Top Investment Grade Bond Closed End Funds

Investment grade bond closed end funds invest mainly in high quality fixed income. These funds may invest in U.S. bonds and foreign bonds depending on the fund’s objective.

Popular Fixed Income Funds

Closed end funds are traded like stocks and ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). These investment grade bond funds invest in corporate as well as government debts. Some may provide high yield income for investors.

The top performing list is sorted based on its year to date performance in 2014. You can find the fund review, performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, fund’s NAV, management, leverage, fund’s sponsor, premium/discount info, etc.

Top investment grade bond closed end funds are:

1. PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity (PTY) – 14.34%
2. Guggenheim Credit Allocation Fund (GGM) – 12.51%
3. PIMCO Corporate & Income Strategy (PCN) – 12.41%
4. Invesco Bond Fund (VBF)
5. JH Investors Trust (JHI)
6. MS Income Securities (ICB)
7. Cutwater Select Income Fund (CSI)
8. Western Asset IG Defined Opp (IGI)
9. Western Asset Global Corp Defined Opp (GDO)
10. BlackRock Credit Allocation Income (BTZ)
11. Montgomery Street Income Secs (MTS)
12. Duff Phelps Utility & Corporate Bond (DUC)
13. Western Asset Income Fund (PAI)
14. Fort Dearborn Income (FDI)
15. Western Asset Premier Bond (WEA)
16. JH Income Securities (JHS)
17. Putnam Master Intermediate Income (PIM)
18. Transamerica Income Shares (TAI)

PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund

Morningstar has ranked this PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund with 5 stars & bronze rating. It uses its assets to purchase corporate debt obligations and other corporate income producing securities. With assets of $1.4 billion, this investment grade bond closed end fund has expense fee of 0.91%. The fund manager is William H Gross (Bill Gross).

More: Fidelity Series Investment Grade Bond Fund

With a high yield of 8.42%, this top fixed income fund has returned 32.12% over the past 1 year. The past 3 year performance is as follows:

• Year 2014: 14.34% (YTD)
• Year 2013: 7.44%
• Year 2012: 27.89%
• Year 2011: 15.18%

Top 4 sectors in its portfolio are banks, wirelines, automotive, and other financial. The annual portfolio turnover rate is 12%.

Guggenheim Credit Allocation Fund

Guggenheim Credit Allocation Fund has a yield of 9.08%. Its expense fee is 1.60%. This bond fund invests mainly in fixed-income securities, debt securities and loans and investments with economic characteristics similar to fixed-income securities. The fund’s sponsor is Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors LLC.

The fund’s performance for the past 1 year has been good with a return of 6.20%. In 2014, the year to date return is 12.51%. Top 3 sectors are corporate bonds, senior loans, and asset backed securities.

PIMCO Corporate & Income Strategy Fund

PIMCO Corporate & Income Strategy Fund is also managed by Bill Gross. With expense fee of 1.09%, this top investment grade bond closed end fund also has a high yield of 8.11%. The fund objective is to provide high current income with capital growth.

More: Best Closed End Funds

As one of top investment grade bond closed end funds, this fixed income fund has an average coupon of 4.98%. Top 3 bond sectors are banks, wirelines, and insurance life. It has returned 15.69% over the past 3 years, and 20.50% over the past 5 years.

Invesco Bond Fund

This investment grade bond closed end fund has a yield of 4.65%. It uses it assets to buy high quality debt securities. The expense fee is only 0.57%. The current market price is trading at 8.43% discount to its NAV (Net Asset Value). Its share price is $19.11.

The fund’s performance for the past 3 years:

• Year 2014: 11.54% (YTD)
• Year 2013: -11.60%
• Year 2012: 9.77%
• Year 2011: 20.34%

JH Investors Trust

JH Investors Trust invests mainly in corporate and government bonds. Its expense ratio fee is 1.38%. This investment grade bond fund has returned 6.80% over the past 3 years, and 13% over the past 5 years. The current dividend yield is 8.44%.