Two CEFs Walk Into a Bar … One Yields 10.9%, One Yields 14%. Which Is Better?

Closed-end funds sometimes give us hard choices … like do we want high dividends or really high dividends? Okay, so maybe I’m being a little flippant here—but not much! A reader got me thinking about this recently, with a question about the differences between the 10.9%-yielding Western Asset High Income Opportunities Fund (HIO) and its sister fund, the 14%-yielding Western Asset High Income Fund II (HIX). Both are managed by the same team, are in the same asset class (high-yield bonds) and have virtually the same name. So surely they’re pretty much the same, right? Not so fast. In reality, choosing the right CEF is part science and part art, and a deep dive into these two to determine which is, in fact, the best buy is a good way to get a handle on the process.… Read more