Kiplinger

The 10 Best Closed-End Funds (CEFs) for 2019

Closed-end funds (CEFs) joined the rest of the market in steeply selling off late last year. The result, however, was an excessive selloff resulting in greater distribution rates and larger discounts to the assets they hold. The question now is: Which CEFs are ripe for the picking in 2019?

"Interesting" is perhaps too nice a word for 2018, but that's still exactly what it was. Corporate America delivered multiyear-best earnings growth for several quarters. Yet we still saw two massive corrections that lifted volatility much closer to its long-term average after several years of relative calm. But what will 2019 hold?

The outlook is mixed. While market analysts broadly see GDP growth slowing in 2019, most of those same analysts also see the broader markets heading higher by year's end. Wages are growing, unemployment remains low and there are plenty of other potential drivers for a rally. But if more of the bearish drivers peek through - GDP growth slows even more than expected, tariff tensions linger, etc. - investors will need protection, including high dividends to offset the lack of price gains.

With that said, here are the best CEFs to buy for 2019. You can , but in short, these are funds that trade on exchange like ETFs, but have some differences; for instance, they can trade at significant discounts or premiums to the assets they hold, and they are actively managed more often than not.

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