Investment Grade Municipal Income Fund Inc. (the “Fund”) (NYSE: PPM), a closed-end management investment company normally investing substantially all of its assets in a diversified portfolio of tax-exempt municipal obligations, with common and preferred shares outstanding, today announced that the Fund''s Board of Directors has declared a dividend from net investment income of $0.0725 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on November 30, 2009 to common shareholders of record as of November 19, 2009. The ex-dividend date is November 17, 2009. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in investment grade municipal obligations, the income from which is exempt from regular federal income tax.
Fund Commentary for the month of October 2009 from UBS Global Asset Management (Americas) Inc. (“UBS Global AM”), the Fund''s investment advisor:
The Barclays Capital Municipal Bond Index declined 2.0% in October, underperforming US Treasuries during the month. During this time, AAA-rated securities outperformed their A and BB-rated counterparts as higher-quality bonds performed relatively better overall during the month. At the same time, shorter-maturity municipals outperformed intermediate-maturity and longer-maturity municipals.
The Fund underperformed its benchmark in October, due to a relative underweight to shorter-term maturity issues. In addition, an overweight to the long end (20+ years) of the yield curve hurt relative performance. From a credit quality perspective, the Fund''s overweight to AA-rated securities detracted from relative performance, as did a significant underweight to AAA-rated securities during the month.
A slight relative underweight to both the IDR/PCR (industrial development revenue bonds and pollution control revenue bonds) sector and the tobacco sector benefited relative performance, especially as tobacco was the worst-performing sector for the month. In addition, an overweight to hospitals benefited relative performance. The Fund''s use of leverage detracted from results in October, magnifying the impact of lackluster performance during the month.
Disclaimers Regarding Fund Commentary - The Fund Commentary is intended to assist shareholders in understanding how the Fund performed during the month noted.Views and opinions were current as of the date of this press release.They are not guarantees of performance or investment results and should not be taken as investment advice.Investment decisions reflect a variety of factors, and the Fund and UBS Global AM reserve the right to change views about individual securities, sectors and markets at any time.As a result, the views expressed should not be relied upon as a forecast of the Fund''s future investment intent.
Characteristics as of October 31, 2009:* | ||
| Net asset value per common share | $14.36 | |
| Market price per common share | $13.78 | |
| NAV yield | 6.06% | |
| Market yield | 6.31% | |
| * | Net asset value (NAV), market price and yields will fluctuate. NAV yield is calculated by multiplying the current month''s dividend by 12 and dividing by the month-end net asset value. Market yield is calculated by multiplying the current month''s dividend by 12 and dividing by the month-end market price. |
Contacts:
UBS Global Asset Management
Closed-End Funds Desk, 888-793-8637