# Virtus Dividend, Interest & Premium Strategy Fund Virtus Dividend, Interest & Premium Strategy Fund is an Asset Manager based in Hartford, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Asset Manager - **Headquarters:** Hartford, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Hartford, CT, United States - **Founded:** 2003 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** virtus.com ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Virtus Dividend, Interest & Premium Strategy Fund launched in 2003 as a closed-end fund advised by Virtus Investment Partners, a publicly traded multi-manager asset firm based in Hartford, Connecticut. George R. Aylward leads the parent company, which operates as a holding entity for a collection of boutique investment managers. The fund was deliberately structured as a perpetual, exchange-traded closed-end vehicle to provide a steady managed distribution — an explicit contrast to open-end mutual funds where redemptions can force untimely asset sales. The strategy combines three distinct sleeves engineered to fund distributions from income rather than principal. An equity portfolio holds dividend-paying common stocks, typically large-cap, that generate qualified dividend income. A covered-call options overlay sells index and single-stock calls against these positions, monetizing volatility and increasing current income. The fixed-income component invests in investment-grade bonds, convertible securities, and short-term instruments. This structure results in a distribution that is tax-characterized across ordinary income, qualified dividends, and return of capital, tracked annually by the fund. Public filings show top equity holdings have included names like Apple, Microsoft, and JPMorgan Chase (per the fund's annual report, 2024). Since its inception, the fund has issued common shares trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NFJ. The closed-end structure allows the portfolio managers to remain fully invested without maintaining a cash buffer for redemptions, a technical advantage over open-end peers in the options-income category. Virtus Investment Partners, which went public in 2009 after spinning out of The Phoenix Companies, oversees approximately $170 billion in total client assets across its affiliate managers as of 2023 (per Virtus annual report, 2023), though the Fund's specific net assets are disclosed via regulatory filings. October 2023: The fund's board approved a continuation of the managed distribution plan at a rate of $0.245 per share per quarter (per Virtus press release, October 2023). The structural differentiator is the closed-end wrapper applied to a multi-sleeve options-income strategy. While most option-selling funds operate as open-end ETFs or mutual funds subject to daily liquidity demands, NFJ's permanent capital base lets the credit and derivatives sleeve maintain positions through market dislocations. The distribution is managed, not linked dollar-for-dollar to net investment income, which means the board can maintain a consistent shareholder payout even when quarterly income fluctuates — a governance feature that mimics the predictability of private-market income structures within a listed, daily-liquid vehicle. ## Sectors - Hedge Funds - Secondaries & Special Situations ## People - George R. Aylward — President and Chief Executive Officer, Virtus Investment Partners ## Questions ### Who runs the portfolio management for NFJ? NFJ Investment Group, a specialist value-equity and options-income manager, has sub-advised the fund since inception. NFJ operates as an affiliate of Virtus Investment Partners under the multi-boutique model. Portfolio manager Tom Oliver and his team run the equity selection and covered-call strategy, while the fixed-income allocation is managed by a separate dedicated credit team within the Virtus ecosystem. ### What is the difference between NFJ and an options-income ETF? The primary difference is structure, not strategy. NFJ is a closed-end fund with a fixed pool of shares trading on the NYSE, meaning the managers never need to raise cash to meet redemptions. An ETF must maintain daily liquidity, which can force portfolio adjustments. NFJ's closed-end wrapper also allows it to invest in less-liquid bonds and hold option positions through volatile periods without being forced sellers. The trade-off is that closed-end fund shares can trade at a discount or premium to their net asset value, introducing a second layer of return variation that ETF investors do not face. ### Does NFJ use leverage? Historically, NFJ has maintained a modest leverage profile through a revolving credit facility or preferred share issuance, employed to enhance the income-generating capacity of the fixed-income sleeve. The precise leverage ratio is disclosed in the fund's quarterly Fact Sheet and annual report. Leverage amplifies both distribution yield and NAV volatility, a standard trade-off in closed-end fund architecture. ### What is NFJ's ticker and where does it trade? The fund trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker NFJ. As a closed-end fund, share quantity is fixed, and market price is determined by supply and demand on the exchange, separate from the per-share net asset value published daily. The fund's management company publishes the NAV, market price, and the resulting discount or premium to NAV on virtus.com each business day. ## Related profiles - [GigaCloud Technology](https://altss.com/profile/gigacloud-technology-inc) - [AEVEX Corp.](https://altss.com/profile/aevex-corp) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/virtus-dividend-interest-and-premium-strategy-fund Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology