Closed-End Fund Weekly Update July 30, 2010

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1 Closed-End Fund Weekly Update July 30, 2010 U.S. Equity Funds On Tuesday, Tortoise Capital Advisors launched the Tortoise MLP NTG. The $1.01 billion IPO was the third largest IPO since 2007 and the second master limited partnership closed-end fund to launch this summer. Last month, ClearBridge Energy MLP CEM raised $1.1 billion from its IPO. You can read more about the offering here. Engex EGX $ % 1.8% $7.7 1 First Trust Specialty Finance FGB $ % 2.6% $ BlackRock EcoSolutions BQR $ % 1.5% $ BlackRock Global Opportunities BOE $ % 1.2% $1, RENN Glb. Entrepreneurs Fund RCG $ % 4.8% $9.6 3 Eagle Capital Growth GRF $ % 0.1% $ ClearBridge Energy MLP CEM $ % -0.9% $1, EV Risk-Mgd Divers Equity Inc ETJ $ % -0.1% $1, EV Tax-Managed Div Equity Inc ETY $ % 0.6% $1, Tortoise Energy Capital TYY $ % -4.5% $ Two of the top five price gainers this week are extremely illiquid, tiny funds. Their performance is irrelevant to the larger universe. Despite the successful launch of Tortoise MLP, two MLP-focused funds, ClearBridge Energy MLP and Tortoise Energy Capital TYY, are among the week's largest price decliners. Is investor interest waning? Gabelli Equity Trust GAB -7.5% -4.2% 1.0% 9.3% Royce Focus Trust FUND -13.5% -11.6% -4.3% 0.0% Royce Micro Cap Trust RMT -17.2% -15.8% -11.8% 0.0% Wells Fargo Adv Util & High In ERH -1.2% 7.3% 13.3% 8.0% Royce Value Trust RVT -16.5% -15.8% -10.9% 0.0% BlackRock Health Sciences BME -1.5% -5.8% -9.1% 6.2% DWS Enhanced Commodity Strtgy GCS -1.8% -4.9% -10.7% 1.6% Nuveen Core Equity Alpha JCE -5.9% -7.9% -12.8% 9.4% Tortoise North American Energy TYN 7.6% 5.0% -6.2% 6.0% Reaves Utility Income UTG 4.8% 4.8% -7.9% 6.9% No funds are statistically undervalued on a three-year view. BlackRock Health Sciences BME and DWS Enhanced Commodity Strategy GCS are the only two Relatively Expensive funds that are statistically overvalued on a three-year view, in our opinion. The discount for DWS Enhanced Commodity Strategy tightened and is now relatively expensive after the fund's board announced plans to merge with the open-end DWS Enhanced Commodity Strategy Fund. GCS shares will cease trading Aug. 13 and the merger will be complete Aug. 23.

2 Morningstar Closed-End Fund Research 2 Global & International Equity Funds Asia Tigers Fund GRR announced the completion of a tender offer of 5% of its outstanding shares. Shares were repurchased at the fund's net asset value minus a steep $ per-share repurchase fee. Riversource LaSalle Int Real E SLS $ % 2.2% $ ING Infrastructure, Ind & Mat IDE $ % 1.5% $ ING Clarion Global Real Estate IGR $ % 2.4% $ Templeton Dragon Fund TDF $ % 3.0% $1, Ibero-America Fund SNF $ % 2.8% $ New Ireland Fund IRL $ % -0.1% $ Alpine Total Dynamic Dividend AOD $ % 0.2% $1, BlackRock Intern'l Grth & Inc BGY $ % 1.7% $1, Swiss Helvetia Fund SWZ $ % 0.5% $ Wells Fargo Adv Glo Div Opp EOD $ % 2.1% $ It was a great week for global & international equity CEFs, with only three funds posting negative NAV total returns, all of which were minimal. Even on a price total return basis, as in the table above, the largest loser (New Ireland Fund IRL) was only off 2.2%. MS Eastern Europe RNE -11.0% -11.4% -8.9% 0.0% Alpine Total Dynamic Dividend AOD -2.6% 24.5% 10.5% 12.4% Taiwan Fund TWN -12.0% -12.8% -9.3% 0.5% Alpine Global Dynamic Dividend AGD 2.9% 33.6% 16.6% 11.3% Thai Capital Fund Inc TF -15.2% -16.8% -10.1% 1.5% Korea Equity Fund KEF -6.8% -10.3% -10.8% 0.1% New Germany Fund GF -8.9% -13.8% -16.4% 1.7% ING Asia Pacific High Dividend IAE 2.4% 1.8% -6.8% 9.9% Gabelli Global MultiMedia GGT -10.8% -11.0% -15.9% 11.3% EV Tax Adv Global Dividend Inc ETG -6.3% -5.8% -11.7% 9.4% All of the and funds remain within the range of being fairly valued. Two Alpine funds find themselves on the list this week. Both funds cut their distributions nearly in half at the end of June, and the market is properly adjusting the funds' valuations, in our opinion. In other words, even at these valuations they are unattractive, in our opinion. Korea Equity KEF finds itself in the sights of activist manager Bulldog Investors, explaining why the fund's discount looks expensive on a three-year basis.

