Top 10 Income Portfolio Update

[@armchairincomechannel]

➡ My #1 Research Tool: Seeking Alpha ($30 Coupon +Free Trial): armchairincome.link/SeekingAlpha

[@laughuntilyoucryordie]

Surprised to see you sold RQI with more rate cutes in the future this one should increase much more than where it’s currently at.

[@ivan11h]

I am buying. thank you

[@andrewsage7164]

How long do you hold on to stocks before deciding to sell?

[@jimsteinberg9291]

Just the usual beacon of sanity in a sea of often poorly produced KZbin confusion. Clear, concise, well illustrated, actionable insights. Thx!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks Jim! I always appreciate your kind words :)

[@johnmaria205]

Definitely my favorite KZbin channel. Always concise, always informative and always appreciated!! Thanks so much Armchair

[@armchairincomechannel]

Glad you enjoy it! I consider it an honor to be held in such high regard :)

[@DP52001]

Truly one of the highlights of my weekend/week/month (maybe year) :) Thank you for all you do!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Wow, thank you!

[@OmaticFever]

I really appreciate your openness to sharing your journey with all of us in KZbin-land. I am within a few years of wanting to quit work and live off my dividends. Sharing your experience, is helping me to map out my future. Cheers.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for your feedback. Keep at it because the freedom is priceless!

[@OmaticFever]

@@armchairincomechannel Thanks! I want to use the next few years to learn about high yield ETFs, REITs, and CEF's. Then transition my investments dividend oriented investments. How did you know when you had enough? I guess figure out what your expenses are, then try to match those with income... lol.

[@peoriaos6627]

Thanks for putting this out there. I think it means more to your viewers than you know. I love seeing these reviews of your top investments and learn a little more from your research and knowledge each time. Keep up the great work!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks! Sometimes I learn something and its seems like a waste not to share it with people who also enjoy income investing. A lot of people in the Community do the same for me/us :)

[@kensanford8181]

Thank you for this channel. I appreciate you sharing your insights on income investing in retirement. I am switching my portfolio over to an income base from a dividend growth focus. Your channel has been a great resource for me. Thanks again.

[@armchairincomechannel]

You are so welcome! Glad its helpful.

[@jmcole56]

I think it is really important and commendable that you include the information at the end of your videos about time frame of the videos as well as your updates. Letting future watchers know that the information may be different far ahead of time is extremely an honest approach to your business since they may be seen for years. Personally stayed in SVOL but got a lot of value out of the email.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks. It's impossible to publish video updates in real time (at least with the format I use) so I created Armchair Insider.

[@Ry_The_Investor_Guy]

I just discovered your channel today. I think you do an excellent job explaining the nuance of each fund and I am learning a lot from you. Thank you.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks and welcome!

[@Rob-on-the-go]

I always look forward to your updates. They are well researched and extremely informative. You are doing a great service and helping a lot of investors to live a better life. We can't thank you enough!

[@armchairincomechannel]

My pleasure! I appreciate your encouragement and feedback :)

[@donaldlyons17]

He has so much variety I don't doubt it will work out for him!!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for watching :)

[@enricomonesi5856]

Another informative video.......thanks for your time and effort 👌

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for watching! As always :)

[@blakechesbro3602]

Thank you for your videos, I truly appreciate them. I love SVOL and only buy it during flash crash or the week before the election. Im always 2 or 3% up on the share price. I purchase during these rare opportunities only.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for sharing your strategy. Glad to know you like the videos :)

[@MrRo004]

Thank you again for your well informed videos. It’s becoming one of my favs. I wish you and your channel much success!

[@armchairincomechannel]

You are so welcome! Thanks for your encouragement :)

[@michaelmoore4840]

Always enjoy getting your updates and interviews. I don't reply on here very often but I wanted to say thank you for everything you do and how you share your portfolio. I wanted to also say that because of you and Passive Income investing, Wealth adventures and Dividend Bull I have been able to build a great portfolio and enjoy my retirement. I recently retired a couple of months ago and it's been amazing following you for over a year now. Thank you again

[@armchairincomechannel]

I appreciate that! Thanks for sharing your story. I had a similar experience because of articles I read by Steven Bavaria many years ago...opened my eyes to the possibilities of income investing. Welcome to the Community :)

[@JGerman68]

Questions regarding tax efficiency: Does Australia tax your dividend income like the US would even living abroad? Would it be better to invest in growth and use margin for income, then pay off the margin by selling shares when the growth is over a year old (long term capital gains)? Wouldn't that be more tax efficient than dividends?

[@armchairincomechannel]

Australia doesn't tax its citizens if they reside outside Australia and generate their income outside Australia. I don't use any form of leverage, nor do I invest in growth. Some of the funds I hold use leverage and that's enough risk for me. I don't want to add more. As for growth, using it to pay bills requires either 1/ The ability to time the market or 2/ Being OK with selling stocks/funds at a loss when the market is down. I don't like trying to do either of those things. Having said that, perhaps your strategy offers tax benefits, but its outside my expertise to evaluate the risk vs benefit.

[@JGerman68]

@@armchairincomechannel Thank you so much for answering.

[@kxkayser]

Love your channel and it has given me great ideas. I was wondering if you have ever looked at CRF and CLM. These are high yielding CEF's with a particularly attractive DRIP program. Thanks for the great videos.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Great to hear it has been helpful, thanks for letting me know. I've look at CRF and CLM. The total returns are good but I prefer NAV that trends flat or up, or at least can be tied to interest rates. The NAV for those trends down so you have to reinvest a portion of the distributions just to avoid going to zero. That can work if you have the self discipline not to spend all the income.

[@kxkayser]

@@armchairincomechannel Hi again. Thanks for the quick response. You raise a very good point about the NAV/Price erosion of CRF and CLM and that this can be partially mitigated by reinvesting part of the dividend since they DRIP at the NAV and trade at a very high premium. This led me to look at your top 10 holdings and see how they compared. Most had positive 1 year price appreciation however STWD and SVOL had significant price decreases over the 1 year and longer terms. A little further down the list, IWMI was also negative. Will you be reassessing their place in you top holdings? I was thinking that a video on NAV/Price erosion from your perspective and experience would be very valuable to new income traders such as myself. Thanks again.

[@nokialover31]

Can you please make a video on a high dividend portfolio but just with MONTHLY dividend stocks? I like just monthly payers, thanks buddy!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've heard a few people express a preference for monthly payers. Will keep it in mind!

[@TheTangoAlfa1]

Need to subtract the expense ratios.

[@armchairincomechannel]

All published yields are net of expenses. The expenses have already been subtracted.

[@ToddPatty-yg7hd]

Thanks for the video! A video idea would be how you manage your portfolio in your retirement. How much do you have to reinvest in your funds to prevent NAV depletion and risk to principle? How do you manage this? Keep up the great work!

[@peoriaos6627]

Great question! Personally I spend 2/3 and reinvest 1/3 . I also might change this based on the increase in dividends over the past year. I want to at least match the rate of inflation. If the market has a decrease, I will reinvest more in hopes to gain higher yields. Gaining higher yields is often in my head as even a 1% gain, can mean a lot. I would love to hear more strategy on this from armchair income as well.

[@armchairincomechannel]

It's not a precise science but in round numbers i withdraw 8% and reinvest 3% for a total of 11% yield. I don't think there's a perfect ratio, but the more you reinvest, the greater the cashflow :) Currently yields are higher than average, so reinvesting 3% isn't difficult.

[@jimm4260]

This time of year I look back in stocks… try not to be too reactionary during the year. Figuring you know SVOL pretty well, it’s 1 year performance vs the S&P surprised me, though if you include the 16% dividend it’s not as dramatic. S&P up 24%, SVOL negative almost 8% (before dividend). Prior to 2024 it tracked pretty well… thoughts?

[@armchairincomechannel]

Yes, I've been having similar thoughts. I see 2 factors. 1/ The Fed cut rates so the income has dropped slightly from the credit part of the portfolio. 2/ Volatility increased to above average after July 2024. If the Fed keeps raising rates and the VIX remains above average, I'll look to sell SVOL.

[@tomfoolery8468]

I appreciate the transparency and insight 👍. How about a look at the worst performance in your portfolio in 2024 ? And how, because of your diversity, it didn’t wreck you?

[@armchairincomechannel]

That's an interesting idea. It would be RC (a small holding) and TLTW (which I sold a while back). Mostly though, the market has been kind to us and we're all much luckier than smart.

[@jayman4795]

Great update, thanks!

[@armchairincomechannel]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching!

[@txbgould]

Thanks for the review of your portfolio. I appreciate the update and your thoughts behind each choice. Keep up the great work.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Much appreciated!

[@Nemo-yn1sp]

Always happy to watch your updates, get ideas, and compare. I have my own mini-ETF of BDCs, 5 of which are in the top 7 of PBDC and have been directing most cash into certain pf them (esp GBDC, currently 10.3+% not including special divs. Also did started building positions in PFFA and EIC. Will need to look more closely at QQQI, perhaps have it match my smallish position in JEPQ. Thanks for all the effort you put into this.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for sharing! We have quite a few investments in common.

