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PODCAST

The NAVigator

Active Investment Company Alliance

The NAVigator, from the Active Investment Company Alliance (AICA), talks all-weather investing and "excellence beyond indexing" through the use of closed-end funds (CEFs) & business-development companies (BDCs). AICA – a new organization that includes a diverse constituency that runs from investors through fund sponsors – aims to help investors & advisors plot a new and different course to financial success, via the tactical use of securities that mix active management within listed & non-listed

business investing

All Episodes

12:48

John Cole Scott on when CEFs have the edge over ETFs

The NAVigator ·

2025/09/12

John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors, acknowledges how many consumers shy away from closed-end funds, fearing complexity or an investment type they don't fully understand. The chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance would obviously favor closed-end funds, but he sizes up situations where a closed-end fund and an ETF or a fund-of-funds cover the same asset class and why he would choose one over the other or whether he might mix and match for better balance.

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20:00

NAVigator bonus: CEF Advisors' Scott on picking and...

The NAVigator ·

2025/09/09

In this interview from the "Money Life with Chuck Jaffe" podcast, John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors, discusses his "trifecta analysis" of closed-end funds and how he will frequently add or drop funds to take advantage of market conditions and make the most of tax circumstances, capturing incremental gains and minimizing incremental losses to squeeze the client's desired result in their portfolio.

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11:03

Tortoise's Thummel says it's 'the best time i've ever...

The NAVigator ·

2025/09/05

Rob Thummel, Senior Portfolio Manager at Tortoise Capital, says that this is "the best time I have ever seen" in a three-decade career to be investing in energy. Thummel, who manages Tortoise Energy Infrastructure, notes that the U.S. has grown into the largest energy producer and energy exporter in the world, but that it now needs expanded infrastructure to build on that leadership position. Moreover, the energy sector and technology sector have come together with the development of artificial

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14:01

XA's Flynn on how crypto, private equity will impact...

The NAVigator ·

2025/08/29

Kimberly Flynn, President at XA Investments, discusses the recent executive order signed by President Trump that allows a dramatic expansion of alternative assets to be part of 401(k) and other retirement plans. While the headlines have made it seem like crypto bros will blow up their retirement plans with alternatives, Flynn discusses how many firms running life-cycle and target-date funds may decide to make allocations to more alternative asset classes, which could create opportunities for

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11:34

Oppenheimer's Penn: 'Fairly valued' BDCs

The NAVigator ·

2025/08/22

Mitchel Penn, Managing Director of Equity Research for Oppenheimer & Co., says that business-development companies are now "fairly valued" by the market, which means that their biggest potential gains for the remainder of the year will come from simply capturing dividend payouts. In 2026, with the industry likely facing interest rate cuts, BDCs will see their return on equity shrink in line with rate declines, saying that for every 1% cut in rates, BDC payouts would be expected to shrink in step. In

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15:52

Calamos' Freund expects 4 rate cuts in a year,...

The NAVigator ·

2025/08/15

Matt Freund, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Calamos Investments, expects the Federal Reserve to make "a couple of cuts this year, followed by two or three cuts next year," and that those moves will be made while inflation stays at current levels or rise slightly. With those cuts, Freund thinks there will be a steepening yield curve, around 3 percent, creating more opportunities. Freund, whose team manages the Calamos Closed End Fund Income & Arbitrage ETF, says that the yield curve changes would

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14:18

A battle over closed-end activism is now awaiting a...

The NAVigator ·

2025/08/08

Kenneth Burdon, an attorney with Simpson Thacher and Bartlett, discusses the court cases between Saba Capital and four closed-end fund sponsors that has wound its way to the U.S. Supreme Court and that is expected to force a change in the tactics of the industry's most prominent activist investor or in the way management companies protect themselves against aggressive shareholder actions. Saba challenged the four companies' actions in adopting a Maryland law that makes it more difficult for outside

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14:34

CEF Advisors' Scott on the realities and mirages of...

The NAVigator ·

2025/08/01

John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors and Chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, digs into his firm's data to look at how many categories of closed-end funds are delivering double-digit yields now, in some cases doubling the average payouts in the underlying asset class. He talks about judging how real the big payouts are, and which areas of the market are delivering the best combination of yield and discount.

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18:17

Aberdeen's Akus on the struggles facing healthcare,...

The NAVigator ·

2025/07/25

Jason Akus, Head of Healthcare Investing for Aberdeen Investments, says that current conditions for healthcare and biotech investing are making for "one of the most challenging, difficult and dislocated environments I've seen." While trades in technology, artificial intelligence and the Magnificent Seven stocks have driven the stock market back to record-high levels, Akus notes that healthcare has been flat in 2025 with biotech faring only slightly better; moreover, healthcare has been flat for two

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12:42

Veteran manager says volatile market has...

