PHILADELPHIA, July 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Delaware Investments Dividend and Income Fund, Inc. (the "Fund"), a New York Stock Exchange listed closed-end fund trading under the symbol "DDF," today announced that Jude T. Driscoll has resigned as chairman of the board, director, chief executive officer and president of the Fund, effective on or about August 1, 2006. The Fund's Board of Directors has not yet elected a successor. Mr. Driscoll has also resigned as president of Delaware Investments, the Fund's investment manager. Effective immediately, Patrick P. Coyne will replace Mr. Driscoll as president of Delaware Investments. Mr. Coyne has been with Delaware Investments for more than 17 years, and most recently served as executive vice president, managing director and head of equity investments. Mr. Driscoll will remain with Delaware Investments for a short period of time to help to ensure a smooth transition. The team responsible for managing the Fund's assets remains in its role at Delaware Investments.
The Fund is a diversified, closed-end fund. The primary investment objective is to seek high current income; capital appreciation is a secondary objective. The Fund seeks to achieve its objectives by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 65 percent of its total assets in income-generating equity securities, including dividend-paying common stocks, convertible securities, preferred stocks and other equity-related securities. Up to 35 percent of the Fund's total assets may be invested in non-convertible debt securities consisting primarily of high-yield, high-risk corporate bonds. In addition, the Fund utilizes leveraging techniques in an attempt to obtain a higher return for the Fund. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives.
In 1995, the Fund implemented a managed distribution policy. Under the policy, the Fund is managed with a goal of generating as much of the dividend as possible from ordinary income (net investment income and short-term capital gains). The balance of the dividend then comes from long-term capital gains and, if necessary, a return of capital.
About Delaware Investments:
Delaware Investments, an affiliate of Lincoln Financial Group, is a Philadelphia-based diversified asset management firm with more than $120 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2006. Through a broad range of managed accounts and portfolios, mutual funds, retirement accounts, sub- advised funds, education savings plans and other investment products, Delaware Investments provides investment services to individual investors and to institutional investors such as private and public pension funds, foundations, and endowment funds. Delaware Investments is the marketing name for Delaware Management Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information on Delaware Investments, visit the company at http://www.delawareinvestments.com/. Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation and its affiliates. For more information on Lincoln Financial Group, visit http://www.lfg.com/.
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