Abstract
AbstractThis paper investigates the impact of the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic in the United States on closed‐end fund (CEF) discounts. I show that CEF discounts increased after the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic in the United States, while individual investor sentiment declined. Furthermore, CEFs with higher retail ownership had a larger discount increase, which suggests that individual investor sentiment is a potential contributor to CEF discounts. This finding seems less likely to be driven by rational channels or income‐driven fire sales, as shown by further analysis. Overall, the results shed light on the CEF discount puzzle using a new setting.
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