The NAVigator ·

2025/07/18

Rob Shaker, Portfolio Manager of Shaker Financial Services, discusses "discount-capture investing," and how the market's wild moves around tariff announcements this year made the strategy particularly sensitive to the emotional changes of investors. Shaker says the overall trend for 2025 has been a "generic narrowing" of discounts — by roughly 2 percent on equities and 1 percent on fixed income — but there was a rapid, fear-based 'generic widening' when tariff policies were announced in April and

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13:27

John Cole Scott on the assets he expects to thrive...

The NAVigator ·

2025/07/11

John Cole Scott, President of CEF Advisors, discusses how three areas that lagged during a strong first half of 2025 — municipal bonds, senior loans and master limited partnerships — are poised to be leading categories among closed-end funds for the remainder of the year. Scott, the chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, picks out funds that he thinks are poised for a good run in each category, and discusses refining asset allocation plans to deliver more-resilient income.

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15:16

Trinity's Brown: Near-shoring, interest rates and...

The NAVigator ·

2025/07/03

Kyle Brown, chief executive officer at Trinity Capital, sees the private-credit boom continuing, in part fueled by government efforts to generate business gains in the United States. That has created a new wave of capital expenditures — and a 20 percent year-to-date increase in demand for private credit — that is likely to power the private lenders for the foreseeable future. For Trinity, the company has doubled in size in roughly three years, but the current demand gives it room to grow further,

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11:45

Allspring's Schueller says this 'muddle-through...

The NAVigator ·

2025/06/27

Mike Schueller, Co-Manager of the Allspring Income Opportunities fund, says that high-yield bonds are poised to be steady performers through the current wave of headline risks and market uncertainty because the economy is solid enough that there's no reason to expect a spike in defaults. With the potential for recession "having receded into the background," he's expecting a "muddle-through economy," with defaults remaining at current low levels, allowing high-yield to keep delivering "high,

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14:37

Your questions answered with John Cole Scott of...

The NAVigator ·

2025/06/20

John Cole Scott, President of Closed-End Fund Advisors — the Chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance — answers listener questions about whether premiums and returns of capital are as bad for investors as they are often cracked up to be, on whether interval funds are worth the illiquidity risk and if the reasons why individuals buy closed-end funds means they are better used as short-term investment tools. Plus, our host asks a question that came up for him as he watched the AICA chairman

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12:17

Bonus NAVigator: Gladstone's Bob Marcotte at the AICA...

The NAVigator ·

2025/06/19

Bob Marcotte, President at Gladstone Capital Corp., says that government policies which encourage business investment and capital expenditures are creating outstanding conditions for the private credit market. In an interview at the Active Investment Company Alliance BDC Forum in New York City, Marcotte said that Gladstone is "very bullish" on the likely capital-expenditure cycle being spurred by tariff and near-shoring policies, but the veteran money manager also noted that BDCs have never been

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11:32

Bonus NAVigator: Oppenheimer's Penn is watching how...

The NAVigator ·

2025/06/13

Mitchel Penn, Managing Director at Oppenheimer & Co. — interviewed at the Active Investment Company Alliance BDC Forum in New York on Wednesday — says that credit losses for business development companies during the first quarter of 2025 were more than double the level they have been at for the last few years. Penn says some of that increase could be attributed to the market's reaction to government policies, but that it also could be that interest rates have stayed higher for so long now that they

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12:06

How a BDC industry advocate shapes policies in...

The NAVigator ·

2025/06/13

Tonnie Wybensinger, Head of Government Relations for the Small Business Investors Association — interviewed at the AICA BDC Forum in New York on June 11 — discusses the role that lobbyists play in the legislative process and how current efforts to improve the tax treatment of business-development companies, as well as to level the playing field with mutual funds when calculating expense ratios for fund-of-funds. Those efforts — which have been ongoing for years — could soon be coming to a head, with

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15:51

Calamos' Grant on getting equity-like returns without...

The NAVigator ·

2025/06/06

Michael Grant, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Calamos Investments — Co-Manager of the Calamos Long/Short Equity & Dynamic Income Trust — says that current market conditions have made it that bonds are no longer a natural working hedge for equities downturns, and the downside risk in terms of capital return can be greater in the bond market than in stocks. He notes that investors are over-exposed to Magnificent Seven and the biggest of the large-cap stocks — noting that the typical client has about

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16:47

John Cole Scott on whether "the best funds" live up...

The NAVigator ·

2025/05/30

John Cole Scott, president of Closed-End Fund Advisors — the chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance — discusses two mainstream media articles that purported to name "the best closed-end funds" and that were published right around the times when he appeared on The NAVigator and gave out his own investment suggestions; he digs into the data to compare how all of the suggestions turned out and see how one-size-fits-all advice actually suits individual investors. It's a lesson in evaluating

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15:10

Nuveen's Griggs: In turbulent markets, small...

The NAVigator ·

2025/05/23

Brian Griggs, head of portfolio strategy and solutions at Nuveen, says that investors have long had too much dependence on large-cap domestic stocks and an over-reliance on duration in fixed-income allocations, and he says that investors should address those pain points today to address macro-sensitivity caused by today's headlines. Using Nuveen's Nsights anaytical tool — a proprietary system that examines how portfolio changes impact future portfolio performance — Griggs says that investors want to

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