Chris Oberbeck, Chairman of the Board, CEO, and President of Saratoga Investment Corp., sat down with Jane King on October 24, 2024, for a NAVigator interview. Oberbeck shares his view of private credit markets — and the potential impacts of interest rate changes — and talks about Saratoga (SAR), the debt-focused business development company (BDC) that he represents. Oberbeck explains how BDCs can fill lending gaps for small, growing businesses, and how retail investors fit into that equation.

Review the SAR fund profile at CEFData.com

Skadden partners Kevin T. Hardy, Investment Management, and Eben P. Colby, Litigation, join Jane King in a discussion on activism in closed-end funds (CEFs), in which investors move to buy large stakes in CEFs and try to influence how they are run.

Christian Munafo, Chief Investment Officer, Liberty Street Advisors, Inc., and Portfolio Manager of The Private Shares Fund, explores the reasons why many companies are staying private for longer. He says that while public markets are slowly reawakening, mergers and acquisitions remain scant, concluding that “there really aren’t a lot of paths today for these companies to exit as we’ve had in prior cycles.

Sam Garetano, a Senior Vice President in Brookfield’s Infrastructure Group, discusses the Brookfield Infrastructure Income Fund, Inc. (BII), a continuously offered, non-diversified closed-end fund. Garetano describes the investment vehicle as “an evergreen offering that’s intended to be a comprehensive private infrastructure allocation that provides exposure to both private infrastructure debt as well as private infrastructure equity.

Michael A. Reisner, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of CION Investments, talks about his firm’s overall business strategy and approach to alternative investment management. He specifically spotlights CION’s listed, middle-market business development company CION Investment Corporation, which trades under the NYSE ticker symbol “CION” and has about $2 billion in total assets as of March 31, 2024. Reisner provides an overview of business development companies, or BDCs, and how they can generate income for retail investors.

Yoojeong Oh, an Investment Director on the Asian Equities Team at abrdn and Portfolio Manager of abrdn’s India Fund, talks about the investment landscape in India following the reelection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Oh says that while it will likely take time for Modi to put together a new coalition government, his previous government’s financial reforms are already making India a better place to invest...

Todd Dilatush, Head of Distribution at SCG Asset Management (SCGAM), talks about structured products — their beginnings and the current marketplace — and how his firm adds value to the product set as a fiduciary. For instance, SCGAM manages a repurposed, interval fund that actively manages a portfolio of structured notes: The Alternative Strategies Income Fund, a listed closed-end interval fund with the Nasdaq ticker symbols LTAFX (Class A), LTCFX (Class B), and LTIFX (Class I).

Dana Staggs, President of ArrowMark Financial Corp., sits down with Jane King to discuss bank-issued regulatory capital relief securities. Staggs provides a primer and income-investor perspective on these financial instruments, saying their relatively stable asset profiles and general lack of correlation to other asset classes makes them attractive

Josh Duitz, Head of Global Equities at abrdn, discusses his firm’s Global Dynamic Dividend Fund (AGD) and abrdn’s global income and infrastructure strategy more generally. In his interview with Jane King, Duitz says structural changes in the U.S. economy are creating exciting, new opportunities to invest in infrastructure, including energy transition, the increasing use of data in technology, and population growth. He also talks about the potential impacts of the 2024 presidential election on infrastructure investing

John Cole Scott, President and Chief Investment Officer of CEF Advisors, gives an update on the universe of closed-end funds (CEFs), business development companies (BDCs), and interval funds as the second quarter of 2024 gets under way. Scott provides perspective on CEF performance based on his advisory firm’s various equity sector indexes. He also highlights specific funds that are doing well in the current economic environment based on discount, dividend, and manager analyses.