Invesco CEF Income Composite ETF

PCEF

Market cap $825M

The exchange-traded fund (ETF) vehicle continues to offer an array of options to provide access points into niche corners of the capital markets. One such area is the closed-end fund (CEF) universe.

Last week's top articles on ETF Database and ETF Trends were closely connected to current events such as SpaceX's expected IPO and tech stock performance. The most-read article last week was “SpaceX IPO to Boost Aerospace ETFs?

Broadly speaking, advisors and investors never seem to be talking enough about the advantages of closed-end funds (CEFs). Despite being a market solution that offers a menagerie of distinct benefits to a portfolio — specifically in today's environment — this unique approach still isn't getting the attention it should.

With the changing of the calendar also comes myriad index rebalances for many popular funds and fund categories. The popular income ETF category offers current income to investors, from newbies to those on the cusp of retirement.

Invesco CEF Income Composite ETF holds 110 closed-end funds, offering high yield but average portfolio valuation and high expenses. PCEF has underperformed a custom CEF benchmark and key competitors in total return and risk-adjusted performance. Both share price and distributions have declined over the past decade, raising concerns for long-term income-focused investors.

TMX VettaFi is rapidly establishing itself as a key index partner, leveraging a strategy of product expansion and strategic acquisitions.

PCEF is a passive fund-of-funds ETF, mainly extracting dividends from closed-end funds. While PCEF offers decent long-term returns and yield, it lacks the active management needed to exploit CEF market inefficiencies. CEFS, an actively managed competitor, has significantly outperformed PCEF by leveraging activist strategies and capitalizing on CEF discounts.

Closed-end funds offer high dividends and liquidity, appealing to income investors, but require skillful timing due to NAV volatility. Invesco CEF Income Composite ETF provides diversified CEF exposure, balancing bonds and equity covered calls, with a 10% SEC yield. Saba Closed-End Funds ETF actively manages CEFs trading at a discount to NAV, offering a 9% yield and strong total returns.

On this week's episode of “ETF of the Week,” Chuck Jaffe of “Money Life” discussed the Invesco CEF Income Composite ETF (PCEF) with Roxanna Islam, head of sector and industry research at VettaFi. The pair discussed several topics related to the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF overall.

The Invesco CEF Income Composite ETF (PCEF), which celebrated its 15th anniversary last week is the oldest and largest ETF of closed-end funds. With close to $830 million in assets, it stands out as the only fund with the primary objective of benchmarking taxable closed-end funds. PCEF takes a broad view of the taxable closed-end fund market and invests in taxable investment-grade fixed income CEFs, taxable high yield fixed income CEFs, and equity option CEFs. PCEF gives a larger weight to holdings with wider discounts to net asset value (NAV). Buying CEFs at wider discounts has historically led to higher returns.