[@Nemo-yn1sp]

@@armchairincomechannel We do. It's reassuring. I don't have the deep understanding of how all this works but always learning.

[@davidwysocki1004]

Thank you for your update on your top 10 income producers! Good stuff!

[@armchairincomechannel]

You're most welcome!

[@Krautlander]

An other sunday highlight. Tanks.

[@armchairincomechannel]

You're most welcome!

[@ReasonableHuman1]

I recently discovered this Chanel and it’s very useful

[@armchairincomechannel]

Welcome to the club :) Great to hear that the information is useful. Thanks for the feedback.

[@aptigon398]

Long awaited. Thank you!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@Ronnieleec]

Thank you. I always look forward to hearing from you.

[@armchairincomechannel]

I appreciate that!

[@citizenoftheyearCC]

Good hack to know about the Momentum, that will save time for the future.

[@armchairincomechannel]

It's a confusing label, but it works!

[@Ciborium]

Comparing against S&P 500 is valid. If the equity can't beat a dumb index, then why pay the sky-high management fee?

[@torchy187]

Rookie. A solid portfolio is diversified with several strategies.

[@AmeriGlobal]

S & P 500 has gone sky high in valuations. PE ratios are insane.

[@FI-Beauce]

For the income

[@armchairincomechannel]

The S&P 500 is a great yardstick because we're all familiar with it. However, credit funds should be benchmarked against a relevant credit index. My goal isn't to beat the S&P 500, its to create consistent income. I might buy a credit fund because it offers lower volatility or low correlation to the S&P 500. As for management fees, I'll pick the lowest fee that offers a comparable exposure and performance. Sometimes that means paying a relatively high fee because its a time consuming task...eg. underwriting loans.

[@Mary-zi7yw]

Hey..love your videos and I am subscribed to receive your portfolio..Much appreciate that...and!..thanks so much for the tip on using the "momentum" button!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Welcome aboard! Thanks for your kind feedback :)

[@Michael-kb4mn]

Thank you for the update, just renewed Seeking Alpha with your link.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for watching. If Seeking Alpha is slow to load, it's because we're both on there...a lot!

[@jboy1757]

I having a difficult time finding CSWC management fee; any idea?

[@armchairincomechannel]

1.7%. It can be downloaded from their website. It's on page 20 of this Investor Presentation:read.capitalsouthwest.com/Q2-2025-CSWC-Company-Overview_v2.pdf

[@todd4468]

How easy is it to sell closed end funds? Im new to this and read they are less liquid than stocks, etf’s, and mutual funds. Does that mean there is a chance i wouldn’t be able to sell at some point?

[@armchairincomechannel]

They're as easy to buy and sell as stocks. To be sure, you could check 1/ The trading volume and 2/ the gap between the bid and ask price to make sure its in a similar range to regular, popular ETF's. If the gap is much wider, then when you sell the difference would eat into your capital gain. I can only speak for the CEF's I've traded over the last decade or so, I've had no issues with liquidity.

[@MickeyJessieCupid]

Great video. Informative and helpful.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Glad you liked it

[@zerothenumber0]

Thank you very much for the insightful review of those assets! Your breakdowns make it so much easier to understand and choose the best options. Keep up the great work! 👍👍👍

[@armchairincomechannel]

You're very welcome! Thanks for your feedback. Great to know that it's helpful.

[@mountainman9685]

Thanks for the update!

[@armchairincomechannel]

No worries!

[@fialee8ca132]

That's crazy the rates which companies pay for money. If the BDC ETF operating expenses are ~13%, you add the dividends of 9%-11% (assume ~10%avg), that means they are charging ~23% interest rate. Wow!

[@armchairincomechannel]

That's not how it works. It's explained in the video and in further detail in the pdf linked in the description.

[@fialee8ca132]

@armchairincomechannel No, I looked into this, and my assessment is correct. Each underlying BDC is a business, and has operating expenses to run their business. Then the BDC ETF pulls them all together, and charges 0.5% or so to do that, and costs to create and maintain the ETF. For example, a BDC has to hire analysts, lawyers, auditors, managers to evaluate each investment (just like any investmentbank), and that's part of that 13%. So for a BDC to make money, they have to cover their expenses, and pay out the profits as dividends (otherwise its ROC). One thing that juices the dividend is taxes... the BDC doesn't pay fed taxes, but people who collect the dividends do. So it's more efficient in that way, no double taxation.