3 Morningstar Closed-End Fund Research 3 Hybrid Funds Three Calamos funds have now been targeted by a law firm, which is seeking information regarding the funds' redemption of their auction-rate preferred shares. The funds targeted are: Calamos Convertible and High Income CHY, Calamos Convertible Opportunities & Income CHI, and Calamos Strategic Total Return CSQ. Nicholas-Applegate Gbl Eq&Conv NGZ $ % 1.3% $ Flah&Crum Preferred Income PFD $ % 0.5% $ Delaware Inv Div & Inc DDF $ % 1.5% $ Zweig Total Return ZTR $ % 0.5% $ Advent Claymore Conv & Income AVK $ % 1.1% $ DNP Select Income DNP $ % 1.1% $2, Tortoise Power & Energy Infra TPZ $ % 0.8% $ EV Tax-Advantaged Bond&Option EXD $ % 0.3% $ MFS Special Value Trust MFV $ % 1.0% $ Clough Global Opportunities GLO $ % 0.2% $ Hybrid funds had a good week. "Largest price declines" is a misnomer, as only two funds had price declines-- and those were minimal. No hybrid fund had a NAV total return decline during the week. Bancroft Fund BCV -13.4% -13.8% -12.6% 3.9% JH Preferred Income II HPF -4.5% -6.3% -3.2% 8.0% JH Preferred Income HPI -4.0% -6.2% -2.6% 7.9% Lazard World Dividend & Income LOR -13.2% -12.5% -11.5% 7.7% Gabelli Convertible & Income GCV -0.2% 1.6% 0.5% 7.5% MFS Special Value Trust MFV 12.6% 6.1% -7.2% 8.7% Flah&Crum Claymore Tot Return FLC 7.4% 1.9% -8.8% 8.6% First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging FEO -5.4% -7.7% -13.6% 6.9% Evergreen Intl Balanced Income EBI -1.5% -13.3% -11.3% 5.0% Advent Claymore Global Convert AGC 1.0% -3.1% -9.7% 9.0% No funds are statistically undervalued on a three-year view. MFS Special Value Trust MFV and Flaherty & Crumrine/Claymore Total Return FLC are the only two Relatively Expensive funds that are statistically overvalued on a three-year view, in our opinion. It's interesting to note that the constituents of both lists did not change from last week.

4 Morningstar Closed-End Fund Research 4 Taxable Fixed-Income Funds A lawsuit has been filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against 11 CEFs managed by BlackRock Advisors. The complaint was filed by the same law firm that previously had issued a demand related to auction-rate preferred securities redemptions. BlackRock's press release concerning the matter can be found here. Two taxable fixed-income funds are included in the complaint: BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust II PSY and BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust IV BTZ. Pioneer Floating Rate Trust PHD $ % 1.1% $ First Trust Strategic High Inc FHI $ % 5.2% $ First Trust Strategic HighInc3 FHO $ % 1.3% $ Helios Total Return Fund HTR $ % 0.0% $ PIMCO Global StocksPLUS & Inc PGP $ % 2.9% $ Sprott Physical Gold Trust PHYS $ % -2.2% $ Invesco VK Bond Fund VBF $ % 0.4% $ Central GoldTrust GTU $ % -2.7% $ Central Fund of Canada CEF $ % -2.2% $3, MassMutual Participation Invs MPV $ % 0.0% $ The three gold-focused funds again found themselves among this week's largest price decliners. BlackRock Credit Alloc III BPP -9.4% -10.0% -5.5% 7.4% First Trust Strategic HighInc3 FHO -10.8% -11.4% -1.5% 7.1% First Trust Strategic High Inc FHI -8.7% -9.0% 0.3% 9.0% Central Fund of Canada CEF 6.9% 8.1% 9.1% 0.1% Global Income Fund GIFD -20.8% -18.7% -19.2% 6.2% Invesco High Yield Investments MSY 2.9% -1.7% -10.9% 8.9% Dreyfus High Yield Strategies DHF 8.8% 3.8% -10.6% 11.9% First Trust/FIDAC Mortgage Inc FMY 0.2% -7.1% -8.4% 9.8% Managed High Yield Plus HYF 10.8% 3.4% -4.9% 9.9% Putnam Premier Income PPT 5.1% 1.9% -7.2% 10.7% No funds are statistically undervalued on a three-year view. All five of the funds are statistically overvalued on a three-year view.

