| dc.description.abstract | Closed-end funds (CEF) have long been a crucial intermediary in the Swedish financial
market by providing relatively inexpensive investment opportunities through their portfolio of
public and non-public securities. Interestingly, although CEFs worldwide have been traded at
a value below the cumulative value of their underlying portfolio, i.e., at a net asset value
discount, this valuation discrepancy has begun to converge for Swedish CEFs while their
investments consequently yielded positive returns. There is an incidence of research on why
valuation discrepancies occur, but there is yet no theoretical consensus as to what that is.
Consequently, this study further delves into the cause of NAV-discounts in a Swedish setting,
by emphasizing how multifaceted information on CEFs is interpreted and subsequently
valued by investors in terms of NAV-discounts, or premiums. Specifically, derived from linear
regression analysis, with the use of panel-corrected standard errors, the study indicates that
portfolio concentration, past performance, and dividend yield all have a negative effect on
NAV-discount, while increased ownership concentration contrarily is positively associated
with NAV-discount - in line with expectations and previous research. Oppositely, the expected
negative effect of the proportion of non-public holdings could, conversely, not be detected as
the study contrarily indicated its positive effect on NAV-discount. Thus, although the study
provides some clarity to the otherwise discorded and US-centric research landscape, it further
accentuates its ambiguity. | en_US |
