Trust
PGF PM Capital Global Opportunities Fund Limited
PIA Pengana International Equities Limited
PIC Perpetual Equity Investment Company Limited
PL8 Plato Income Maximiser Limited
PMC Platinum Capital Limited
QRI Qualitas Real Estate Income Fund
QVE QV Equities Limited
RF1 Regal Investment Fund
RG8 Regal Asian Investments Limited
RYD Ryder Capital Limited
SB2 Salter Brothers Emerging Companies Limited
SEC Spheria Emering Companies Limited
SNC Sandon Capital Investments Limited
TCF 360 Capital Enhanced Income Fund
TEK Thorney Technologies Ltd
TGF Tribeca Global Natural Resources Fund
TOP Thorney Opportunities Limited
TVL Touch Ventures Limited
VG1 VGI Partners Global Investments Limited
WAA WAM Active Limited
WAM WAM Capital Limited
WAR WAM Strategic Value
WAX WAM Research Limited
WGB WAM Global Limited
WHF Whitefield Limited
WLE WAM Leaders Limited
WMA WAM Alternative Assets Limited
WMI WAM Microcap Limited
WQG WCM Global Growth Limited
ZER Zeta Resources Limited
*D20 (Duxton Water) is not strictly a LIC but is often covered as one and it files Monthly NTA reports.
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