If you are looking for income and have an interest in gold as an investment, then a new IPO might be what you are looking for to combine the two needs. Faircourt Gold Income Corp. (FRCGF) is a new closed-end fund that invests in gold stocks and sells covered calls and puts for income. With the current market flux, gold is a good play until we get more definite information where the fiscal policy and taxes end under the new negotiations. Why not let professional managers sell covered calls and pay you monthly dividends. Here are the details.
Faircourt Gold Income Corp., a closed-end investment fund established as a mutual fund corporation under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is offering upon the terms and subject to the conditions specified in this short form prospectus, to issue up to 4,733,740 Class A shares of the Company at a price per Offered Share of $8.45. The initial IPO was November 9, 2012.
The shares are currently trading at $8.24, a 2.5% discount to the IPO price. Faircourt Gold Income pays monthly distributions with an annual yield of 7.0%.
The Company will not make any investment that would result in holdings of gold companies comprising less than 60% of the NAV of the Portfolio of the Company at the time of such investment. The Company will not make any investments that would result in holdings of gold bullion comprising greater than 30% of the NAV of the Portfolio of the Company at the time of such investment.
In order to generate additional returns and to reduce risk, the Company has engaged the Manager to employ an option strategy whereby it writes covered call options on securities held in the Portfolio and cash secured put options on securities desired to be held in the Portfolio. It is the Manager’s belief that utilizing the option strategy will assist in providing Shareholders with lower volatility and potentially enhanced returns as compared to owning the individual securities in the Portfolio directly.
The Manager believes that option writing has potential to add value in some sectors more than others. Option writing programs in the past have relied on the volatility of a security as a source of long term capital gains distributions. All other things being equal, sustained volatility in the price of a security results in higher option premiums in respect of such security. The Manager believes gold stocks, which have historically maintained a high degree of volatility, are well suited for a covered call writing strategy. This higher degree of volatility is reflected in the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index which has an historic 10 year average volatility is 36% as measured by standard deviation, between September 2002 and September 2012, while the S&P/TSX Composite Index has exhibited a volatility of 16% during the same period.
Covered call options and cash secured put options may be written from time to time in respect of part of the Portfolio. The extent to which any of the individual securities in the Portfolio are subject to options and the terms of such options will vary from time to time based on the Manager’s assessment of the market.