[@bethhynes787]

Is there a reason you don’t hold either (or both) of MO/BTI which seem to deliver consistent total returns….

[@armchairincomechannel]

Tobacco has an incredible history of paying consistent and growing dividends. More recently the growth has come from raising prices, which isn't sustainable forever. At some point you have to expand the customer base and the long term outlook for tobacco isn't great. I'm not convinced they have a great plan for transitioning into vapor or other products that will deliver similar results to tobacco. I generally prefer funds to individual companies to spread risk so an individual company investment would require less risk than these present.

[@waltlowry4297]

Thanks for sharing, greatly appreciate you 😊

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for watching!

[@wernerschonenberger3038]

Hi! Great video ... a pleasure to watch! You mentioned that FSCO and WDI would profit from further rate cuts! The question of where rates might go is a very tricky one at the moment: On one side the FED said it'll cut rates in the near future on the other side rates for long term treasurieshave risen and Trump"'s plans of onshoring, deportation of illegal immigrants and puting tariffs on imports paints a picture of higher inflation and interest rates in the future. What's your take on this topic and could you probably do a video on this topic and which asset classes (infrastructure and REITs usually profit from rate cuts as an example) profit/loose from higher/lower rates. Thanks

[@armchairincomechannel]

That's a great question and thanks for the suggestion. Earlier this year rate cuts seemed inevitable and I leaned slightly toward funds that would benefit from them. Now I think its a coin toss for the reasons you outlined. I'll give your idea some serious thought.

[@wernerschonenberger3038]

@armchairincomechannel Thanks

[@bills1779]

Great video ❤

[@armchairincomechannel]

Glad you liked it!!

[@davidlabate3460]

Thanks for the lessons and info.

[@armchairincomechannel]

You're welcome. Thanks for watching and taking the time to type a comment.

[@SV888A]

Thank you!

[@ezcarlos1]

Very useful video, thanks for the valuable information that you provide in a easy to understand way.. Was wondering what is your approach to fees in general. I hear what you are saying about some fees being misleading (because they include interest charge on leveraged funds) but some funds with decent returns still have a relatively high fee. WDI is a good example, great returns but according to their website it has a management fee of 1.73% as of 12/23 (dated I know but its the latest they have), and that is BEFORE an interest expense of 2.98% If you can could provide some guidance on how you think about it in general that would be extremely helpful...Thanks again !!!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for your feedback. Fees are an interesting subject, and for some an emotional subject. I'm curious about the variations too. Sometimes they make sense because the active management is complicated and time intensive. For example, some funds originate their own loans. Another factor is the size of the fund. If JP Morgan charges 0.30% on $30billion and a small CEF charges 1% on a $200m fund, the revenue is dramatically higher for JP Morgan...the small CEF is perceived as "greedy" despite making almost no money. I'll ask some fund managers to explain these differences so that I can share more specific information on this topic. Thanks!

[@ezcarlos1]

@@armchairincomechannel Great, thanks for the reply, all the best for 2025!

[@BTinSF]

I sold most of my PBDC a month or so ago. BDCs seem to be, as they say, "not trading well". I had the same gut feeling you had about SVOL, which I've kept since it seemed to me its weakness was temporary and trading in and out of funds is not my thing. Like you, I am avoiding mortgage REITs for the most part and in my case this includes Starwood. At some point in 2025, I expect a market correction and I saw what happened to mortgage REITs in 2008.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for sharing your approach. I don't trade funds based on price because I'm not a trader. Regarding SVOL, it makes its money based on the concept of a rising VIX Term Structure so when that was pointing the wrong way I took the cautious route. As for STWD, I should trim it back a bit. It's consistent but there are less risky ways to achieve similarly consistent income.

[@samerrmr381]

Thanks for the update. I'd love to see the same rank ordered by tax efficiency.

[@armchairincomechannel]

That sounds like homework :) I'm a non US tax resident so my tax situation is quite different from most viewers. At some point I plan to address tax efficiency in a video but its hard for me to get excited about tax, when there are so many interesting income investments to study. I agree that its important, but I'm mostly doing this out of passion...I love income investing!

[@deyemeracing8795]

With demand for energy rising, and HESM having such a good history, I can't imagine wanting to get rid of it. Slow future money if other things are more valuable, sure, but sell off? No way. HESM is #20 in my portfolio (of 64 products). What about SRV or NXG, for more energy / energy infrastructure / infrastructure exposure? That said, I'm amazed at how many items I'm seeing in your "new" list that I already hold, and definitely a few new ones to add to my HDI (high dividend and interest) watch list. Good video!

