Ellsworth Growth & Income Fund

Ellsworth Growth & Income Fund

Thomas H. Dinsmore launched the Ellsworth Growth & Income Fund in 1986, building a closed-end vehicle dedicated to convertible securities at a time when the hybrid asset class remained fragmented and underfollowed. The fund maintains its headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey, and has operated primarily as a publicly traded investment company rather than a private family vehicle, distinguishing it from conventional single-family office structures. The firm's investment mandate centers on convertible bonds and convertible preferred stocks, primarily of small and mid-capitalization companies. This focus creates exposure to equity appreciation while retaining the contractual income and seniority features of fixed-income instruments. The portfolio typically emphasizes U.S.-domiciled issuers alongside select Canadian names, with sector tilts historically including technology, healthcare, and industrial convertibles. Confirmed positions have included convertibles issued by firms such as Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance and similar structured credit vehicles, reflecting a preference for income-generating underlying credits. Ellsworth operates alongside its sister fund, Bancroft Fund Ltd., under shared management — a two-fund structure that allows the managers to deploy the same core convertible strategy across slightly differentiated mandates. The firm reports total net assets in periodic filings but does not aggregate private wealth figures, consistent with its identity as a listed closed-end fund rather than a family office. In recent years, the fund has maintained a managed distribution policy, aiming for controlled payouts to shareholders from income and realized gains. Ellsworth's structural differentiator lies in its longevity as a dedicated convertible specialist with a closed-end wrapper — able to hold less-liquid small-cap converts without facing redemption pressure, a design that large daily-liquidity mutual funds cannot replicate. The fund's insider ownership and lean management structure allow it to invest with a truly long-duration mindset, avoiding the asset-gathering imperatives that drive competitors into larger, more liquid issuance.