5 Morningstar Closed-End Fund Research 5 National Municipal Funds A lawsuit has been filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against 11 CEFs managed by BlackRock Advisors. The complaint was filed by the same law firm that previously had issued a demand related to auction-rate preferred securities redemptions. BlackRock's press release concerning the matter can be found here. Five national municipal funds are included in the complaint: BlackRock Insured Municipal Income Investment Trust BAF, BlackRock Insured Municipal Income Trust BYM, BlackRock Municipal Bond Investment Trust BIE, BlackRock Municipal Income Trust BFK, and BlackRock Strategic Municipal Trust BSD. Nuveen Ins Tax Free Adv NEA $ % 0.2% $ BlackRock MuniHoldings Ins II MUE $ % 0.1% $ Putnam Managed Muni Income PMM $ % 0.3% $ EV National Muni Opps Trust EOT $ % 0.4% $ Invesco VK Select Sector Muni VKL $ % 0.3% $ BlackRock Long-Term Muni Adv BTA $ % 0.3% $ BlackRock MuniHoldings Fund MHD $ % 0.3% $ Nuveen Select TaxFree Income 2 NXQ $ % -0.1% $ BlackRock MuniYield Quality II MQT $ % 0.2% $ Nuveen Select TaxFree Income 3 NXR $ % 0.1% $ BlackRock Apex Municipal APX -2.4% -2.3% -1.2% 5.8% BlackRock Municipal 2020 BKK 0.9% 2.8% 1.9% 5.0% Invesco Muni Income Opps Trust OIA -1.5% -4.5% -1.4% 6.2% Invesco Ins Muni Securities IMS -3.8% -5.1% -3.9% 4.1% BlackRock MuniAssets Fund MUA 0.7% -0.3% 0.4% 5.8% Putnam Managed Muni Income PMM 2.8% -1.6% -6.9% 6.9% BlackRock MuniHoldings Ins II MUE 5.1% -1.0% -8.8% 6.2% BlackRock MuniYield Insured MYI 3.7% -1.7% -6.3% 6.0% Invesco Quality Muni Invest IQT 2.3% -2.7% -9.0% 6.1% Nuveen Premium Income Muni NPI 2.5% -2.3% -6.5% 6.3% Statistically, none of the national municipal CEFs is undervalued. Statistically, all of the national municipal CEFs remain overvalued on a three-year view. Putnam Managed Municipal Income is sporting a three-year z-statistic above 3, making it by far the most overvalued CEF in the universe on that basis.

6 Morningstar Closed-End Fund Research 6 State Municipal Funds A lawsuit has been filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against 11 CEFs managed by BlackRock Advisors. The complaint was filed by the same law firm that previously had issued a demand related to auction-rate preferred securities redemptions. BlackRock's press release concerning the matter can be found here. Four state municipal funds are included in the complaint: BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust BFZ, BlackRock New Jersey Municipal Income Trust BNJ, BlackRock New York Insured Municipal Income Trust BSE, and BlackRock New York Municipal Bond Trust BQH. Nuveen NC Div Adv Muni Fund NRB $ % 0.1% $ Nuveen OH Div Adv Muni 3 NVJ $ % -0.1% $ Invesco VK MA Value Muni Inc VMV $ % 0.2% $ BlackRock NY Inv Quality Muni RNY $ % 0.3% $ Nuveen Ins CA Premium Income NPC $ % 0.3% $ Nuveen AZ Div Adv Muni NFZ $ % -0.1% $ Nuveen MD Div Adv Muni Fund 2 NZR $ % 0.2% $ MA Health & Education MHE $ % 0.2% $ EV MA Municipal Bond MAB $ % 0.4% $ Nuveen CT Div Adv Muni Fund 2 NGK $ % 0.1% $ BlackRock NJ Municipal Income BNJ 2.4% 4.9% 6.9% 6.3% BlackRock NJ Municipal Bond BLJ 2.0% 3.3% 5.4% 6.2% BlackRock VA Municipal Bond BHV 18.3% 22.2% 20.5% 5.3% BlackRock MD Muni Bond BZM 6.2% 3.8% 7.7% 6.0% Delaware Invest CO Muni Income VCF -3.8% -4.5% -2.2% 4.2% Nuveen NC Div Adv Muni Fund 2 NNO 9.7% 6.7% -3.0% 4.9% BlackRock MuniYield PA Insured MPA -1.6% -7.0% -12.5% 5.7% Nuveen PA Div Adv Muni Fund NXM -1.6% -6.2% -9.9% 5.9% MFS California Insured Muni CCA 9.9% 6.1% -4.2% 6.7% MA Health & Education MHE 5.9% 2.8% -6.0% 6.1% Statistically, none of the state municipal CEFs is significantly undervalued. Statistically, all of the state municipal CEFs are significantly overvalued on a three-year view, in our opinion.

7 Morningstar Closed-End Fund Research 7 * All data in the accompanying tables is as of the market close Thursday, July 29, One-week total price return percentages are calculated from the prior Thursday's market close. In some limited cases, funds do not disclose their daily NAV values, and in such cases their estimated NAV (based on the performance of their most recently published holdings) is used. ** The funds listed in the tables are ranked according to their one-week price total return. *** The funds listed in the tables are ranked using three-year z-scores that are not shown. This statistic measures how many standard deviations a fund's discount/premium is from its three-year average discount/premium. For instance, in these tables, a fund with a z-score of -2 would be two standard deviations below its three-year average discount/premium. Over a long period of time, a fund would be expected, statistically speaking, to have a z-score of -2 or lower only 2.14% of the time. Funds with the lowest z-scores are considered to be relatively cheap, while those with the highest z- scores are considered to be relatively expensive.