[@armchairincomechannel]

You can definitely make a good argument for holding HESM. I'm on the fence about it was concerned about the insider selling. I agree that it has a fantastic history and the industry is poised for growth. I may well live to regret selling it! Thanks for watching and commenting :)

[@gordonechols9906]

Am toying with an addition of a small Bit Coin exposure....which Bit Coin income ETF would be your choice?

[@armchairincomechannel]

That's a huge topic and I'm not an expert on it. I have a small amount of MAXI but that one is focused on income, as are BITO and BTCI. Then there are a lot of funds that actually own Bitcoin and don't distribute income, like HODL. It depends if you want income or just growth.

[@Steverino70]

Some news ones to add to may watch list!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Great! I'm glad the list was able to give you some new ideas.

[@williamweis7153]

I appreciate your wisdom and concise explanations for your portfolio picks. I came across your name in a SubReddit thread about dividend investing and subscribed to your channel.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for your feedback. I didn't know about the SubReddit thread reference. I hope they said nice things :)

[@stk6mkt]

Love PFFA. One of my core holdings along with JEPQ and JEPI.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Me too! Working on an interview with the boss...

[@stk6mkt]

@armchairincomechannel Would love to watch that.

[@ophirmayer1]

Would you say that if the coming year is going to be volatile and basically crazy, a JEPQ could outperform the NASDAQ?

[@armchairincomechannel]

Probably not. The volatility would increase income for JEPQ, but big corrections are bad for both and big rebounds are better for the NASDAQ than for JEPQ.

[@jasoncatt]

Your portfolion on armchair insider seems to be from May this year? How do I find the latest portfolio breakdown? Thanks.

[@armchairincomechannel]

I just re-checked the portfolio download in the most recent edition and its for Dec 2024. Here's a link: armchairinsider.beehiiv.com/p/can-t-ignore-that-34-bitcoin-yield

[@jasoncatt]

@@armchairincomechannel Bless you, and Merry Xmas!

[@riter2818]

Which plan do you recommend for a Snowball subscription?

[@armchairincomechannel]

It depends on your needs. The main difference is the number of portfolios. If you have one portfolio then the "Starter" plan works well. If you want multiple portfolios (eg you have 3 brokerage accounts and want to enter them as such), then the "Investor" plan would be better.

[@riter2818]

OK, thanks you for your reply. It is nice that you take the time for your audience. Cheers!

[@MessedUpParodies]

I am curious as to your thoughts on MDST. It's a newer fund, and I'm considering opening a position for my income portfolio.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Too new for me but it looks interesting. 9.6% yield is nice and I like quite a few of their holdings. I'm on the lookout for a good midstream fund so I hope this one does well .

[@MessedUpParodies]

@@armchairincomechannel I'm looking for a good midstream fund too, and although it is new, it checks all the boxes for me. I will probably dip my toes into a starter position soon.

[@moresugartradercc2744]

Thanks for the update interesting holdings

[@armchairincomechannel]

My pleasure!

[@johnmerdler6526]

I know you explained the high exp fees for PBDC but how would one know that is not the real management fee? All the stock sites list it at the high number of 13.94%. Seeing that high of a fee would preclude me from buying it. Your content is great BTW, I'm a year out from retirement and this is really helping me!

[@armchairincomechannel]

If you want proof then 1/ I recommend reading the explanation of Acquired Fund Fees here: www.vaneck.com/bizd-acquired-fund-fees-expenses.pdf and 2/ Review the PBDC prospectus, which outlines the fees explicitly. The SEC regulates the content of a fund's prospectus which means there's regulatory oversight on its content. That can't be said about the numbers on "stock sites". This whole issue is the result of a confusing SEC regulation...

[@markfulmer2135]

Great content! I appreciate that you pack a lot of information into your videos. How defensive or volatile would BDC stocks be in a bear market vs. SPYI? Thank you!

[@armchairincomechannel]

That's a difficult question because you're comparing the private floating loan sector with the overall equities market. It's difficult to predict how each will behave in the future relative to the other. I own both as I don't want to guess which one will out perform in a bull or bear market. If I had to guess though, I would estimate that SPYI would hold up better because its based on a broader sector of the overall market.

[@Steverino70]

Enjoyed the video

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for watching!

[@LiveFreeInvesting]

Have you looked into BDJ as an investment? With fed rates dropping its a good value

[@armchairincomechannel]

I haven't. It looks like SCHD with a higher yield and some covered call writing. I'll check it out, thanks!

[@ROCO-n5r]

Thank you so much indeed.

[@armchairincomechannel]

You are very welcome

[@ScottHThoughts]

Great channel!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@williamweis7153]

They did and mentioned your KZbin site.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for letting me know :)

[@peterdavis9403]

What would it have looked like if you'd invested 1/2 your account in ULTY or MSTY or CONY over the same course of time since you can look at the published returns?

[@armchairincomechannel]

I don't know the math on that equation. You could run the numbers for all in on Bitcoin, or Nvidia, or any other hot investment. The only thing I know for sure is that I sleep well with my portfolio and that wouldn't happen if I switched it for somebody else's portfolio.

[@mikebrahmey3872]

Another great video, thank you. I'm wondering what your mental calculus is to get back into mid-stream funds/companies. You sold HESM because it was priced too high compared to distributions, is there a sector price correction that you are waiting for?

[@armchairincomechannel]

I like the Midstream sector but the challenges are 1/ Most of the partnerships issue K-1's which make tax preparation more time consuming and 2/ Many of them have a history of volatile distributions. For example, AMZA would be a simple way to invest in the sector, but in 2020 it cut distributions by more than 60%! HESM didn't do that. So if I can find a consistent source of distributions I'd be interested. I'm not looking to trade in and out based on what's happening in the energy sector because I don't have the time or inclination to become an energy sector expert.

[@24hourgmtchannel64]

Out and back in SVOL in a month? Still no FEPI/AIPI? Yes young however unless we are talking about QYLD and XYLD, they all are.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Yes, it was because the VIX futures term structure went into backwardation during the election. That doesn't happen often and makes their job more challenging. It turned out to be a minor blip but I was being cautious. Have to keep an eye on SVOL because they keep changing the assets. I've held FEPI for a while. Keeping an eye on AIPI as its off to a good start.

[@wagneralopes]

You're the best buddy, thanks a lot for this video. Just a doubt: WDI has fallen since the inception, don't you think it is risky invest in this CEF?

[@armchairincomechannel]

All investments are risky! The price alone doesn't tell me whether to buy or sell. In the case of WDI, it had the misfortune of being launched just before interest rates increased dramatically. That hurt the value of the fixed rate debt portion of their portfolio. This is not a fund I'd want to buy when rates are close to zero and headed up. More importantly, the reason I bought it...income...has been doing its job. Thanks for watching and for your kind words of encouragement :)

[@nj30003]

another great video kudos! one question though. Why opt much more heavily for PFFA than something like AGNCN? AGNCN seems solid as a rock, time tested, and performed better than PFFA over last 3 and 5 years. What am I missing? I know AGNCN shares can be recalled but I don't think that alone is a big enough risk to go much more heavily for PFFA.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Diversification vs concentration. A single stock/company will often outperform a portfolio but it comes with far more risk. Any company can falter....GE, Polaroid, AOL, Yahoo...were all the "best" in their field. PFFA's portfolio might contain a few duds, but there's zero chance that all 200 will go bust.

[@armynet191]

What happened to HESM?? I was looking for your HESM video you put out about 2-3 months ago, but I couldn't find it.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Time flies!! The HESM video came out last December. It's still available. I'll save you the effort, here's a link to the video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5_Fn6aKqqt3jtU . I update buys/sells/adjustments in the Armchair Insider Newsletter. It's much more efficient for delivering timely information than producing a new video every time I change something.

[@JosefTorkelsen]

I noticed from your chart that PBDC went down more than the index each time there was a down tick. I’m not sure I would hold that into a major recession.

[@armchairincomechannel]

It depends on your timeline, PBDC dropped less than SPY on a total return basis during most of April 2024. But generally, yes, I think its fair to say that PBDC is more volatile than SPY during a major correction. I don't hold PBDC to outperform SPY, or to reduce my portfolio volatility, I hold it for diversification. For all but the most serious of recessions, I think the PBDC income will hold up fairly well, and I can stomach the price volatility. I appreciate that some investors want to avoid price volatility.

[@JustAnotherPersonHere]

I really appreciate your videos and details you present every time. We share many of the same names with PBDC being my top also. Curious your thoughts on two of my other holdings...NMFC (insider buys recently), and CION not coin, own that too though).

[@armchairincomechannel]

You are so welcome! I'm not familiar with either of those BDC's...there are too many to research in depth. I focus on the ones that the newsletters (The REIT Forum and ADS Analytics) I follow think are good. Seeking Alpha has more positive articles about CION than NMFC but I would have to read through the considerable amount of analysis to understand what's going on with them.

[@JustAnotherPersonHere]

Thank you! I'll check out the articles on SA.

[@momdittomomditto7705]

Thanks for the update! Appreciate your not charging for the Armchair Income Insider list. What I really like is your diversity of holdings. It indicates to me investor maturity. Keep up the great work!

[@armchairincomechannel]

I appreciate that! You can see Warren Buffett's portfolio without paying him a fee, so I don't think I should charge to see my portfolio.

[@laupewoh]

I know already you think they are not safe but would like your honest thoughts on yield max and roundhill

[@armchairincomechannel]

I don't invest in either. They're both new and suffer too much NAV erosion for my personal taste. Doesn't mean that other people shouldn't invest in them. They just don't suit my personality. Yieldmax is making improvements to their family of funds so perhaps my view will change in the future.

[@Tempest.213]

need more update!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@williamweis7153]

Has your Dec newsletter come out yet? I'm a current subscriber but I don't see the link for this. Thanks

[@armchairincomechannel]

Yes, it has. Perhaps it went to your spam folder. You can view all issues here: armchairinsider.beehiiv.com/

[@bethhynes787]

App existed you & the information

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for watching :)

[@oneeyedjack8806]

I know you down under types don't do Thanksgiving. But Happy Thanksgiving anyway!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks! I lived in the US previously so I'm familiar with the concept. Happy Thanksgiving :)

[@Asstronauts93]

I appreciate appreciation

[@armchairincomechannel]

Me too! Income is #1 but appreciation is the cherry on top.

[@Asstronauts93]

@ exactly if a fund continues to pay me and never loses net asset value that’s basically unlimited appreciation

[@frankb7449]

Why pay PBDC 0.75% management fees when you can just buy a few BDCs and pocket that fee? Instead of getting 9.7%, you could be earning 10.4%... I own a few BDCs, such as OBDE, GBDC, etc

[@ThatonedudeCR12956]

Because of the "Armchair" portion of the name of the channel as well as what he said two minutes into the video. He doesn't want to research in order to choose the better BDCs because of the time required to do that when funds like BDC will do the work for you. You don't have to agree with him. But that's essentially the entire premise of this channel

[@klister]

Not really, PBDC also adds some leverage. So sure you can buy 22 BDCs and add some leverage to hopefully beat 9.7%, but I doubt you will get a better rate than Putnam. I’m really leary of BDCs so the diversification is very important to me….I view the leverage as offsetting some of that management fee.

[@armchairincomechannel]

BDCs inherently use leverage to enhance returns, as they are legally allowed to borrow up to 2x their equity to fund their lending activities. However, the PBDC fund does not apply its own leverage to the BDCs.

[@armchairincomechannel]

You could monitor the PBDC holdings and replicate the portfolio yourself. Perhaps you would check it every week, or every month (or every day) and copy the trades. If you focus on one fund that might be realistic. I have quite a few funds and no inclination to spend my time doing that. Also, if you're into BDC's you could put together your own portfolio and just use PBDC for inspiration/ideas. I think most of the PBDC investors don't want to study PBDC's in depth, they just want some exposure to the asset class.

[@ShunzeyBunzer]

Great stuff. I own many of the same in my 37 holding portfolio. Question on PBDC - Aren’t you stacking management fees with this investment? ie arcc fee + pbdc fee?

[@armchairincomechannel]

Yes. Although they are 2 different things. The ARCC fee is for underwriting and then directly managing loans to businesses. The PBDC fee is for managing a fund (much less hands on). I appreciate both functions and don't expect the applicable managers to work for free. You can't replicate ARCC's work yourself but you could copy PBDC's portfolio and follow their trades. I don't have the inclination to do that.

[@ShunzeyBunzer]

@ Thanks for the feedback! Keep up the great work

[@michaell1425]

How would your portfolio perform in a recession? Would it still get about the same yield but the price of the stocks drops and so the yield amount, but not percentage, drops?

[@armchairincomechannel]

My expectation is that the value of the portfolio would drop, and the income for most of the investments would remain consistent. The current yield (vs the lower prices) would increase. It depends on the degree and duration of the recession. The longer the recession, the more effect it would have as it would start to impact medium to long term loan defaults in credit funds. On the positive side, it would continue to produce income that I could reinvest at lower prices to increase income.

[@michaell1425]

@armchairincomechannel thanks for the reply! I love your videos. You said, "the current yield (versus) the lower price would increase." Do you mean the companies would increase them? If so it seems you were saying this is relatively certain?

[@mwallacewallace]

What do you think about Westwood Salient Enhanced Midstream Income ETF (MDST)?

[@armchairincomechannel]

It looks interesting. I'm looking for a fund that covers the midstream sector. It's too new for me but if it delivers consistent income it's something I'd like to hold. Top holdings like ET and ENB have experienced some major dividend cuts in the past and I'd need to understand how/why this won't happen again.

[@DIVGAINS]

Armchair is giving you guys the playbook to get out of the west!! Park $ in these funds and head to Asia! Great strategy

[@armchairincomechannel]

or Central or South America, or Eastern Europe...

[@fabiGBOtown]

Hello there, I have been trying to figure out when spyi and qqqi declared their dividends but it varies and I always seem to miss it. Could you suggest a tool for me?

[@armchairincomechannel]

The declaration dates vary each month but they're listed on the NEOS website here: neosfunds.com/spyi/#distributions

[@uansam3439]

Thank you for the update. What do you think of QDTE, XDYE and RDTE?

[@armchairincomechannel]

I'm not an expert on those 3 tickers. Occasionally I look at QDTE because the yield is so high, but the NAV keeps eroding despite a very bullish market. Even though the total return is positive, I prefer funds with a NAV that's flat or upward sloping. Also, it's so new that there's not much data to review.

[@uansam3439]

@@armchairincomechannel Looking forward to your input when those funds getting more mature. thank you

[@DavidDavidson]

Great content, so clear. Here on your site do you find your most current holdings? usually they're in a post, but wondering if there's a direct link?

[@armchairincomechannel]

You can signup to receive via email, or you can look at the recent issues at this link. The last edition was Nov 6 and it comes out approx monthly. armchairinsider.beehiiv.com/

[@DavidDavidson]

@@armchairincomechannel thanks, i'm signed up, that's the last one i have :) appreciate you taking the time to reply to everyone!

[@radcliffe1065]

I am curious what you think about how the QQQ covered call funds will respond in a market downturn?

[@armchairincomechannel]

Covered call funds like QQQI and JEPQ will fall in sync with QQQ when the market corrects. The recovery of the covered call fund will be ok if the market recovers slowly. If the market recovers quickly then the covered call fund will fall behind.

[@crazywaffleking]

When you say sold, do you mean you removed them completely, or just trimmed the position?

[@armchairincomechannel]

I've used the word "sold" so many times it's difficult for me to know which quote you're referencing. Generally though, I use that word to mean a 100% exit...unless I say "sold some".

[@Pauln71]

Sold SVOL??

[@armchairincomechannel]

I sold it before the election then bought it back. However, the performance has fallen off. If interest rates continue to decline and volatility levels remain high, I'll reconsider holding it.

[@Pauln71]

@armchairincomechannel Thanks for the response. You are right the performance has ticked down recently

[@3404gsharp]

Thanks good reeport

[@armchairincomechannel]

Glad it was helpful. Thanks for taking the time to let me know :)

[@miguelcg5475]

$SVOL trimmed to $0.27 this month

[@RobertS-nx7bm]

That makes for a 10% cut since August. At today's price of $21.83, the $0.27 monthly rate would be 14.84% annually.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Yes. Every time the Fed cuts rates, the SVOL income will fall as some of the income comes from the fixed income holdings in the portfolio (eg Treasuries).

[@DannyFoland]

I am not seeing your updated list of investments. Help?

[@armchairincomechannel]

I update it about once a month. If you signed up and didn't receive the email each month, here's where you can check past issues. The last one was Nov 6th. armchairinsider.beehiiv.com/

[@nearsite]

What do you think about PUTW etf?

[@armchairincomechannel]

I'm not familiar with that one. Generally I'm looking for more consistent distributions. Interesting concept though.

[@JosefTorkelsen]

Was that seeking alpha on the screen when you compared total return to the indexes?

[@JosefTorkelsen]

Sorry, you covered this in the last minute of the video. It is seeking alpha.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Yes, I almost always use Seeking Alpha to compare Total Return for various investments.

[@benedit71]

Is there an etf for cefs?

[@armchairincomechannel]

Not that I'm aware of...but there are CEF's that hold CEF's.

[@drdontpassone8164]

strict DGE good

[@armchairincomechannel]

Thanks for watching.

[@BicycleRestorationMan]

Why did you sell SVOL?

[@RobertS-nx7bm]

VIX went into backwardation.

[@armchairincomechannel]

Precisely!

[@armchairincomechannel]

Leading up to the election, the VIX Futures Term Structure was pointing the wrong way. That made it harder to generate revenue. Not necessarily a major issue, but I was being cautious. After the election it went back to normal.