E Special Fund Report

I wound up having to spend less time at Bronx Science than expected—because two students whom I was supposed to help prep for their college acceptance interviews failed to turn up. These Chinese-Americans clearly lack respect for their elders, like me.

So here is a special blog with news in it rather than tables, to make up for the next Jewish holiday which hits today and Tuesday, the Feast of Booths to celebrate the harvest, Jewish traditional practices include waving palm branches. Christians do it in early spring, before Easter, but they didn’t learn that from Succoth.

Funds

*Former Aberdeen Chile Fund, CH, is now Aberdeen Emerging Markets Income Fund, AEF, after a complex reorganization in April by the manager, Standard Life Aberdeen (SLFPY) whose shares we also own. This involved ex-CH AEF taking over the following Aberdeen Funds: Emerging Markets Smaller Co Opportunities (ABE); Israel (ISL); Indonesia (IF); Latin America Equity (LAQ); Singapore (SGF); Greater China (GCH); and Asia Tigers (GRR). LAQ was the successor for performance tallies.

Our CH was tendered for by the board in May-June which offered to buy 32% of the shares out at 99% of net asset value (NAV). In the end, the offer was oversubscribed and AEF shares were bought at $7.9002/sh, prorated. AEF also paid $0.882 in a special dividend on June 15. Our fund also borrowed $65 mn (US) from Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS, whose shares we also own) via a revolving credit facility whose terms we do not know.

We also had to pay $443,000 in Chilean reptariation taxes; $351,000 in leaal fees; $198,000 in administration fees; $176,00 in custody fees; $ 73,000 in insurance expenses; $66,000 in directors’ fees and expenses; $60,000 for reports and proxies; $42,000 in IR fees; $34,000 to indepdent auditors; $27,000 in transfer agent fees; $4,600 to accountants; and $94,000 in miscelaneous. We also paid $19,396 in interst and lost $2,461,275 in foreign currency losses.