Updated:
High Income Securities Fund
Andrew Dakos runs High Income Securities Fund (PCF), a closed-end fund using SPAC trusts and merger arbitrage to generate 6% managed distributions.
High Income Securities Fund
High Income Securities Fund launched in 1987 as a closed-end fund trading on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker PCF. Andrew Dakos became president in 2014 and operates the fund through Bulldog Investors, the activist investment firm where he serves as a principal alongside Phillip Goldstein. The fund's creation predates its current management by decades, but Dakos's tenure has defined its modern identity as a vehicle designed to exploit pricing inefficiencies in niche, event-driven markets. The fund's investment strategy centers on three primary asset classes: closed-end funds trading at discounts, merger-arbitrage spreads, and short-duration high-yield instruments. Since 2020, the most distinctive allocation has been to SPAC trust accounts, which hold U.S. Treasuries and carry a fixed liquidation floor. The fund buys these trusts below their pro-rata cash value, creating a synthetic high-yield position with near-par redemption rights. Past disclosed positions include SPACs sponsored by Pershing Square Tontine Holdings and Gores Group, as well as discounted closed-end funds managed by BlackRock and PIMCO. The approach works nationwide, sourcing deals from secondary-market listings on the NYSE and Nasdaq with no geographic restriction. Total net assets are updated quarterly in SEC filings. As a closed-end fund, the vehicle does not accept new subscriptions; shares are bought and sold on the open market. The fund has historically traded at a wide discount to its own NAV, a structural quirk Dakos addressed in 2024 when the board approved a managed distribution plan paying 6% of NAV annually in monthly installments (per an SEC filing, May 2024). This shift turned the discount into a distribution yield and explicitly linked shareholder returns to the NAV floor, rather than hoping market sentiment would close the gap. The fund also conducts periodic tender offers to repurchase shares at or near NAV when the discount exceeds 10%. Structurally, High Income Securities Fund resembles an activist vehicle wrapped inside a 1940 Act regulated fund. Its manager, Bulldog Investors, is known for shareholder activism targeting closed-end fund discounts. This creates a rare alignment: the fund itself invests in closed-end fund discounts while being managed by activists who litigate the very same structural inefficiencies. Shareholders in PCF effectively own a portfolio of discounted assets managed by a team whose core competency is forcing discount closings — a recursive advantage most income funds cannot replicate.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
1987
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Minneapolis
Corporate office
Minneapolis, MN, United States
Principals
Andrew Dakos
President
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at High Income Securities Fund?
Andrew Dakos serves as president and has been responsible for the fund's investment decisions since 2014. He runs the portfolio through Bulldog Investors, an activist investment firm he co-manages with Phillip Goldstein. Bulldog Investors is the fund's investment adviser, making Dakos the primary decision-maker for all portfolio allocations.
How does the fund generate income from SPACs?
The fund purchases SPAC trust units on the open market at prices below their liquidation value. Each SPAC trust holds U.S. Treasuries and pre-IPO investor cash, typically around $10.00 per share at the trust level. When the fund buys those trusts at $9.70 or $9.80, the spread between the purchase price and the $10.00 redemption floor creates a high-yield-like return with a hard principal backstop, assuming the SPAC eventually liquidates rather than completing a de-SPAC merger.
How does the managed distribution policy work?
In May 2024, the board approved a managed distribution plan that pays out 6% of the fund's rolling net asset value annually, distributed in equal monthly installments (per SEC filing, May 2024). The distribution is not a fixed dividend — it adjusts as NAV changes. If NAV rises, the dollar amount of distributions rises proportionally. The policy is designed to give shareholders a predictable income stream while reducing the fund's persistent discount to NAV.
What is the relationship between High Income Securities Fund and Bulldog Investors?
Bulldog Investors serves as the investment adviser to High Income Securities Fund. Andrew Dakos, the fund's president, is a principal of Bulldog Investors alongside Phillip Goldstein. Bulldog is known for activist campaigns targeting closed-end fund boards to force discount-narrowing actions such as tender offers, open-ending, or liquidations. This relationship means the fund's manager has directly relevant expertise in the same structural issues that affect the closed-end funds the portfolio owns (per public record, Bulldog Investors SEC filings).
Is the fund structured as a single family office or an asset manager?
Neither. High Income Securities Fund is a publicly traded closed-end fund registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, trading on the NYSE under ticker PCF. It is managed by an external investment adviser, Bulldog Investors, and its shares are available to any investor who purchases them on the open market. It operates like a publicly traded mutual fund rather than a family office or private investment partnership.
What happens when the fund trades at a discount to NAV?
The fund's board has historically authorized tender offers to repurchase shares at or near NAV when the discount exceeds 10%, effectively providing a liquidity floor for shareholders. In 2024, the fund supplemented this with its managed distribution policy, which uses the 6% yield to offset some of the discount's cost to shareholders. Bulldog Investors, the fund's adviser, is also an SEC-registered shareholder activist that campaigns to force other closed-end fund boards to address NAV discounts, creating a consistent strategic alignment.
Where does the underlying capital come from?
High Income Securities Fund has no single family backing or wealth origin. Capital comes from public-market shareholders who have purchased shares on the New York Stock Exchange since 1987. As of its most recent SEC filings, the fund is widely held, with no disclosed controlling family or founding dynasty behind its assets.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on family offices?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: