UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM N-CSR
CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES
Investment Company Act file number 811-04700
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
Bruce N. Alpert
Gabelli Funds, LLC
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
(Name and address of agent for service)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 1-800-422-3554
Date of fiscal year end: December 31
Date of reporting period: June 30, 2021
Form N-CSR is to be used by management investment companies to file reports with the Commission not later than 10 days after the transmission to stockholders of any report that is required to be transmitted to stockholders under Rule 30e-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (17 CFR 270.30e-1). The Commission may use the information provided on Form N-CSR in its regulatory, disclosure review, inspection, and policymaking roles.
A registrant is required to disclose the information specified by Form N-CSR, and the Commission will make this information public. A registrant is not required to respond to the collection of information contained in Form N-CSR unless the Form displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) control number. Please direct comments concerning the accuracy of the information collection burden estimate and any suggestions for reducing the burden to Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20549-0609. The OMB has reviewed this collection of information under the clearance requirements of 44 U.S.C. § 3507.
Item 1. Reports to Stockholders.
(a) | The Report to Shareholders is attached herewith. |
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Semiannual Report — June 30, 2021
To Our Stockholders,
For the six months ended June 30, 2021, the net asset value (NAV) total return of The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. (the Fund) was 19.0%, compared with total returns of 15.3% and 13.8% for the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, respectively. The total return for the Fund’s publicly traded shares was 17.7%. The Fund’s NAV per share was $6.67, while the price of the publicly traded shares closed at $6.90 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). See page 2 for additional performance information.
Enclosed are the financial statements, including the schedule of investments, as of June 30, 2021.
As permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund’s annual and semiannual shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports will be made available on the Fund’s website (www.gabelli.com), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report. If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. To elect to receive all future reports on paper free of charge, please contact your financial intermediary, or, if you invest directly with the Fund, you may call 800-422-3554 or send an email request to info@gabelli.com. |
Comparative Results
Average Annual Returns through June 30, 2021 (a) (Unaudited) | |||||||||||||||
Since | |||||||||||||||
Year to | Inception | ||||||||||||||
Date | 1 Year | 5 year | 10 year | 15 year | 20 year | 25 year | (8/21/86) | ||||||||
Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB) | |||||||||||||||
NAV Total Return (b) | 19.04% | 60.18% | 14.81% | 12.14% | 10.16% | 9.78% | 10.38% | 11.18% | |||||||
Investment Total Return (c) | 17.69 | 54.86 | 17.02 | 12.93 | 10.85 | 9.10 | 10.69 | 11.10 | |||||||
S&P 500 Index | 15.25 | 40.79 | 17.65 | 14.84 | 10.73 | 8.61 | 9.76 | 10.91(d) | |||||||
Dow Jones Industrial Average | 13.83 | 36.53 | 16.67 | 13.47 | 10.55 | 8.74 | 10.00 | 11.50(d) |
(a) | Performance returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized. The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged indicator of stock market performance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an unmanaged index of 30 large capitalization stocks. Dividends are considered reinvested. You cannot invest directly in an index. |
(b) | Total returns and average annual returns reflect changes in the NAV per share, reinvestment of distributions at NAV on the ex-dividend date, adjustments for rights offerings, spin-offs, and taxes paid on undistributed long term capital gains and are net of expenses. Since inception return is based on an initial NAV of $9.34. |
(c) | Total returns and average annual returns reflect changes in closing market values on the NYSE, reinvestment of distributions, and adjustments for rights offerings, spin-offs, and taxes paid on undistributed long term capital gains. Since inception return is based on an initial offering price of $10.00. |
(d) | From August 31, 1986, the date closest to the Fund’s inception for which data are available. |
Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Fund before investing.
Returns represent past performance and do not guarantee future results. Investment returns and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate. The Fund’s use of leverage may magnify the volatility of net asset value changes versus funds that do not employ leverage. When shares are sold, they may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data presented. Visit www.gabelli.com for performance information as of the most recent month end.
2
Summary of Portfolio Holdings (Unaudited)
The following tables present portfolio holdings as a percent of total investments as of June 30, 2021:
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Financial Services | 11.7 | % | ||
Food and Beverage | 10.0 | % | ||
Equipment and Supplies | 7.0 | % | ||
Health Care | 5.4 | % | ||
Consumer Products | 5.4 | % | ||
Diversified Industrial | 5.4 | % | ||
Entertainment | 5.0 | % | ||
Business Services | 4.4 | % | ||
Machinery | 3.7 | % | ||
Automotive: Parts and Accessories | 3.6 | % | ||
Consumer Services | 3.3 | % | ||
Cable and Satellite | 2.8 | % | ||
Energy and Utilities | 2.8 | % | ||
Electronics | 2.5 | % | ||
Broadcasting | 2.4 | % | ||
Retail | 2.3 | % | ||
Specialty Chemicals | 2.1 | % | ||
Environmental Services | 2.0 | % | ||
U.S. Government Obligations | 2.0 | % | ||
Telecommunications | 2.0 | % | ||
Computer Software and Services | 2.0 | % |
Building and Construction | 1.8 | % | ||
Aerospace and Defense | 1.7 | % | ||
Hotels and Gaming | 1.7 | % | ||
Real Estate | 0.9 | % | ||
Aviation: Parts and Services | 0.9 | % | ||
Metals and Mining | 0.9 | % | ||
Automotive | 0.8 | % | ||
Communications Equipment | 0.6 | % | ||
Agriculture | 0.6 | % | ||
Wireless Communications | 0.5 | % | ||
Transportation | 0.5 | % | ||
Closed-End Funds | 0.5 | % | ||
Publishing | 0.4 | % | ||
Manufactured Housing and Recreational Vehicles | 0.3 | % | ||
Semiconductors | 0.1 | % | ||
Computer Hardware | 0.0 | %* | ||
100.0 | % |
* | Amount represents less than 0.05%. |
The Fund files a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-PORT. Shareholders may obtain this information at www.gabelli.com or by calling the Fund at 800-GABELLI (800-422-3554). The Fund’s Form N-PORT is available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and may also be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 800-SEC-0330.
Proxy Voting
The Fund files Form N-PX with its complete proxy voting record for the twelve months ended June 30, no later than August 31 of each year. A description of the Fund’s proxy voting policies, procedures, and how each Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities is available without charge, upon request, by (i) calling 800-GABELLI (800-422-3554); (ii) writing to The Gabelli Funds at One Corporate Center, Rye, NY 10580-1422; or (iii) visiting the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
3
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS — 97.4% | ||||||||||||
Financial Services — 11.7% | ||||||||||||
74,000 | Aegon NV | $ | 278,433 | $ | 307,021 | |||||||
5,800 | Ally Financial Inc. | 183,322 | 289,072 | |||||||||
294,000 | American Express Co.(a) | 28,044,793 | 48,577,620 | |||||||||
28,000 | Apollo Global Management | |||||||||||
Inc. | 806,854 | 1,741,600 | ||||||||||
16,000 | Argo Group International | |||||||||||
Holdings Ltd. | 371,865 | 829,280 | ||||||||||
2,900 | Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. | 140,326 | 142,129 | |||||||||
21,500 | Banco Bilbao Vizcaya | |||||||||||
Argentaria SA | 115,299 | 133,281 | ||||||||||
75,740 | Banco Santander SA, ADR | 548,398 | 296,143 | |||||||||
45,000 | Bank of America Corp. | 1,292,046 | 1,855,350 | |||||||||
93,500 | Barclays plc | 179,371 | 221,324 | |||||||||
109 | Berkshire Hathaway Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl. A† | 989,916 | 45,627,509 | ||||||||||
210 | BlackRock Inc. | 148,976 | 183,744 | |||||||||
55,000 | Brewin Dolphin Holdings | |||||||||||
plc | 212,808 | 264,383 | ||||||||||
2,200 | Capital One Financial Corp. | 200,519 | 340,318 | |||||||||
7,700 | CIT Group Inc. | 271,326 | 397,243 | |||||||||
128,700 | Citigroup Inc. | 7,659,623 | 9,105,525 | |||||||||
35,774 | Commerzbank AG† | 231,017 | 253,751 | |||||||||
19,345 | Credit Agricole SA | 243,112 | 270,993 | |||||||||
13,000 | Credit Suisse Group AG, | |||||||||||
ADR | 165,458 | 136,370 | ||||||||||
5,000 | Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. | 361,440 | 560,000 | |||||||||
93,100 | Dah Sing Banking Group | |||||||||||
Ltd. | 97,546 | 102,761 | ||||||||||
100,800 | Dah Sing Financial Holdings | |||||||||||
Ltd. | 291,061 | 344,685 | ||||||||||
46,500 | Daiwa Securities Group Inc. | 209,325 | 255,364 | |||||||||
30,000 | Deutsche Bank AG† | 221,322 | 392,400 | |||||||||
900 | Deutsche Boerse AG | 153,713 | 157,088 | |||||||||
258 | E-L Financial Corp. Ltd. | 207,513 | 197,699 | |||||||||
2,000 | EXOR NV | 145,670 | 160,219 | |||||||||
18,500 | Franklin Resources Inc. | 425,401 | 591,815 | |||||||||
51,000 | GAM Holding AG† | 177,949 | 110,792 | |||||||||
10,000 | H&R Block Inc. | 219,623 | 234,800 | |||||||||
10,000 | Hannon Armstrong | |||||||||||
Sustainable | ||||||||||||
Infrastructure Capital | ||||||||||||
Inc., REIT | 169,710 | 561,500 | ||||||||||
24,000 | ING Groep NV | 237,247 | 317,022 | |||||||||
37,000 | Interactive Brokers Group | |||||||||||
Inc., Cl. A | 613,932 | 2,432,010 | ||||||||||
117,100 | Janus Henderson Group plc | 3,534,226 | 4,544,651 | |||||||||
10,200 | Japan Post Bank Co. Ltd. | 81,875 | 85,662 | |||||||||
110,900 | Jefferies Financial Group | |||||||||||
Inc. | 1,797,549 | 3,792,780 | ||||||||||
36,900 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 2,467,486 | 5,739,426 |
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
5,000 | Julius Baer Group Ltd. | $ | 237,290 | $ | 326,290 | |||||||
29,800 | Kinnevik AB, Cl. A | 494,015 | 1,349,655 | |||||||||
14,000 | Loews Corp. | 558,454 | 765,100 | |||||||||
70,000 | Marsh & McLennan | |||||||||||
Companies Inc. | 3,021,860 | 9,847,600 | ||||||||||
9,000 | Moody’s Corp. | 312,150 | 3,261,330 | |||||||||
45,758 | Morgan Stanley | 2,148,921 | 4,195,551 | |||||||||
240 | MSCI Inc. | 99,453 | 127,939 | |||||||||
90,500 | Natwest Group plc | 196,649 | 254,383 | |||||||||
110,000 | New York Community | |||||||||||
Bancorp Inc. | 951,540 | 1,212,200 | ||||||||||
6,700 | NN Group NV | 282,056 | 316,033 | |||||||||
24,410 | PayPal Holdings Inc.† | 4,402,069 | 7,115,027 | |||||||||
10,000 | Pershing Square Tontine | |||||||||||
Holdings Ltd., Cl.A† | 207,103 | 227,600 | ||||||||||
5,500 | Plus500 Ltd. | 101,663 | 101,569 | |||||||||
27,000 | Polar Capital Holdings plc | 230,359 | 310,371 | |||||||||
525,000 | Post Holdings Partnering | |||||||||||
Corp.† | 5,250,000 | 5,454,750 | ||||||||||
9,000 | Prosus NV | 856,547 | 880,099 | |||||||||
67,000 | S&P Global Inc. | 8,730,799 | 27,500,150 | |||||||||
4,000 | Sculptor Capital | |||||||||||
Management Inc. | 60,259 | 98,360 | ||||||||||
8,000 | Shinhan Financial Group Co. | |||||||||||
Ltd., ADR† | 242,942 | 286,800 | ||||||||||
6,500 | Shinsei Bank Ltd. | 79,715 | 85,247 | |||||||||
9,500 | Societe Generale SA | 201,301 | 280,039 | |||||||||
44,000 | Standard Chartered plc | 279,986 | 280,589 | |||||||||
123,300 | State Street Corp. | 6,362,737 | 10,145,124 | |||||||||
90,000 | T. Rowe Price Group Inc. | 6,821,341 | 17,817,300 | |||||||||
163,800 | The Bank of New York | |||||||||||
Mellon Corp. | 5,435,158 | 8,391,474 | ||||||||||
35,000 | The Blackstone Group Inc. | 1,317,582 | 3,399,900 | |||||||||
67,000 | The Charles Schwab Corp. | 2,307,384 | 4,878,270 | |||||||||
15,520 | The Goldman Sachs Group | |||||||||||
Inc. | 3,418,855 | 5,890,306 | ||||||||||
2,000 | The PNC Financial Services | |||||||||||
Group Inc. | 267,936 | 381,520 | ||||||||||
17,000 | Truist Financial Corp. | 280,578 | 943,500 | |||||||||
5,000 | W. R. Berkley Corp. | 129,431 | 372,150 | |||||||||
5,400 | Webster Financial Corp. | 215,986 | 288,036 | |||||||||
174,000 | Wells Fargo & Co. | 5,749,391 | 7,880,460 | |||||||||
17,928 | Westwood Holdings Group | |||||||||||
Inc. | 258,692 | 390,113 | ||||||||||
115,006,252 | 256,608,165 | |||||||||||
Food and Beverage — 10.0% | ||||||||||||
3,000 | Ajinomoto Co. Inc. | 52,866 | 77,879 | |||||||||
2,100 | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/ | |||||||||||
NV | 148,084 | 151,421 | ||||||||||
95,800 | Brown-Forman Corp., Cl. A | 1,332,829 | 6,753,900 | |||||||||
49,300 | Brown-Forman Corp., Cl. B | 1,130,138 | 3,694,542 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
4
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) | ||||||||||||
Food and Beverage (Continued) | ||||||||||||
37,800 | Campbell Soup Co. | $ | 1,273,989 | $ | 1,723,302 | |||||||
65,000 | Chr. Hansen Holding A/S | 2,725,303 | 5,866,454 | |||||||||
15,000 | Coca-Cola Europacific | |||||||||||
Partners plc | 275,290 | 889,800 | ||||||||||
204,000 | Conagra Brands Inc. | 5,472,251 | 7,421,520 | |||||||||
28,000 | Constellation Brands Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl. A | 351,182 | 6,548,920 | ||||||||||
25,000 | Crimson Wine Group Ltd.† | 128,738 | 228,500 | |||||||||
189,500 | Danone SA | 9,232,935 | 13,340,417 | |||||||||
880,000 | Davide Campari-Milano NV | 3,083,650 | 11,785,881 | |||||||||
3,700 | Diageo plc | 150,004 | 177,141 | |||||||||
115,000 | Diageo plc, ADR | 12,856,122 | 22,044,350 | |||||||||
44,583 | Farmer Brothers Co.† | 282,766 | 565,758 | |||||||||
90,000 | Flowers Foods Inc. | 490,089 | 2,178,000 | |||||||||
82,200 | Fomento Economico | |||||||||||
Mexicano SAB de CV, | ||||||||||||
ADR | 3,440,559 | 6,946,722 | ||||||||||
15,000 | General Mills Inc. | 923,210 | 913,950 | |||||||||
17,000 | Glanbia plc | 215,883 | 275,960 | |||||||||
1,848,400 | Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, | |||||||||||
Cl. A | 2,624,249 | 4,070,671 | ||||||||||
41,300 | Heineken NV | 1,962,995 | 5,004,885 | |||||||||
10,000 | Ingredion Inc. | 488,476 | 905,000 | |||||||||
105,000 | ITO EN Ltd. | 2,422,898 | 6,228,453 | |||||||||
58,700 | Kerry Group plc, Cl. A | 675,385 | 8,150,573 | |||||||||
2,200 | Laurent-Perrier | 209,010 | 251,995 | |||||||||
9,700 | LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis | |||||||||||
Vuitton SE | 335,341 | 7,606,124 | ||||||||||
30,000 | Maple Leaf Foods Inc. | 565,951 | 622,701 | |||||||||
33,000 | Molson Coors Beverage Co., | |||||||||||
Cl.B† | 2,027,727 | 1,771,770 | ||||||||||
230,000 | Mondelēz International Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl. A | 10,014,386 | 14,361,200 | ||||||||||
14,000 | Morinaga Milk Industry Co. | |||||||||||
Ltd. | 299,202 | 729,646 | ||||||||||
41,000 | Nestlé SA | 1,791,828 | 5,105,669 | |||||||||
12,500 | Nomad Foods Ltd.† | 319,128 | 353,375 | |||||||||
133,000 | PepsiCo Inc. | 13,070,749 | 19,706,610 | |||||||||
39,200 | Pernod Ricard SA | 3,228,300 | 8,701,318 | |||||||||
31,000 | Post Holdings Inc.† | 2,883,605 | 3,362,570 | |||||||||
41,500 | Remy Cointreau SA | 2,589,709 | 8,567,222 | |||||||||
70,000 | The Coca-Cola Co. | 2,582,913 | 3,787,700 | |||||||||
42,500 | The Hain Celestial Group | 1,019,455 | 1,705,100 | |||||||||
Inc.† | ||||||||||||
24,000 | The J.M. Smucker Co. | 2,514,373 | 3,109,680 | |||||||||
24,000 | The Kraft Heinz Co. | 704,738 | 978,720 | |||||||||
45,000 | Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. | 887,204 | 1,525,950 | |||||||||
3,000 | TreeHouse Foods Inc.† | 127,399 | 133,560 | |||||||||
47,000 | Tyson Foods Inc., Cl. A | 773,209 | 3,466,720 |
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
334,000 | Yakult Honsha Co. Ltd. | $ | 9,542,876 | $ | 18,910,482 | |||||||
107,226,994 | 220,702,111 | |||||||||||
Equipment and Supplies — 7.0% | ||||||||||||
355,000 | AMETEK Inc. | 18,645,457 | 47,392,500 | |||||||||
14,000 | Amphenol Corp., Cl. A | 12,928 | 957,740 | |||||||||
25,000 | Ardagh Group SA | 445,738 | 613,000 | |||||||||
84,000 | CIRCOR International Inc.† | 3,371,092 | 2,738,400 | |||||||||
6,500 | Crown Holdings Inc. | 644,225 | 664,365 | |||||||||
950 | Danaher Corp. | 222,930 | 254,942 | |||||||||
294,000 | Donaldson Co. Inc. | 9,085,910 | 18,677,820 | |||||||||
22,000 | DS Smith plc | 120,583 | 127,178 | |||||||||
193,500 | Flowserve Corp. | 8,307,588 | 7,801,920 | |||||||||
37,000 | Franklin Electric Co. Inc. | 214,087 | 2,982,940 | |||||||||
90,000 | Gores Holdings V Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl.A† | 938,091 | 909,000 | ||||||||||
15,000 | Hubbell Inc. | 1,961,776 | 2,802,600 | |||||||||
143,500 | IDEX Corp. | 17,571,970 | 31,577,175 | |||||||||
8,288 | Kimball Electronics Inc.† | 173,883 | 180,181 | |||||||||
98,000 | Mueller Industries Inc. | 2,521,405 | 4,244,380 | |||||||||
195,900 | Mueller Water Products | |||||||||||
Inc., Cl. A | 2,018,166 | 2,824,878 | ||||||||||
550 | Parker-Hannifin Corp. | 149,310 | 168,911 | |||||||||
8,000 | Sealed Air Corp. | 128,172 | 474,000 | |||||||||
24,000 | Tenaris SA, ADR | 968,982 | 525,600 | |||||||||
270,000 | The L.S. Starrett Co., Cl.A† | 864,760 | 2,521,800 | |||||||||
80,000 | The Timken Co. | 3,018,718 | 6,447,200 | |||||||||
59,600 | The Weir Group plc† | 250,790 | 1,526,051 | |||||||||
114,500 | Watts Water Technologies | |||||||||||
Inc., Cl. A | 5,368,269 | 16,706,695 | ||||||||||
77,004,830 | 153,119,276 | |||||||||||
Health Care — 5.4% | ||||||||||||
12,100 | AbbVie Inc. | 1,229,138 | 1,362,944 | |||||||||
800 | ABIOMED Inc.† | 123,915 | 249,688 | |||||||||
2,000 | ACADIA Pharmaceuticals | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 48,709 | 48,780 | ||||||||||
1,736 | Acorda Therapeutics Inc.† | 11,874 | 8,281 | |||||||||
2,000 | Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc.† | 54,487 | 32,020 | |||||||||
16,200 | Alcon Inc. | 574,003 | 1,138,212 | |||||||||
4,000 | Alimera Sciences Inc.† | 18,900 | 36,400 | |||||||||
2,000 | Alkermes plc† | 48,540 | 49,040 | |||||||||
7,000 | AmerisourceBergen Corp. | 544,735 | 801,430 | |||||||||
25,000 | Amgen Inc. | 2,544,386 | 6,093,750 | |||||||||
2,764 | Anika Therapeutics Inc.† | 95,074 | 119,654 | |||||||||
10,901 | Aptinyx Inc.† | 44,030 | 30,850 | |||||||||
2,000 | AstraZeneca plc | 203,998 | 240,224 | |||||||||
47,992 | Axogen Inc.† | 643,610 | 1,037,107 | |||||||||
14,000 | Baxter International Inc. | 476,337 | 1,127,000 | |||||||||
1,600 | Becton, Dickinson and Co. | 368,846 | 389,104 | |||||||||
1,200 | Berkeley Lights Inc.† | 87,233 | 53,772 | |||||||||
7,000 | Biogen Inc.† | 1,984,788 | 2,423,890 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
5
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) | ||||||||||||
Health Care (Continued) | ||||||||||||
26,100 | BioMarin Pharmaceutical | |||||||||||
Inc.† | $ | 2,127,052 | $ | 2,177,784 | ||||||||
44,500 | Bluebird Bio Inc.† | 1,388,730 | 1,423,110 | |||||||||
140,000 | Boston Scientific Corp.† | 4,050,260 | 5,986,400 | |||||||||
2,500 | Bridgebio Pharma Inc.† | 138,467 | 152,400 | |||||||||
149,600 | Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. | 7,992,060 | 9,996,272 | |||||||||
12,150 | Calithera Biosciences Inc.† | 35,888 | 25,394 | |||||||||
1,400 | CareDx Inc.† | 102,919 | 128,128 | |||||||||
3,000 | Cigna Corp. | 486,187 | 711,210 | |||||||||
30,400 | Clovis Oncology Inc.† | 393,065 | 176,320 | |||||||||
167,823 | ConforMIS Inc.† | 225,699 | 192,996 | |||||||||
1,500 | Cortexyme Inc.† | 61,778 | 79,500 | |||||||||
15,800 | Covetrus Inc.† | 152,841 | 426,600 | |||||||||
13,400 | Cutera Inc.† | 327,129 | 657,002 | |||||||||
7,200 | CVS Group plc† | 148,196 | 240,528 | |||||||||
8,000 | CytomX Therapeutics Inc.† | 74,350 | 50,640 | |||||||||
242,000 | Demant A/S† | 2,208,367 | 13,621,846 | |||||||||
1,660 | Edwards Lifesciences | |||||||||||
Corp.† | 144,724 | 171,926 | ||||||||||
4,000 | eHealth Inc.† | 207,387 | 233,600 | |||||||||
42,000 | ElectroCore Inc.† | 87,690 | 49,980 | |||||||||
24,411 | Electromed Inc.† | 230,584 | 275,600 | |||||||||
17,200 | Endo International plc† | 127,781 | 80,496 | |||||||||
3,000 | Evolus Inc.† | 42,843 | 37,950 | |||||||||
4,040 | Exact Sciences Corp.† | 332,952 | 502,212 | |||||||||
3,100 | Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA | 148,756 | 161,718 | |||||||||
2,000 | G1 Therapeutics Inc.† | 28,640 | 43,880 | |||||||||
5,000 | Galapagos NV, ADR† | 435,668 | 344,450 | |||||||||
1,390 | Gerresheimer AG | 150,196 | 153,694 | |||||||||
5,500 | Gilead Sciences Inc. | 332,973 | 378,730 | |||||||||
1,000 | Glaukos Corp.† | 37,965 | 84,830 | |||||||||
8,000 | GlaxoSmithKline plc | 148,787 | 157,076 | |||||||||
3,000 | Globus Medical Inc., Cl.A† | 135,690 | 232,590 | |||||||||
6,919 | GoodRx Holdings Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl. A† | 255,145 | 249,153 | ||||||||||
2,000 | Gritstone bio Inc.† | 19,130 | 18,260 | |||||||||
500 | Guardant Health Inc.† | 83,710 | 62,095 | |||||||||
3,000 | Haemonetics Corp.† | 180,090 | 199,920 | |||||||||
61,000 | Henry Schein Inc.† | 1,700,084 | 4,525,590 | |||||||||
1,000 | Hologic Inc.† | 68,954 | 66,720 | |||||||||
1,496 | ICU Medical Inc.† | 278,441 | 307,877 | |||||||||
3,400 | Idorsia Ltd.† | 100,534 | 93,484 | |||||||||
200 | Illumina Inc.† | 97,768 | 94,642 | |||||||||
5,500 | Incyte Corp.† | 472,034 | 462,715 | |||||||||
46,800 | Indivior plc† | 28,408 | 100,086 | |||||||||
6,900 | Inogen Inc.† | 327,545 | 449,673 | |||||||||
14,000 | Intercept Pharmaceuticals | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 334,091 | 279,580 | ||||||||||
7,000 | Intersect ENT Inc.† | 83,519 | 119,630 | |||||||||
185 | Intuitive Surgical Inc.† | 141,888 | 170,133 |
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
1,200 | Ipsen SA | $ | 101,114 | $ | 124,817 | |||||||
1,200 | iRhythm Technologies Inc.† | 179,128 | 79,620 | |||||||||
33,600 | Johnson & Johnson | 3,372,476 | 5,535,264 | |||||||||
7,000 | Jounce Therapeutics Inc.† | 54,040 | 47,600 | |||||||||
96,892 | Kindred Biosciences Inc.† | 449,992 | 888,500 | |||||||||
1,300 | Koninklijke DSM NV | 214,797 | 242,628 | |||||||||
200 | Laboratory Corp. of America | |||||||||||
Holdings† | 39,919 | 55,170 | ||||||||||
12,569 | Lannett Co. Inc.† | 62,158 | 58,697 | |||||||||
1,833 | Larimar Therapeutics Inc.† | 59,305 | 18,000 | |||||||||
2,000 | LeMaitre Vascular Inc. | 92,260 | 122,040 | |||||||||
3,000 | Luminex Corp. | 71,115 | 110,400 | |||||||||
10,500 | Mallinckrodt plc† | 149,520 | 3,045 | |||||||||
6,750 | Marinus Pharmaceuticals | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 123,443 | 121,095 | ||||||||||
1,000 | Medpace Holdings Inc.† | 160,714 | 176,630 | |||||||||
106,100 | Merck & Co. Inc. | 5,930,229 | 8,251,397 | |||||||||
2,000 | Meridian Bioscience Inc.† | 50,499 | 44,360 | |||||||||
500 | Moderna Inc.† | 76,660 | 117,490 | |||||||||
2,000 | NanoString Technologies | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 157,075 | 129,580 | ||||||||||
6,000 | Nektar Therapeutics† | 255,282 | 102,960 | |||||||||
1,500 | NeoGenomics Inc.† | 83,294 | 67,755 | |||||||||
64,443 | Neuronetics Inc.† | 421,443 | 1,032,377 | |||||||||
1,275 | Novartis AG | 120,657 | 116,193 | |||||||||
80,000 | Novartis AG, ADR | 4,165,987 | 7,299,200 | |||||||||
7,900 | NuVasive Inc.† | 396,622 | 535,462 | |||||||||
4,000 | Odonate Therapeutics Inc.† | 58,733 | 13,960 | |||||||||
139,975 | Option Care Health Inc.† | 1,426,039 | 3,061,253 | |||||||||
6,430 | Organon & Co.† | 207,415 | 194,572 | |||||||||
5,000 | Orthofix Medical Inc.† | 207,373 | 200,550 | |||||||||
500 | PerkinElmer Inc. | 71,621 | 77,205 | |||||||||
2,000 | Perrigo Co. plc | 85,395 | 91,700 | |||||||||
2,200 | Personalis Inc.† | 65,834 | 55,660 | |||||||||
8,500 | Puma Biotechnology Inc.† | 198,917 | 78,030 | |||||||||
1,500 | QIAGEN NV† | 74,706 | 72,570 | |||||||||
500 | Quest Diagnostics Inc. | 62,573 | 65,985 | |||||||||
11,500 | Quidel Corp.† | 1,716,016 | 1,473,380 | |||||||||
300 | Repligen Corp.† | 63,897 | 59,886 | |||||||||
27,064 | ReWalk Robotics Ltd.† | 94,116 | 45,738 | |||||||||
1,050 | Roche Holding AG, | |||||||||||
Genusschein | 360,372 | 395,544 | ||||||||||
26,121 | Rockwell Medical Inc.† | 78,547 | 23,773 | |||||||||
3,000 | Sangamo Therapeutics | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 39,060 | 35,910 | ||||||||||
2,100 | Sanofi | 205,102 | 220,023 | |||||||||
2,000 | Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.† | 167,525 | 155,480 | |||||||||
2,596 | Sio Gene Therapies Inc.† | 46,529 | 7,087 | |||||||||
126,301 | SmileDirectClub Inc.† | 1,056,445 | 1,096,293 | |||||||||
5,615 | Tactile Systems Technology | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 211,066 | 291,980 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
6
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) | ||||||||||||
Health Care (Continued) | ||||||||||||
5,000 | Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. | |||||||||||
Ltd. | $ | 183,733 | $ | 167,379 | ||||||||
100 | Teladoc Health Inc.† | 28,527 | 16,629 | |||||||||
11,000 | Teva Pharmaceutical | |||||||||||
Industries Ltd., ADR† | 174,605 | 108,900 | ||||||||||
15,700 | Tristel plc | 120,482 | 138,560 | |||||||||
41,000 | UnitedHealth Group Inc. | 9,240,288 | 16,418,040 | |||||||||
11,996 | Valeritas Holdings Inc.† | 56,778 | 240 | |||||||||
500 | Vertex Pharmaceuticals | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 97,477 | 100,815 | ||||||||||
6,000 | Viatris Inc. | 92,340 | 85,740 | |||||||||
11,481 | Voyager Therapeutics Inc.† | 63,641 | 47,417 | |||||||||
4,000 | Waters Corp.† | 285,470 | 1,382,440 | |||||||||
11,500 | Zimmer Biomet Holdings | |||||||||||
Inc. | 1,292,518 | 1,849,430 | ||||||||||
26,000 | Zoetis Inc. | 888,327 | 4,845,360 | |||||||||
21,297 | Zosano Pharma Corp.† | 87,283 | 20,234 | |||||||||
71,676,047 | 119,574,609 | |||||||||||
Consumer Products — 5.4% | ||||||||||||
14,100 | Christian Dior SE | 534,292 | 11,352,252 | |||||||||
27,000 | Church & Dwight Co. Inc. | 468,406 | 2,300,940 | |||||||||
219,000 | Edgewell Personal Care Co. | 13,253,855 | 9,614,100 | |||||||||
171,000 | Energizer Holdings Inc. | 7,336,129 | 7,349,580 | |||||||||
35,500 | Essity AB, Cl. B | 541,915 | 1,177,236 | |||||||||
2,100 | Givaudan SA | 725,396 | 9,766,334 | |||||||||
80,000 | Hanesbrands Inc. | 719,339 | 1,493,600 | |||||||||
23,800 | Harley-Davidson Inc. | 1,105,662 | 1,090,516 | |||||||||
1,270 | Hermes International | 444,999 | 1,850,001 | |||||||||
7,959 | Kimball International Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl. B | 104,750 | 104,661 | ||||||||||
25,000 | Mattel Inc.† | 348,023 | 502,500 | |||||||||
10,000 | National Presto Industries | |||||||||||
Inc. | 501,782 | 1,016,500 | ||||||||||
10,000 | Oil-Dri Corp. of America | 171,255 | 341,800 | |||||||||
49,900 | Reckitt Benckiser Group plc | 1,661,674 | 4,415,636 | |||||||||
2,205 | Spectrum Brands Holdings | |||||||||||
Inc. | 110,250 | 187,513 | ||||||||||
27,600 | Svenska Cellulosa AB SCA, | |||||||||||
Cl. B | 73,685 | 452,308 | ||||||||||
7,269,000 | Swedish Match AB | 11,866,736 | 61,987,079 | |||||||||
400 | The Estee Lauder | |||||||||||
Companies Inc., Cl. A | 99,385 | 127,232 | ||||||||||
5,000 | The Honest Co. Inc.† | 84,876 | 80,950 | |||||||||
295,567 | Topps Company Inc.† | 3,000,005 | 3,314,488 | |||||||||
4,280 | Unilever plc | 250,170 | 250,468 | |||||||||
3,916 | Zalando SE†(b) | 398,080 | 473,394 | |||||||||
43,800,664 | 119,249,088 | |||||||||||
Diversified Industrial — 5.4% | ||||||||||||
343,000 | Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp.† | 2,188,075 | 2,082,010 |
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
39,006 | AZZ Inc. | $ | 1,476,344 | $ | 2,019,731 | |||||||
40,000 | Colfax Corp.† | 1,028,100 | 1,832,400 | |||||||||
150,100 | Crane Co. | 8,168,936 | 13,864,737 | |||||||||
305,000 | General Electric Co. | 2,165,673 | 4,105,300 | |||||||||
126,000 | Greif Inc., Cl. A | 2,683,348 | 7,629,300 | |||||||||
12,000 | Greif Inc., Cl. B | 727,946 | 708,000 | |||||||||
68,000 | Griffon Corp. | 1,272,202 | 1,742,840 | |||||||||
156,000 | Honeywell International Inc. | 20,783,122 | 34,218,600 | |||||||||
29,119 | Ingersoll Rand Inc.† | 256,089 | 1,421,298 | |||||||||
3,500 | IntriCon Corp.† | 82,415 | 78,680 | |||||||||
88,925 | ITT Inc. | 2,390,297 | 8,144,641 | |||||||||
35,000 | Kennametal Inc. | 891,874 | 1,257,200 | |||||||||
50,000 | Myers Industries Inc. | 818,952 | 1,050,000 | |||||||||
30,000 | nVent Electric plc | 327,658 | 937,200 | |||||||||
96,800 | Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. | 1,291,066 | 3,111,152 | |||||||||
1,200 | Proto Labs Inc.† | 114,996 | 110,160 | |||||||||
30,000 | Rexnord Corp. | 630,867 | 1,501,200 | |||||||||
3,000 | Rheinmetall AG | 277,330 | 296,319 | |||||||||
500 | Roper Technologies Inc. | 137,938 | 235,100 | |||||||||
2,150 | Siemens AG | 299,057 | 340,646 | |||||||||
518,900 | Steel Partners Holdings LP† | 3,431,161 | 15,110,368 | |||||||||
12,000 | Sulzer AG | 649,576 | 1,657,498 | |||||||||
46,600 | Textron Inc. | 1,652,237 | 3,204,682 | |||||||||
100,000 | Toray Industries Inc. | 771,663 | 665,286 | |||||||||
43,000 | Trane Technologies plc | 995,117 | 7,918,020 | |||||||||
20,000 | Tredegar Corp. | 316,961 | 275,400 | |||||||||
90,000 | Trinity Industries Inc. | 1,492,760 | 2,420,100 | |||||||||
14,000 | Vantage Towers AG† | 411,612 | 450,870 | |||||||||
57,733,372 | 118,388,738 | |||||||||||
Entertainment — 5.0% | ||||||||||||
800 | Activision Blizzard Inc. | 81,325 | 76,352 | |||||||||
20,658 | Charter Communications | |||||||||||
Inc., Cl.A† | 6,180,680 | 14,903,714 | ||||||||||
34,000 | Discovery Inc., Cl.A† | 1,107,999 | 1,043,120 | |||||||||
235,800 | Discovery Inc., Cl.C† | 4,996,528 | 6,833,484 | |||||||||
422,000 | Dover Motorsports Inc. | 862,140 | 949,500 | |||||||||
2,000 | Electronic Arts Inc. | 254,219 | 287,660 | |||||||||
90,000 | Genting Singapore Ltd. | 74,910 | 55,886 | |||||||||
688,000 | Grupo Televisa SAB, ADR | 9,246,771 | 9,824,640 | |||||||||
120,000 | Liberty Media Acquisition | |||||||||||
Corp.† | 1,200,000 | 1,270,800 | ||||||||||
46,500 | Liberty Media Corp.- Liberty | |||||||||||
Braves, Cl.A† | 1,188,040 | 1,312,230 | ||||||||||
80,708 | Liberty Media Corp.- Liberty | |||||||||||
Braves, Cl.C† | 1,449,278 | 2,241,261 | ||||||||||
24,545 | Lions Gate Entertainment | |||||||||||
Corp., Cl.B† | 534,815 | 449,173 | ||||||||||
3,000 | Live Nation Entertainment | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 194,225 | 262,770 | ||||||||||
98,367 | Madison Square Garden | |||||||||||
Entertainment Corp.† | 3,676,444 | 8,259,877 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
7
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) | ||||||||||||
Entertainment (Continued) | ||||||||||||
96,367 | Madison Square Garden | |||||||||||
Sports Corp.† | $ | 8,320,051 | $ | 16,630,053 | ||||||||
570 | Netflix Inc.† | 299,153 | 301,080 | |||||||||
15,000 | Rovio Entertainment Oyj(b) | 92,678 | 122,280 | |||||||||
8,840 | Take-Two Interactive | |||||||||||
Software Inc.† | 960,626 | 1,564,857 | ||||||||||
40,000 | TBS Holdings Inc. | 796,181 | 614,249 | |||||||||
91,740 | The Walt Disney Co.† | 7,502,635 | 16,125,140 | |||||||||
2,400 | Ubisoft Entertainment SA† | 223,224 | 168,016 | |||||||||
60,000 | Universal Entertainment | |||||||||||
Corp.† | 763,928 | 1,330,753 | ||||||||||
371,000 | ViacomCBS Inc., Cl. A | 14,381,867 | 17,974,950 | |||||||||
5,000 | ViacomCBS Inc., Cl. B | 200,544 | 226,000 | |||||||||
242,000 | Vivendi SE | 6,028,151 | 8,129,336 | |||||||||
1,700 | Xilam Animation SA† | 98,540 | 84,663 | |||||||||
70,714,952 | 111,041,844 | |||||||||||
Business Services — 4.4% | ||||||||||||
11,000 | Allegion plc | 300,446 | 1,532,300 | |||||||||
9,100 | Applus Services SA† | 100,715 | 88,913 | |||||||||
425,000 | Clear Channel Outdoor | |||||||||||
Holdings Inc.† | 946,148 | 1,122,000 | ||||||||||
200,000 | Diebold Nixdorf Inc.† | 1,509,130 | 2,568,000 | |||||||||
3,000 | Edenred | 38,786 | 170,926 | |||||||||
2,000 | ICF International Inc. | 162,656 | 175,720 | |||||||||
8,000 | IHS Markit Ltd. | 710,142 | 901,280 | |||||||||
16,000 | Jardine Matheson Holdings | |||||||||||
Ltd. | 534,478 | 1,022,720 | ||||||||||
11,000 | Lamar Advertising Co., Cl.A, | |||||||||||
REIT | 871,529 | 1,148,620 | ||||||||||
187,500 | Macquarie Infrastructure | |||||||||||
Corp. | 6,462,812 | 7,175,625 | ||||||||||
167,580 | Mastercard Inc., Cl. A | 26,223,186 | 61,181,782 | |||||||||
80,000 | Network International | |||||||||||
Holdings plc†(b) | 308,827 | 404,698 | ||||||||||
150,000 | Resideo Technologies Inc.† | 1,865,607 | 4,500,000 | |||||||||
1,220,000 | Steel Connect Inc.† | 762,256 | 2,440,000 | |||||||||
220,000 | The Interpublic Group of | |||||||||||
Companies Inc. | 3,844,771 | 7,147,800 | ||||||||||
10,000 | United Parcel Service Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl. B | 1,008,688 | 2,079,700 | ||||||||||
3,000 | Viad Corp.† | 117,584 | 149,550 | |||||||||
13,960 | Visa Inc., Cl. A | 387,074 | 3,264,127 | |||||||||
7,000 | Willdan Group Inc.† | 289,846 | 263,480 | |||||||||
2,000 | Worldline SA†(b) | 181,490 | 187,206 | |||||||||
46,626,171 | 97,524,447 | |||||||||||
Machinery — 3.7% | ||||||||||||
25,000 | Astec Industries Inc. | 856,157 | 1,573,500 | |||||||||
12,800 | Caterpillar Inc. | 86,323 | 2,785,664 | |||||||||
323,610 | CNH Industrial NV | 3,578,910 | 5,410,759 |
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
142,000 | Deere & Co.(a) | $ | 8,175,689 | $ | 50,084,820 | |||||||
188,000 | Xylem Inc. | 12,976,427 | 22,552,480 | |||||||||
25,673,506 | 82,407,223 | |||||||||||
Automotive: Parts and Accessories — 3.6% | ||||||||||||
8,500 | Aptiv plc† | 556,397 | 1,337,305 | |||||||||
89,600 | BorgWarner Inc. | 3,933,260 | 4,349,184 | |||||||||
640 | Cummins Inc. | 150,308 | 156,038 | |||||||||
323,900 | Dana Inc. | 4,129,707 | 7,695,864 | |||||||||
26,000 | Garrett Motion Inc.† | 267,409 | 207,480 | |||||||||
216,700 | Genuine Parts Co. | 16,113,374 | 27,406,049 | |||||||||
300,000 | Modine Manufacturing Co.† | 3,791,912 | 4,977,000 | |||||||||
46,500 | O’Reilly Automotive Inc.† | 13,579,737 | 26,328,765 | |||||||||
105,000 | Standard Motor Products | |||||||||||
Inc. | 1,181,521 | 4,551,750 | ||||||||||
15,000 | Strattec Security Corp.† | 735,300 | 666,900 | |||||||||
110,000 | Superior Industries | |||||||||||
International Inc.† | 392,203 | 948,200 | ||||||||||
15,000 | Tenneco Inc., Cl.A† | 167,665 | 289,800 | |||||||||
44,998,793 | 78,914,335 | |||||||||||
Consumer Services — 3.3% | ||||||||||||
430 | Amazon.com Inc.† | 1,378,393 | 1,479,269 | |||||||||
2,000 | Deutsche Post AG | 101,199 | 136,029 | |||||||||
11,000 | eBay Inc. | 266,292 | 772,310 | |||||||||
7,000 | HomeServe plc | 103,233 | 92,522 | |||||||||
45,000 | IAC/InterActiveCorp.† | 1,229,128 | 6,937,650 | |||||||||
142,000 | Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings | |||||||||||
Inc., Cl.A† | 726,777 | 577,940 | ||||||||||
50,000 | Matthews International | |||||||||||
Corp., Cl. A | 1,374,676 | 1,798,000 | ||||||||||
430,000 | Qurate Retail Inc., Cl. A | 4,225,341 | 5,628,700 | |||||||||
1,380,000 | Rollins Inc. | 24,642,033 | 47,196,000 | |||||||||
78,500 | Terminix Global Holdings | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 2,768,067 | 3,745,235 | ||||||||||
4,000 | Travel + Leisure Co. | 130,025 | 237,800 | |||||||||
3,950 | Uber Technologies Inc.† | 227,518 | 197,974 | |||||||||
83,000 | Vroom Inc.† | 2,992,535 | 3,474,380 | |||||||||
40,165,217 | 72,273,809 | |||||||||||
Cable and Satellite — 2.8% | ||||||||||||
30,000 | Altice USA Inc., Cl.A† | 829,592 | 1,024,200 | |||||||||
66,000 | AMC Networks Inc., Cl.A† | 3,360,621 | 4,408,800 | |||||||||
200 | Cable One Inc. | 77,334 | 382,562 | |||||||||
223,980 | Comcast Corp., Cl. A | 8,440,071 | 12,771,340 | |||||||||
68,642 | DISH Network Corp., Cl.A† | 1,916,124 | 2,869,236 | |||||||||
95,433 | EchoStar Corp., Cl.A† | 2,275,606 | 2,318,067 | |||||||||
145,605 | Liberty Global plc, Cl.A† | 2,504,125 | 3,954,632 | |||||||||
239,064 | Liberty Global plc, Cl.C† | 6,251,611 | 6,464,290 | |||||||||
57,987 | Liberty Latin America Ltd., | |||||||||||
Cl.A† | 856,886 | 803,700 | ||||||||||
71,664 | Liberty Latin America Ltd., | |||||||||||
Cl.C† | 1,253,203 | 1,010,462 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
8
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) | ||||||||||||
Cable and Satellite (Continued) | ||||||||||||
4,000 | Naspers Ltd., Cl.N | $ | 899,818 | $ | 839,829 | |||||||
377,800 | Rogers Communications | |||||||||||
Inc., Cl. B | 10,068,817 | 20,076,292 | ||||||||||
158,000 | Shaw Communications Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl. B | 403,311 | 4,569,360 | ||||||||||
39,137,119 | 61,492,770 | |||||||||||
Energy and Utilities — 2.8% | ||||||||||||
33,000 | APA Corp. | 1,244,240 | 713,790 | |||||||||
5,000 | Atlantica Sustainable | |||||||||||
Infrastructure plc | 172,286 | 186,100 | ||||||||||
60,000 | Avangrid Inc. | 2,541,835 | 3,085,800 | |||||||||
22,500 | BP plc, ADR | 923,206 | 594,450 | |||||||||
16,000 | CMS Energy Corp. | 95,699 | 945,280 | |||||||||
162,000 | ConocoPhillips | 7,398,813 | 9,865,800 | |||||||||
9,700 | Electricite de France SA | 149,991 | 132,501 | |||||||||
98,400 | Enbridge Inc. | 2,488,608 | 3,939,936 | |||||||||
51,000 | Energy Transfer LP | 666,669 | 542,130 | |||||||||
68,700 | Enterprise Products | |||||||||||
Partners LP | 1,338,060 | 1,657,731 | ||||||||||
1,500 | Eos Energy Enterprises | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 36,629 | 26,940 | ||||||||||
48,000 | Evergy Inc. | 2,754,877 | 2,900,640 | |||||||||
40,000 | Eversource Energy | 2,202,641 | 3,209,600 | |||||||||
46,000 | Exxon Mobil Corp. | 2,083,107 | 2,901,680 | |||||||||
234,000 | Halliburton Co. | 5,156,310 | 5,410,080 | |||||||||
65,000 | Kinder Morgan Inc. | 774,600 | 1,184,950 | |||||||||
4,000 | Marathon Oil Corp. | 111,366 | 54,480 | |||||||||
8,000 | Marathon Petroleum Corp. | 402,325 | 483,360 | |||||||||
43,000 | National Fuel Gas Co. | 2,349,038 | 2,246,750 | |||||||||
48,000 | NextEra Energy Inc. | 783,959 | 3,517,440 | |||||||||
62,500 | NextEra Energy Partners LP | 3,144,362 | 4,772,500 | |||||||||
4,000 | Niko Resources Ltd., | |||||||||||
Toronto† | 55,327 | 9 | ||||||||||
10,000 | Occidental Petroleum Corp. | 150,453 | 312,700 | |||||||||
95,000 | Oceaneering International | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 1,319,297 | 1,479,150 | ||||||||||
95,000 | PG&E Corp.† | 881,071 | 966,150 | |||||||||
21,000 | Phillips 66 | 1,833,947 | 1,802,220 | |||||||||
7,500 | PNM Resources Inc. | 342,859 | 365,775 | |||||||||
75,180 | RPC Inc.† | 569,529 | 372,141 | |||||||||
40,000 | Schlumberger NV | 1,562,927 | 1,280,400 | |||||||||
30,770 | Southwest Gas Holdings | |||||||||||
Inc. | 1,288,738 | 2,036,666 | ||||||||||
100,000 | The AES Corp. | 1,136,430 | 2,607,000 | |||||||||
2,280 | TotalEnergies SE | 99,926 | 103,152 | |||||||||
34,000 | UGI Corp. | 1,299,380 | 1,574,540 | |||||||||
47,358,505 | 61,271,841 | |||||||||||
Electronics — 2.5% | ||||||||||||
6,400 | ams AG† | 149,689 | 128,380 |
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
41,591 | Bel Fuse Inc., Cl. A | $ | 543,364 | $ | 595,583 | |||||||
10,000 | EXFO Inc.† | 69,690 | 59,500 | |||||||||
65,000 | Flex Ltd.† | 1,168,304 | 1,161,550 | |||||||||
4,000 | Hitachi Ltd., ADR | 287,076 | 458,160 | |||||||||
56,500 | Intel Corp. | 1,640,101 | 3,171,910 | |||||||||
390 | KLA Corp. | 99,179 | 126,442 | |||||||||
33,000 | Koninklijke Philips NV | 177,838 | 1,640,100 | |||||||||
1,400 | Mettler-Toledo International | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 210,146 | 1,939,476 | ||||||||||
25,000 | Plug Power Inc.† | 665,701 | 854,750 | |||||||||
70 | Roku Inc.† | 30,894 | 32,148 | |||||||||
16,000 | Sony Group Corp., ADR | 1,159,369 | 1,555,520 | |||||||||
40,000 | TE Connectivity Ltd. | 1,721,146 | 5,408,400 | |||||||||
190,000 | Texas Instruments Inc. | 14,386,721 | 36,537,000 | |||||||||
620 | Thermo Fisher Scientific | |||||||||||
Inc. | 293,219 | 312,771 | ||||||||||
200 | Universal Display Corp. | 39,001 | 44,466 | |||||||||
6,000 | Vishay Precision Group | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 200,408 | 204,240 | ||||||||||
22,841,846 | 54,230,396 | |||||||||||
Broadcasting — 2.4% | ||||||||||||
2,000 | Cogeco Inc. | 39,014 | 155,115 | |||||||||
24,000 | Corus Entertainment Inc., | |||||||||||
OTC, Cl. B | 42,622 | 123,528 | ||||||||||
138,400 | Fox Corp., Cl. A | 5,750,520 | 5,138,792 | |||||||||
54,000 | Fox Corp., Cl. B | 2,235,600 | 1,900,800 | |||||||||
16,000 | Gray Television Inc. | 14,422 | 374,400 | |||||||||
19,250 | Liberty Broadband Corp., | |||||||||||
Cl.A† | 608,060 | 3,237,272 | ||||||||||
88,172 | Liberty Broadband Corp., | |||||||||||
Cl.C† | 4,709,887 | 15,311,950 | ||||||||||
48,333 | Liberty Media Corp.- Liberty | |||||||||||
Formula One, Cl.A† | 1,455,986 | 2,060,436 | ||||||||||
48,250 | Liberty Media Corp.- Liberty | |||||||||||
Formula One, Cl.C† | 1,188,712 | 2,326,132 | ||||||||||
55,000 | Liberty Media Corp.- Liberty | |||||||||||
SiriusXM, Cl.A† | 1,482,902 | 2,561,900 | ||||||||||
183,449 | Liberty Media Corp.- Liberty | |||||||||||
SiriusXM, Cl.C† | 4,979,604 | 8,510,199 | ||||||||||
267,600 | MSG Networks Inc., Cl.A† | 2,660,368 | 3,901,608 | |||||||||
19,000 | Nexstar Media Group Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl. A | 1,285,048 | 2,809,720 | ||||||||||
83,000 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | |||||||||||
Inc., Cl. A | 2,506,275 | 2,757,260 | ||||||||||
50,000 | TEGNA Inc. | 817,601 | 938,000 | |||||||||
80,000 | Television Broadcasts Ltd.† | 319,851 | 76,246 | |||||||||
30,096,472 | 52,183,358 | |||||||||||
Retail — 2.3% | ||||||||||||
60,000 | AutoNation Inc.† | 2,690,025 | 5,688,600 | |||||||||
5,000 | Casey’s General Stores Inc. | 531,212 | 973,200 | |||||||||
37,200 | Costco Wholesale Corp. | 5,133,021 | 14,718,924 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
9
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) | ||||||||||||
Retail (Continued) | ||||||||||||
100,500 | CVS Health Corp. | $ | 8,184,217 | $ | 8,385,720 | |||||||
2,000 | Dollar Tree Inc.† | 205,040 | 199,000 | |||||||||
23,000 | Lowe’s Companies Inc. | 2,338,023 | 4,461,310 | |||||||||
125,000 | Macy’s Inc.† | 2,153,689 | 2,370,000 | |||||||||
16,000 | Movado Group Inc. | 168,058 | 503,520 | |||||||||
1,800 | NIKE Inc., Cl. B | 244,816 | 278,082 | |||||||||
31,228 | PetIQ Inc.† | 832,775 | 1,205,401 | |||||||||
35,000 | Sally Beauty Holdings Inc.† | 312,896 | 772,450 | |||||||||
11,400 | Shake Shack Inc., Cl.A† | 565,026 | 1,220,028 | |||||||||
125,000 | The Wendy’s Co. | 2,688,689 | 2,927,500 | |||||||||
52,000 | Walgreens Boots Alliance | |||||||||||
Inc. | 1,969,498 | 2,735,720 | ||||||||||
30,000 | Walmart Inc. | 1,519,821 | 4,230,600 | |||||||||
29,536,806 | 50,670,055 | |||||||||||
Specialty Chemicals — 2.1% | ||||||||||||
11,000 | AdvanSix Inc.† | 134,544 | 328,460 | |||||||||
1,600 | Covestro AG(b) | 102,462 | 103,322 | |||||||||
137,000 | DuPont de Nemours Inc. | 7,446,099 | 10,605,170 | |||||||||
423,500 | Ferro Corp.† | 4,438,785 | 9,134,895 | |||||||||
13,000 | FMC Corp. | 590,444 | 1,406,600 | |||||||||
140,000 | GCP Applied Technologies | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 3,112,387 | 3,256,400 | ||||||||||
15,000 | H.B. Fuller Co. | 626,362 | 954,150 | |||||||||
63,500 | International Flavors & | |||||||||||
Fragrances Inc. | 5,444,144 | 9,486,900 | ||||||||||
2,800 | Johnson Matthey plc | 100,869 | 119,025 | |||||||||
450 | Linde plc | 119,948 | 130,095 | |||||||||
124,900 | Sensient Technologies | |||||||||||
Corp. | 5,892,703 | 10,811,344 | ||||||||||
13,000 | SGL Carbon SE† | 60,439 | 124,705 | |||||||||
2,000 | The Chemours Co. | 22,594 | 69,600 | |||||||||
780 | The Sherwin-Williams Co. | 194,877 | 212,511 | |||||||||
28,286,657 | 46,743,177 | |||||||||||
Environmental Services — 2.0% | ||||||||||||
47,000 | Biffa plc†(b) | 149,146 | 211,299 | |||||||||
30,000 | Pentair plc | 699,891 | 2,024,700 | |||||||||
229,000 | Republic Services Inc. | 14,175,372 | 25,192,290 | |||||||||
16,600 | Veolia Environnement SA | 403,415 | 501,338 | |||||||||
117,100 | Waste Management Inc. | 10,139,261 | 16,406,881 | |||||||||
25,567,085 | 44,336,508 | |||||||||||
Computer Software and Services — 2.0% | ||||||||||||
650 | Adobe Inc.† | 309,368 | 380,666 | |||||||||
500 | Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., | |||||||||||
ADR† | 108,241 | 113,390 | ||||||||||
150 | Alphabet Inc., Cl.A† | 262,351 | 366,268 | |||||||||
6,330 | Alphabet Inc., Cl.C† | 8,293,396 | 15,865,006 | |||||||||
2,200 | Atos SE | 200,051 | 133,824 | |||||||||
14,000 | Avast plc(b) | 101,549 | 94,856 |
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
5,200 | Blue Prism Group plc† | $ | 101,678 | $ | 58,264 | |||||||
1,000 | Capgemini SE | 146,394 | 192,091 | |||||||||
9,000 | Check Point Software | |||||||||||
Technologies Ltd.† | 650,885 | 1,045,170 | ||||||||||
2,250 | Cloudflare Inc., Cl.A† | 171,253 | 238,140 | |||||||||
940 | CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl.A† | 147,572 | 236,231 | ||||||||||
1,080 | Dassault Systemes SE† | 203,455 | 261,885 | |||||||||
15,305 | Facebook Inc., Cl.A† | 3,858,572 | 5,321,701 | |||||||||
300 | FactSet Research Systems | |||||||||||
Inc. | 99,651 | 100,683 | ||||||||||
1,800 | Fidelity National Information | |||||||||||
Services Inc. | 268,449 | 255,006 | ||||||||||
15,000 | FireEye Inc.† | 203,925 | 303,300 | |||||||||
13,820 | Fiserv Inc.† | 822,753 | 1,477,220 | |||||||||
70,000 | GTY Technology Holdings | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 398,411 | 497,700 | ||||||||||
90,000 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | |||||||||||
Co. | 1,282,160 | 1,312,200 | ||||||||||
5,000 | I3 Verticals Inc., Cl.A† | 152,355 | 151,100 | |||||||||
2,000 | Match Group Inc.† | 116,458 | 322,500 | |||||||||
3,000 | Micron Technology Inc.† | 227,355 | 254,940 | |||||||||
5,850 | Microsoft Corp. | 1,272,706 | 1,584,765 | |||||||||
2,000 | MKS Instruments Inc. | 297,450 | 355,900 | |||||||||
1,500 | NCR Corp.† | 73,978 | 68,415 | |||||||||
5,000 | NortonLifeLock Inc. | 99,596 | 136,100 | |||||||||
550 | NVIDIA Corp. | 294,346 | 440,055 | |||||||||
140,000 | Oxford Metrics plc | 173,766 | 208,187 | |||||||||
1,000 | Proofpoint Inc.† | 172,895 | 173,760 | |||||||||
4,700 | PSI Software AG | 156,151 | 187,254 | |||||||||
200 | Qualtrics International Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl.A† | 7,137 | 7,650 | ||||||||||
18,500 | Rockwell Automation Inc. | 663,071 | 5,291,370 | |||||||||
700 | salesforce.com Inc.† | 154,875 | 170,989 | |||||||||
1,800 | SAP SE, ADR | 231,651 | 252,828 | |||||||||
640 | ServiceNow Inc.† | 341,670 | 351,712 | |||||||||
585 | Snowflake Inc., Cl.A† | 175,646 | 141,453 | |||||||||
47,000 | SolarWinds Corp.† | 765,648 | 793,830 | |||||||||
4,900 | Tailwind Acquisition Corp., | |||||||||||
Cl.A† | 49,147 | 48,853 | ||||||||||
1,300 | Temenos AG | 174,579 | 208,787 | |||||||||
2,000 | Unity Software Inc.† | 184,459 | 219,660 | |||||||||
400 | Veeva Systems Inc., Cl.A† | 107,315 | 124,380 | |||||||||
64,069 | Vimeo Inc.† | 528,017 | 3,139,381 | |||||||||
500 | VMware Inc., Cl.A† | 66,015 | 79,985 | |||||||||
100 | Zoom Video | |||||||||||
Communications Inc., | ||||||||||||
Cl.A† | 41,365 | 38,703 | ||||||||||
24,157,765 | 43,006,158 | |||||||||||
Telecommunications — 1.9% | ||||||||||||
55,000 | AT&T Inc. | 1,830,573 | 1,582,900 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
10
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) | ||||||||||||
Telecommunications (Continued) | ||||||||||||
55,400 | BCE Inc. | $ | 1,851,178 | $ | 2,732,328 | |||||||
924,200 | BT Group plc, Cl.A† | 3,750,687 | 2,480,185 | |||||||||
7,040,836 | Cable & Wireless Jamaica | |||||||||||
Ltd.†(c) | 128,658 | 54,529 | ||||||||||
30,000 | Cincinnati Bell Inc.† | 389,523 | 462,600 | |||||||||
8,000 | Comtech | |||||||||||
Telecommunications | ||||||||||||
Corp. | 193,934 | 193,280 | ||||||||||
29,180 | Deutsche Telekom AG | 531,230 | 616,299 | |||||||||
125,000 | Deutsche Telekom AG, ADR | 2,029,152 | 2,657,500 | |||||||||
36,000 | Hellenic | |||||||||||
Telecommunications | ||||||||||||
Organization SA | 452,922 | 604,021 | ||||||||||
15,000 | Hellenic | |||||||||||
Telecommunications | ||||||||||||
Organization SA, ADR | 91,062 | 130,350 | ||||||||||
264,732 | Koninklijke KPN NV | 448,166 | 826,828 | |||||||||
70,000 | Loral Space & | |||||||||||
Communications Inc. | 2,453,726 | 2,719,500 | ||||||||||
72,500 | Lumen Technologies Inc. | 686,003 | 985,275 | |||||||||
1,100,000 | NII Holdings Inc., | |||||||||||
Escrow†(c) | 2,475,000 | 2,387,000 | ||||||||||
16,000 | Oi SA, ADR† | 6,333 | 6,632 | |||||||||
4,267 | Oi SA, Cl.C† | 118,940 | 6,358 | |||||||||
21,000 | Telecom Argentina SA, ADR | 127,554 | 111,720 | |||||||||
535,000 | Telecom Italia SpA | 2,073,015 | 265,740 | |||||||||
70,000 | Telefonica Brasil SA, ADR | 726,827 | 595,000 | |||||||||
413,739 | Telefonica SA, ADR | 5,105,254 | 1,944,573 | |||||||||
525,000 | Telephone and Data | |||||||||||
Systems Inc. | 21,956,116 | 11,896,500 | ||||||||||
105,000 | Telesites SAB de CV† | 79,714 | 97,289 | |||||||||
50,000 | TELUS Corp. | 233,734 | 1,121,329 | |||||||||
46,075 | TIM SA, ADR | 352,294 | 530,784 | |||||||||
76,000 | VEON Ltd., ADR† | 133,023 | 139,080 | |||||||||
98,000 | Verizon Communications | |||||||||||
Inc. | 4,220,502 | 5,490,940 | ||||||||||
174,000 | Vodafone Group plc | 300,315 | 292,058 | |||||||||
75,800 | Vodafone Group plc, ADR | 1,333,931 | 1,298,454 | |||||||||
54,079,366 | 42,229,052 | |||||||||||
Building and Construction — 1.8% | ||||||||||||
27,000 | Arcosa Inc. | 476,033 | 1,585,980 | |||||||||
18,000 | Assa Abloy AB, Cl. B | 310,378 | 542,223 | |||||||||
5,500 | Canfor Corp.† | 130,259 | 125,831 | |||||||||
4,000 | Cie de Saint-Gobain | 188,831 | 263,426 | |||||||||
70,000 | Fortune Brands Home & | |||||||||||
Security Inc. | 2,217,346 | 6,972,700 | ||||||||||
22,000 | Gencor Industries Inc.† | 256,740 | 267,520 | |||||||||
84,448 | Herc Holdings Inc.† | 2,646,019 | 9,464,088 | |||||||||
35,200 | Ibstock plc(b) | 100,002 | 103,909 | |||||||||
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
215,814 | Johnson Controls | |||||||||||
International plc | $ | 9,457,010 | $ | 14,811,315 | ||||||||
17,200 | KBR Inc. | 557,869 | 656,180 | |||||||||
20,000 | PGT Innovations Inc.† | 286,174 | 464,600 | |||||||||
12,000 | Sika AG | 1,556,815 | 3,923,264 | |||||||||
3,000 | Vulcan Materials Co. | 484,932 | 522,210 | |||||||||
18,668,408 | 39,703,246 | |||||||||||
Aerospace and Defense — 1.7% | ||||||||||||
174,300 | Aerojet Rocketdyne | |||||||||||
Holdings Inc. | 6,645,995 | 8,416,947 | ||||||||||
1,400 | Airbus SE† | 151,220 | 180,016 | |||||||||
15,000 | Avio SpA | 207,838 | 221,261 | |||||||||
22,000 | BAE Systems plc | 150,576 | 158,858 | |||||||||
14,000 | Howmet Aerospace Inc.† | 223,451 | 482,580 | |||||||||
400 | IQVIA Holdings Inc.† | 75,816 | 96,928 | |||||||||
38,500 | Kaman Corp. | 1,201,223 | 1,940,400 | |||||||||
1,000 | Kratos Defense & Security | |||||||||||
Solutions Inc.† | 19,681 | 28,490 | ||||||||||
13,000 | L3Harris Technologies Inc. | 1,138,805 | 2,809,950 | |||||||||
17,500 | Northrop Grumman Corp. | 2,151,104 | 6,360,025 | |||||||||
6,000 | Raytheon Technologies | |||||||||||
Corp. | 345,126 | 511,860 | ||||||||||
4,015,666 | Rolls-Royce Holdings plc† | 8,297,320 | 5,494,878 | |||||||||
2,500 | Thales SA | 233,021 | 255,055 | |||||||||
41,000 | The Boeing Co.† | 8,344,885 | 9,821,960 | |||||||||
29,186,061 | 36,779,208 | |||||||||||
Hotels and Gaming — 1.7% | ||||||||||||
73,500 | 888 Holdings plc | 286,456 | 390,219 | |||||||||
16,000 | Accor SA† | 549,282 | 597,428 | |||||||||
3,000 | Bally’s Corp.† | 162,019 | 162,330 | |||||||||
7,000 | Better Collective A/S† | 119,893 | 166,042 | |||||||||
113,500 | Entain plc† | 1,746,018 | 2,740,514 | |||||||||
2,000 | Frontier Developments plc† | 90,374 | 63,909 | |||||||||
41,700 | GAN Ltd.† | 845,875 | 685,548 | |||||||||
25,000 | Genius Sports Ltd.† | 410,823 | 469,250 | |||||||||
8,000 | Hyatt Hotels Corp., Cl.A† | 263,258 | 621,120 | |||||||||
18,000 | Las Vegas Sands Corp.† | 564,359 | 948,420 | |||||||||
93,000 | LeoVegas AB(b) | 450,860 | 412,942 | |||||||||
4,408,500 | Mandarin Oriental | |||||||||||
International Ltd.† | 7,732,242 | 8,817,000 | ||||||||||
13,000 | Marriott International Inc., | |||||||||||
Cl.A† | 1,065,714 | 1,774,760 | ||||||||||
70,000 | MGM China Holdings Ltd.† | 137,917 | 106,024 | |||||||||
54,400 | MGM Growth Properties | |||||||||||
LLC, Cl.A, REIT | 1,038,290 | 1,992,128 | ||||||||||
81,000 | MGM Resorts International | 2,211,826 | 3,454,650 | |||||||||
7,300 | Penn National Gaming Inc.† | 208,926 | 558,377 | |||||||||
20,000 | PlayAGS Inc.† | 131,499 | 198,000 | |||||||||
127,800 | Ryman Hospitality | |||||||||||
Properties Inc., REIT† | 4,953,705 | 10,091,088 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
11
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) | ||||||||||||
Hotels and Gaming (Continued) | ||||||||||||
200,000 | The Hongkong & Shanghai | |||||||||||
Hotels Ltd.† | $ | 155,450 | $ | 210,450 | ||||||||
44,000 | The Marcus Corp.† | 718,018 | 933,240 | |||||||||
4,000 | Wyndham Hotels & Resorts | |||||||||||
Inc. | 152,872 | 289,160 | ||||||||||
6,000 | Wynn Resorts Ltd.† | 469,634 | 733,800 | |||||||||
24,465,310 | 36,416,399 | |||||||||||
Real Estate — 0.9% | ||||||||||||
8,000 | Bresler & Reiner Inc.† | 162 | 560 | |||||||||
10,267 | Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc., REIT | |||||||||||
57,775 | Indus Realty Trust Inc. | 653,941 | 3,792,929 | |||||||||
23,000 | Rayonier Inc., REIT | 361,733 | 826,390 | |||||||||
320,000 | The St. Joe Co. | 6,253,758 | 14,275,200 | |||||||||
10,000 | Weyerhaeuser Co., REIT | 264,116 | 344,200 | |||||||||
7,702,363 | 19,714,949 | |||||||||||
Aviation: Parts and Services — 0.9% | ||||||||||||
12,000 | Astronics Corp.† | 162,540 | 210,120 | |||||||||
161,800 | Curtiss-Wright Corp. | 12,768,363 | 19,215,368 | |||||||||
12,930,903 | 19,425,488 | |||||||||||
Metals and Mining — 0.9% | ||||||||||||
37,400 | Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. | 1,530,570 | 2,260,830 | |||||||||
50,000 | Barrick Gold Corp. | 1,464,000 | 1,034,000 | |||||||||
30,000 | Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.† | 296,432 | 646,800 | |||||||||
111,000 | Freeport-McMoRan Inc. | 1,805,326 | 4,119,210 | |||||||||
3,000 | Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. | 123,094 | 115,590 | |||||||||
20,253 | Livent Corp.† | 129,680 | 392,098 | |||||||||
4,300 | Materion Corp. | 97,512 | 324,005 | |||||||||
50,000 | New Hope Corp. Ltd. | 67,580 | 64,871 | |||||||||
142,000 | Newmont Corp. | 5,175,408 | 8,999,960 | |||||||||
62,000 | TimkenSteel Corp.† | 819,664 | 877,300 | |||||||||
10,000 | Vale SA, ADR | 81,899 | 228,100 | |||||||||
11,591,165 | 19,062,764 | |||||||||||
Automotive — 0.8% | ||||||||||||
2,000 | Daimler AG | 136,782 | 178,574 | |||||||||
106,000 | General Motors Co.† | 5,047,980 | 6,272,020 | |||||||||
80,000 | Navistar International | |||||||||||
Corp.† | 2,353,732 | 3,560,000 | ||||||||||
70,000 | PACCAR Inc. | 1,455,874 | 6,247,500 | |||||||||
20,000 | Stellantis NV | 238,306 | 394,200 | |||||||||
8,000 | The Shyft Group Inc. | 150,218 | 299,280 | |||||||||
1,800 | Toyota Motor Corp., ADR | 245,708 | 314,712 | |||||||||
30,000 | Traton SE | 854,275 | 951,209 | |||||||||
10,482,875 | 18,217,495 | |||||||||||
Communications Equipment — 0.6% | ||||||||||||
16,150 | Apple Inc. | 1,447,436 | 2,211,904 | |||||||||
1,000 | Arista Networks Inc.† | 272,055 | 362,310 |
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
228,000 | Corning Inc. | $ | 6,346,477 | $ | 9,325,200 | |||||||
70,000 | Limelight Networks Inc.† | 226,862 | 220,500 | |||||||||
1,200 | Motorola Solutions Inc. | 211,146 | 260,220 | |||||||||
3,490 | QUALCOMM Inc. | 483,288 | 498,826 | |||||||||
12,500 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM | |||||||||||
Ericsson, Cl. B | 151,275 | 157,102 | ||||||||||
9,138,539 | 13,036,062 | |||||||||||
Agriculture — 0.6% | ||||||||||||
196,000 | Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. | 9,054,791 | 11,877,600 | |||||||||
10,000 | The Mosaic Co. | 428,085 | 319,100 | |||||||||
9,482,876 | 12,196,700 | |||||||||||
Wireless Communications — 0.5% | ||||||||||||
105,000 | America Movil SAB de CV, | |||||||||||
Cl.L, ADR | 735,232 | 1,575,000 | ||||||||||
3,000 | Anterix Inc.† | 103,876 | 179,970 | |||||||||
60,000 | Millicom International | |||||||||||
Cellular SA, SDR† | 2,780,635 | 2,375,293 | ||||||||||
25,907 | T-Mobile US Inc.† | 2,172,644 | 3,752,111 | |||||||||
105,400 | United States Cellular | |||||||||||
Corp.† | 4,992,206 | 3,827,074 | ||||||||||
10,784,593 | 11,709,448 | |||||||||||
Transportation — 0.5% | ||||||||||||
45 | AP Moller - Maersk A/S, | |||||||||||
Cl. B | 101,480 | 129,340 | ||||||||||
130,200 | GATX Corp. | 4,720,299 | 11,518,794 | |||||||||
4,821,779 | 11,648,134 | |||||||||||
Publishing — 0.4% | ||||||||||||
1,400 | Graham Holdings Co., Cl. B | 698,214 | 887,460 | |||||||||
52,000 | Meredith Corp.† | 1,810,509 | 2,258,880 | |||||||||
105,000 | News Corp., Cl. A | 1,640,478 | 2,705,850 | |||||||||
90,600 | News Corp., Cl. B | 1,210,037 | 2,206,110 | |||||||||
70,000 | The E.W. Scripps Co., Cl. A | 831,325 | 1,427,300 | |||||||||
6,190,563 | 9,485,600 | |||||||||||
Manufactured Housing and Recreational Vehicles — 0.3% | ||||||||||||
2,150 | Cavco Industries Inc.† | 391,198 | 477,708 | |||||||||
11,514 | Legacy Housing Corp.† | 171,124 | 194,702 | |||||||||
5,000 | Martin Marietta Materials | |||||||||||
Inc. | 106,125 | 1,759,050 | ||||||||||
33,600 | Nobility Homes Inc. | 438,863 | 1,209,600 | |||||||||
42,000 | Skyline Champion Corp.† | 256,482 | 2,238,600 | |||||||||
1,363,792 | 5,879,660 | |||||||||||
Semiconductors — 0.1% | ||||||||||||
4,500 | Advanced Micro Devices | |||||||||||
Inc.† | 377,448 | 422,685 | ||||||||||
1,000 | Analog Devices Inc. | 144,587 | 172,160 | |||||||||
1,180 | Applied Materials Inc. | 98,513 | 168,032 | |||||||||
230 | ASML Holding NV | 102,630 | 158,893 | |||||||||
1,200 | Axcelis Technologies Inc.† | 46,181 | 48,504 | |||||||||
220 | Lam Research Corp. | 102,300 | 143,154 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
12
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) | ||||||||||||
Semiconductors (Continued) | ||||||||||||
1,000 | NXP Semiconductors NV | $ | 187,813 | $ | 205,720 | |||||||
3,000 | Taiwan Semiconductor | |||||||||||
Manufacturing Co. Ltd., | ||||||||||||
ADR | 350,900 | 360,480 | ||||||||||
1,410,372 | 1,679,628 | |||||||||||
Computer Hardware — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
2,500 | HP Inc. | 71,025 | 75,475 | |||||||||
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS | 1,159,979,043 | 2,140,997,216 | ||||||||||
CLOSED-END FUNDS — 0.5% | ||||||||||||
245,000 | Altaba Inc., Escrow† | 1,888,900 | 3,564,750 | |||||||||
4,285 | Royce Global Value Trust | |||||||||||
Inc. | 37,280 | 64,189 | ||||||||||
45,000 | Royce Value Trust Inc. | 598,747 | 853,650 | |||||||||
96,964 | The Central Europe, Russia, | |||||||||||
and Turkey Fund Inc. | 2,782,980 | 2,720,810 | ||||||||||
159,600 | The New Germany Fund | |||||||||||
Inc. | 2,162,135 | 3,227,910 | ||||||||||
7,470,042 | 10,431,309 | |||||||||||
TOTAL CLOSED-END | ||||||||||||
FUNDS | 7,470,042 | 10,431,309 | ||||||||||
PREFERRED STOCKS — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
Consumer Services — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
6,750 | Qurate Retail Inc., 8.000%, | |||||||||||
03/15/31 | 662,580 | 730,688 | ||||||||||
Automotive: Parts and Accessories — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
11,672 | Garrett Motion Inc., Ser.A | 61,278 | 100,379 | |||||||||
TOTAL PREFERRED | ||||||||||||
STOCKS | 723,858 | 831,067 | ||||||||||
CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS — 0.1% | ||||||||||||
Telecommunications — 0.1% | ||||||||||||
21,000 | Cincinnati Bell Inc., Ser.B, | |||||||||||
6.750% | 320,295 | 1,050,210 | ||||||||||
Automotive: Parts and Accessories — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
26,000 | Garrett Motion Inc., Ser.A, | |||||||||||
11.000% | 136,500 | 223,600 | ||||||||||
TOTAL CONVERTIBLE | ||||||||||||
PREFERRED STOCKS | 456,795 | 1,273,810 |
Market | ||||||||||||
Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
RIGHTS — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
Entertainment — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
139,123 | Media General Inc., | |||||||||||
CVR†(c) | $ | 0 | $ | 0 | ||||||||
WARRANTS — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
Diversified Industrial — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
379,000 | Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp., | |||||||||||
expire 08/01/25† | 258,897 | 341,100 | ||||||||||
Energy and Utilities — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
2,504 | Occidental Petroleum Corp., | |||||||||||
expire 08/03/27† | 12,395 | 34,831 | ||||||||||
TOTAL WARRANTS | 271,292 | 375,931 |
Principal | ||||||||||||
Amount | ||||||||||||
CONVERTIBLE CORPORATE BONDS — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
Financial Services — 0.0% | ||||||||||||
$ | 7,000 | Credit Suisse Group | ||||||||||
Guernsey VII Ltd., | ||||||||||||
3.000%, 11/12/21(b) | 7,702 | 8,519 | ||||||||||
U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS — 2.0% | ||||||||||||
44,064,000 | U.S. Treasury Bills, | |||||||||||
0.003% to 0.045% ††, | ||||||||||||
07/08/21 to 11/18/21 | 44,059,224 | 44,058,062 | ||||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS — 100.0% | $ | 1,212,967,956 | 2,197,975,914 | |||||||||
Other Assets and Liabilities (Net) | 2,326,808 | |||||||||||
PREFERRED STOCK | ||||||||||||
(14,149,094 preferred shares outstanding) | (443,637,350 | ) | ||||||||||
NET ASSETS — COMMON STOCK | ||||||||||||
(263,511,620 common shares outstanding) | $ | 1,756,665,372 | ||||||||||
NET ASSET VALUE PER COMMON SHARE | ||||||||||||
($1,756,665,372 ÷ 263,511,620 shares outstanding) | $ | 6.67 |
(a) | Securities, or a portion thereof, with a value of $82,425,400 were pledged as collateral for futures contracts. |
(b) | Securities exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These securities may be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified institutional buyers. |
(c) | Security is valued using significant unobservable inputs and is classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy. |
