Tag Archives: management

BUI: Thrown Out With The Bathwater?

Summary BUI is a closed end fund seeking total appreciation through capital gains and income, investing in utility and global infrastructure equities. BUI currently yields over 8% as its discount to NAV is near record highs. BUI is an atypical closed end mutual fund that has been discarded with the rest of the CEFS over the last 12 months. The BlackRock Utility & Infrastructure (NYSE: BUI ) closed end fund is an investment that I could of only wish for… on paper. BUI is an investment in one of my favorite asset classes (utilities and infrastructure), utilizing one of my favorite investment strategies (covered call writing), in one of my favorite investment fund structures (closed end fund). Unfortunately, since inception, it has been at best a mediocre investment, in particular over the last 12 months. Is the fund a bad fund? Or has the baby been thrown out with the bathwater? The Basics The BlackRock Utility & Infrastructure fund is a closed end mutual fund seeking income and capital appreciation by investing in equities of companies engaged in the utilities and infrastructure business. It carries a 1.1% expense ratio and invests in a portfolio of utility stocks that can be found in many other utility ETFs and mutual funds. What separates this fund from the competitors is the portfolio managers’ strategy of using/writing call options on the individual stocks in order to generate current income. In theory, this should reduce the overall volatility of the portfolio while providing current income. Currently it is paying a distribution rate of 8.57%. In rising markets, these types of portfolios tend to underperform the market as the upside is capped with the written call options. Let’s see how the portfolio has done. The Numbers Closed End Funds are a unique type of an investment that require extra care and attention. Unlike a traditional open end mutual fund that trades once a day, a closed end mutual fund trades like a stock and can be bought and sold throughout the day. Unlike traditional mutual funds which are priced once a day at the net asset value, closed end mutual funds trade a market prices, that may or may not be indicative of the true net asset value. For these reasons closed end mutual funds are typically more volatile compared to traditional funds, not because of the underlying performance, but rather on the reactions or over reactions in the market price. To understand this, you must also keep in mind that closed end funds, unlike their open ended siblings raise money once, and then they list on a public exchange and trade like a stock. If you as the investor want to invest money in the mutual fund strategy, you are buying someone else’s shares. The fund managers have that finite portfolio to work with and that is it, no new shares are created when you decide to invest your money. What this ends up translating into is most closed end funds trading at discounts below the actual value of the funds. That is why it is important to note the difference between the Market Price and the underlying Net Asset Value (NAV). In times of trouble, the market price may be significantly below the actual NAV, and may be a good opportunity to invest and buy assets on sale. Over the last 12 months, Closed End Funds have been hit quite hard with investors pulling out money. Typically, a closed end fund investor is looking for current income. The recent concerns about the health of the high yield markets as well as the interest rate hikes has caused fear and money flowing out of such investments. Unfortunately most people look at closed end funds as an asset class rather than as an investment vehicle with underlying investments. Has BUI been lumped in with other closed end funds? Let’s take a look. (click to enlarge) (Source: CEF Connect) As you can see, YTD BUI’s market price is down approximately 11%, however the underlying NAV is down only 6.99%. In essence, the investors were willing to accept less for the fund that what it was actually worth. In 2012 and 2013 you have had the same results. 2012 in particular resulted in a situation where the funds market price was down 3.51% for the year, yet the underlying net asset value was up 8.69%. 2014 showed what happens when people are chasing yield and were willing to pay more for the fund than what it earned where the market up was up 24.95%, yet the underlying NAV was up only 16.05%. An astute closed end fund investor looks for these opportunities to buy or to cash in their gains. On an annualized basis we have the following. (click to enlarge) (Source: CEF Connect) Since the fund launched in 2011, the total return including distributions averaged out to 3.43%. The fund has lost value, however it distributed a significant amount of dividends and income from the options. On a net asset value basis, the fund has performed respectably, earning an annualized 7.69%. Included are the performance numbers for the Closed End Fund Utilities category. What you can see is as expected, the fund has underperformed versus the peers, however during bad times, such as over the last year, BUI which uses no leverage and only generated income by writing call options was able to lower the volatility versus the peers as seen in the net asset value. Furthermore, while investors did notice this, you can still make the argument that this fund was hurt by the overall “dirty water” being thrown out as the market price did not hold up as well as the net asset value. The one place where this is evident is in the visualized chart of historical discounts and premiums to net asset value. (click to enlarge) (Source: CEF Connect) As of the time of writing, the fund is trading a discount of 13.24% to underlying net asset value. This has been historically a bigger discount than average, last seen late 2013 during the Fed’s Taper Tantrum. Conclusions and Final Thoughts Going through this analysis, it becomes more and more clear that unfortunately for this fund, it is lumped in with other closed end funds. Unlike other funds that employ leverage and invest in risky assets, BlackRock’s Utility & Infrastructure fund uses no leverage, buys globally listed equities, generates income with covered call options and has reasonable management fees. Unfortunately even though the underlying portfolio is seemingly performing as intended, the majority of investors are willing to overlook that and treat this as any other closed end fund. For a long term income investor looking for utility and infrastructure exposure, this fund at the current prices may be worthy of a look, at the very least put on your watch list.

Enhancing Performance With Low Volatility ETPs

One theme that I will spend more time on in 2016 and beyond is the low volatility anomaly, which has been discussed in considerable detail in the academic world, leading to papers such as the following: In a nutshell, the research supports the claim that low volatility and low beta stocks in the United States and across the globe outperform high volatility and high beta stocks, with low volatility stocks generating substantially higher risk-adjusted returns. Not coincidentally, the groundswell of research pointing to outperformance by low volatility stocks has created a land rush for low volatility ETPs in the first generation of “smart beta” or factor-based investment products in ETP wrappers. Since I believe smart beta or factor-based ETPs is one of the key revolutionary ideas to appear in the investment world in recent memory, I will have a great deal to say about this subject and the many tangential ideas that arise from it going forward. After nine years focusing primarily on the VIX, volatility and related subjects, it is time to charge off in some new directions, starting with some that have a whiff of volatility and ETP innovation. For now, I am going to be content with updating a February 2013 post, with the title The Options and Volatility ETPs Landscape . At that time, I wanted to capture those ETPs that employed a buy-write/covered call approach, employed a put-write strategy, focused on the convertible bond space or targeted low volatility stocks. Well, a lot has changed in the past three years, notably in the low volatility space. This time around, I have some enhancements to the options and volatility ETPs graphic. As is the case with The Current VIX ETP Landscape , I have added yellow stars for those ETPs with an average daily volume of 1,000,000 or higher and pink stars for ETPs with an average daily volume between 100,000 and 1,000,000. Additionally, I have highlighted the new currency-hedged crop of low volatility ETPs by using a red font and have captured the demise of HFIN, a financials buy-write ETF that closed in March 2015 with an X-HFIN designation. (click to enlarge) (source(s): VIX and More) There are a number of other sub-categorizations I will delve into at a future date, but note that whereas FTHI is a buy-write only, FTLB adds an out-of-the-money put. Three other relatively new arrivals, CFO , CDC and CSF , are structured so that they will hold up to 75% of portfolio assets in cash in adverse market conditions. Another intriguing new entrant, SLOW , attempts to avoid sector bias by forcing greater sector diversification than most other low volatility ETPs. So if you found 2015 volatility to be daunting and are looking to dampen volatility in your portfolio in 2016 or tap into the performance benefits of the low volatility anomaly, keep the list above in mind. While comprehensive and including many ETPs with marginal liquidity, this list may not touch upon some of the many new and illiquid products that might be flying under the radar.

