What is BSTZ, The 11% Dividend Closed End Fund?

"Although Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) have received a much higher degree of publicity of late, one can find that Closed End Funds (CEF) still offer unique investment opportunities that set them apart from ETFs. For example, ETFs are prohibited from investing in private companies. They can only do so at arm's length, by investing in a publicly traded private equity fund or similar entity. CEFs, on the other hand, are free to do private company investing, provided that they have the wherewithal to do so in a manner that offers appropriate risk mitigation and disclosures to clients. It also helps if the CEF in question offers sufficiently solid overall performance to assuage any concerns about liquidity, capital appreciation, yields, and other topics."

"BlackRock's Technology Foray The BlackRock Science and Technology Term Trust (NYSE: BSTZ) is a closed end fund tasked with buying share stakes in publicly traded US and non-US cutting edge technology companies with roughly 80% of its assets under management. Given that BlackRock manages in excess of $15 trillion, it certainly qualifies as having the prerequisite deep pockets for any private companies it might wish to take a stake in under the aforementioned guidelines. While the Nasdaq-100 or other technology heavy indexes can reference numerous ETFs predicated on their daily price as an industry benchmark, BSTZ is open to obtaining stocks at any market cap if the underlying technology is deemed to have substantial growth potential. Additionally, BSTZ deploys a covered call strategy not unlike that of JP Morgan's popular JP Morgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSEARCA: JEPI) as a source for monthly dividend income. A quick reference of BSTZ features the following, based on market price at the time of this writing:"

Closed-end funds can invest directly in private companies while ETFs typically cannot, limiting ETFs to indirect exposure through publicly traded private equity vehicles. Closed-end funds must have sufficient capital, risk mitigation procedures, and disclosures to pursue private investments responsibly. Strong overall fund performance can alleviate investor concerns about liquidity, capital appreciation, and yields. The BlackRock Science and Technology Term Trust (BSTZ) allocates roughly 80% of its assets to publicly traded US and non-US cutting-edge technology companies. BlackRock's large asset base (over $15 trillion) enables consideration of private company stakes when appropriate. BSTZ also employs a covered-call strategy to provide monthly dividend income.

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