Ameren: A Solid Dividend Play With Attractive Long-Term Prospects

Summary Headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri, Ameren Corporation provides utility services throughout the states of Illinois and Missouri. Ameren’s management expects the company to demonstrate a 7%-to-10% compounded annual EPS growth rate between 2013 and 2018 and a 6% compounded annual EPS growth rate between 2014 and 2019. As of Friday’s Close, shares of Ameren were yielding 3.89% ($1.70) and trading at P/E ratio of 17.9. When it comes to finding a solid dividend investment there’s a lot more that goes into it then just settling on an attractive yield and a reasonably attractive P/E ratio. With that said, I wanted to take a closer look at and highlight a number of reasons as to why I’ve chosen to stay long on shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE ) which currently yield 3.89% ($1.70) and offer a P/E ratio of 17.9. Company Overview Headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri, Ameren is a fully rate-regulated electric and gas utility company that is broken down into three operational segments. These segments are its Ameren Missouri segment (which serves 1.2 million electric customers and 127,000 gas customers throughout the state of Missouri), its Ameren Illinois segment (which serves 1.2 million electric and 813,000 gas customer throughout the state of Illinois) and its Electric Transmission segment (which invests in the various types of multi-value and local reliability projects throughout the state of Illinois). It should be noted that the company has a total of 3.3 million total customers (that total can be broken down into 2.4 million electric customers and 900,000 natural gas customers), 10,200 MW of regulated electric generation capability, and approximately 4,600 miles of FERC regulated electric transmission. ( Company Presentation – December 2015 ) A Pretty Solid Strategic Plan One of the most intriguing things to consider when it comes to investing in Ameren is clearly the company’s strategic plan. The plan, which is a multi-tiered approach, can be broken down into three primary strategies. According to the company’s December Investor Meeting Presentation these strategies include : Investing in and operating its utilities in a manner that is consistent with the existing regulatory frameworks that directly affect the company’s operations in both Illinois and Missouri. The enhancement of regulatory frameworks (such as its FERC-regulated electric transmission service, its Illinois Electricity service, its Illinois Natural Gas service, and its Missouri Electricity service) and advocating for responsible energy policies within both the Illinois and Missouri marketplaces. Creating and capitalizing on opportunities for investment for the benefit of both its customers and our shareholders. As long as Ameren can stay the course, I see no reason why this strategic plan will not be beneficial to shareholders moving forward. If historical stock performance is any indication of management’s success over the last five years (shares of AEE have posted a CAGR of 10.88% since December 2010), then there’s a very good chance we could see the same, if not, an even better performance over the next five years. A Strong Long-Term Earnings Outlook When a company notes that it expects to stay on course and deliver a 7%-to-10% compounded annual EPS growth rate between 2013 and 2018 and also deliver a (very conservative) 6% compounded annual EPS growth rate between 2014 and 2019 to its shareholders, I’m quite impressed. That being said, the 6% compounded annual EPS growth rate between 2014 and 2019 is very conservative considering the fact that it plans on achieving such growth without issuing any additional equity for at least the next 48 months. So what are some the drivers that are directly affecting the company’s long-term earnings growth, you ask? As a whole, Ameren will want to continue to reduce its operational and maintenance-related expenses, its parent company’s interest-related charges, and increase its investments in both electric transmission and delivery infrastructure over the next 12-24 months. It should be noted that analysts expect Ameren to earn $2.61/share for 2015 and $2.71/share for 2016. That being said, the latter of the two estimates which is the $2.71/share estimate for 2016 is a bit conservative especially if we were to apply either of the above mentioned compounded annual EPS growth rates to its estimated 2015 full-year earnings of $2.61/share. For example, if we were to apply the 7%-to-10% compounded annual EPS growth rate we’d see an estimated EPS range of $2.79/share-to-$2.87/share and if we were to apply the compounded annual EPS growth rate of 6% we’d see an estimate of $2.77/share. Recent Dividend Behavior On Monday, October 12, Ameren announced a quarterly dividend increase of $0.015/share, which brings its quarterly dividend payout to $0.425/share. It should be noted that the increase will be paid on December 31 for shareholders of record as of December 9. This boost represents a 3.65% increase from its prior dividend of $0.41/share. Based on the company’s dividend history over the last twelve months, I strongly believe we could begin to see a more consistent pattern of annualized dividend increases over the next 3-5 years as long as earnings growth stays consistent with the above mentioned estimates and the company holds true to its course in terms of maintaining the strategic plan that is currently in place. Conclusion For those of you who may be considering a position in Ameren, I strongly recommend keeping a close eye on the company’s compounded annual EPS growth rate as well as its long-term dividend growth rate over the next few years. Both of these particular growth rates will be directly affected by its ability to stay within the means of the strategic plan that is currently in place as well as the continued investment in its FERC-regulated electric transmission service and the utility services that it provides to customers who reside in the states of Illinois and Missouri.