† | Non-income producing security. |
†† | Represents annualized yields at dates of purchase. |
ADR | American Depositary Receipt |
CVR | Contingent Value Right |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
13
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Schedule of Investments (Continued) — June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
REIT | Real Estate Investment Trust |
SDR | Swedish Depositary Receipt |
% of Total | Market | |||||||
Geographic Diversification | Investments | Value | ||||||
North America | 82.4 | % | $ | 1,811,636,629 | ||||
Europe | 14.5 | 317,440,496 | ||||||
Japan | 1.5 | 31,478,793 | ||||||
Latin America | 1.1 | 25,124,877 | ||||||
Asia/Pacific | 0.5 | 11,455,290 | ||||||
South Africa | 0.0 | * | 839,829 | |||||
Total Investments | 100.0 | % | $ | 2,197,975,914 |
* | Amount represents less than 0.05%. |
As of June 30, 2021, futures contracts outstanding were as follows:
Number of | Expiration | Notional | Unrealized | |||
Description | Long/Short | Contracts | Date | Amount | Value | Depreciation |
S&P 500 Futures (E-Mini) | Short | 65 | 09/17/21 | $13,937,950 | $(348,625) | $(348,625) |
TOTAL FUTURES | $(348,625) | |||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
14
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Statement of Assets and Liabilities |
June 30, 2021 (Unaudited) |
Assets: | ||||
Investments in securities, at value (cost $1,212,967,956) | $ | 2,197,975,914 | ||
Foreign currency, at value (cost $11,764) | 11,719 | |||
Deposit at brokers | 786,500 | |||
Receivable for investments in securities sold | 1,492,846 | |||
Dividends and interest receivable | 2,935,456 | |||
Deferred offering expense | 100,530 | |||
Prepaid expenses | 18,532 | |||
Total Assets | 2,203,321,497 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Payable to bank | 6,521 | |||
Distributions payable | 251,458 | |||
Payable for investment securities purchased | 91,937 | |||
Payable for investment advisory fees | 2,195,312 | |||
Payable for payroll expenses | 22,704 | |||
Payable for accounting fees | 3,750 | |||
Variation margin payable | 21,450 | |||
Other accrued expenses | 425,643 | |||
Total Liabilities | 3,018,775 | |||
Cumulative Preferred Stock, $0.001 par value: | ||||
Series C (Auction Rate, $25,000 liquidation value, 4,812 shares authorized with 2,492 shares issued and outstanding) | 62,300,000 | |||
Series E (Auction Rate, $25,000 liquidation value, 1,888 shares authorized with 1,108 shares issued and outstanding) | 27,700,000 | |||
Series G (5.000%, $25 liquidation value, 3,280,302 shares authorized with 2,779,621 shares issued and outstanding) | 69,490,525 | |||
Series H (5.000%, $25 liquidation value, 4,198,880 shares authorized with 4,172,873 shares issued and outstanding) | 104,321,825 | |||
Series J (5.450%, $25 liquidation value, 4,500,000 shares authorized with 3,200,000 shares issued and outstanding) | 80,000,000 | |||
Series K (5.000%, $25 liquidation value, 3,993,000 shares authorized with 3,993,000 shares issued and outstanding) | 99,825,000 | |||
Total Preferred Stock | 443,637,350 | |||
Net Assets Attributable to Common Stockholders | $ | 1,756,665,372 | ||
Net Assets Attributable to Common Stockholders Consist of: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 777,646,643 | |||
Total distributable earnings | 979,018,729 | |||
Net Assets | $ | 1,756,665,372 | ||
Net Asset Value per Common Share: | ||||
($1,756,665,372 ÷ 263,511,620 shares outstanding at $0.001 par value; unlimited number of shares authorized) | $ | 6.67 |
Statement of Operations |
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 (Unaudited) |
Investment Income: | ||||
Dividends (net of foreign withholding taxes of $678,010) | $ | 19,348,762 | ||
Interest | 17,111 | |||
Total Investment Income | 19,365,873 | |||
Expenses: | ||||
Investment advisory fees | 10,576,649 | |||
Stockholder communications expenses | 228,459 | |||
Custodian fees | 119,589 | |||
Directors’ fees | 85,769 | |||
Payroll expenses | 81,475 | |||
Shareholder services fees | 68,854 | |||
Legal and audit fees | 58,243 | |||
Accounting fees | 22,500 | |||
Interest expense | 2,751 | |||
Miscellaneous expenses | 219,156 | |||
Total Expenses | 11,463,445 | |||
Less: | ||||
Expenses paid indirectly by broker (See Note 3) | (7,118 | ) | ||
Advisory fee reduction on unsupervised assets (See Note 3) | (8,013 | ) | ||
Total Reductions and Credits | (15,131 | ) | ||
Net Expenses | 11,448,314 | |||
Net Investment Income | 7,917,559 | |||
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain/(Loss) on Investments in Securities Futures Contracts, and Foreign Currency: | ||||
Net realized gain on investments in securities | 48,617,206 | |||
Net realized loss on futures contracts | (2,102,878 | ) | ||
Net realized gain on foreign currency transactions | 42,943 | |||
Net realized gain on investments in securities futures contracts, and foreign currency transactions | 46,557,271 | |||
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation: | ||||
on investments in securities | 244,071,524 | |||
on futures contracts | 264,325 | |||
on foreign currency translations | (46,499 | ) | ||
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments in securities, futures contracts, and foreign currency translations | 244,289,350 | |||
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain/(Loss) on Investments in Securities Futures Contracts, and Foreign Currency | 290,846,621 | |||
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations | 298,764,180 | |||
Total Distributions to Preferred Stockholders | (9,074,732 | ) | ||
Net Increase in Net Assets Attributable to Common Stockholders Resulting from Operations | $ | 289,689,448 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
15
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Statement of Changes in Net Assets Attributable to Common Stockholders
Six Months Ended | ||||||||
June 30, 2021 | Year Ended | |||||||
(Unaudited) | December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 7,917,559 | $ | 10,632,558 | ||||
Net realized gain on investments in securities, futures contracts, and foreign currency transactions | 46,557,271 | 92,881,823 | ||||||
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments in securities, futures contracts, and foreign currency translations | 244,289,350 | 67,427,671 | ||||||
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations | 298,764,180 | 170,942,052 | ||||||
Distributions to Preferred Stockholders | (9,074,732 | )* | (18,778,088 | ) | ||||
Net Increase in Net Assets Attributable to Common Stockholders Resulting from Operations | 289,689,448 | 152,163,964 | ||||||
Distributions to Common Stockholders: | ||||||||
Accumulated earnings | (38,284,285 | )* | (85,345,251 | ) | ||||
Return of capital | (40,382,054 | )* | (70,082,226 | ) | ||||
Total Distributions to Common Stockholders | (78,666,339 | ) | (155,427,477 | ) | ||||
Fund Share Transactions: | ||||||||
Net increase in net assets from common shares issued upon reinvestment of distributions | 11,351,105 | 22,361,817 | ||||||
Net increase in net assets from repurchase of preferred shares | — | 2,917,441 | ||||||
Adjustment of offering costs for preferred shares charged to paid-in capital | 85,429 | — | ||||||
Net Increase in Net Assets from Fund Share Transactions | 11,436,534 | 25,279,258 | ||||||
Net Increase in Net Assets Attributable to Common Stockholders | 222,459,643 | 22,015,745 | ||||||
Net Assets Attributable to Common Stockholders: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 1,534,205,729 | 1,512,189,984 | ||||||
End of period | $ | 1,756,665,372 | $ | 1,534,205,729 |
* | Based on year to date book income. Amounts are subject to change and recharacterization at year end. |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
16
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Financial Highlights
Selected data for a common share outstanding throughout each period:
Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 | Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(Unaudited) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||
Operating Performance: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of year | $ | 5.86 | $ | 5.88 | $ | 5.25 | $ | 6.47 | $ | 5.84 | $ | 5.70 | ||||||||||||
Net investment income | 0.03 | 0.04 | 0.06 | 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.07 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain/(loss) on investments, futures contracts, and foreign currency transactions | 1.11 | 0.60 | 1.26 | (0.57 | ) | 1.42 | 0.75 | |||||||||||||||||
Total from investment operations | 1.14 | 0.64 | 1.32 | (0.50 | ) | 1.46 | 0.82 | |||||||||||||||||
Distributions to Preferred Stockholders: (a) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net investment income | (0.01 | )* | (0.01 | ) | (0.01 | ) | (0.01 | ) | (0.00 | )(b) | (0.01 | ) | ||||||||||||
Net realized gain | (0.02 | )* | (0.06 | ) | (0.07 | ) | (0.07 | ) | (0.08 | ) | (0.06 | ) | ||||||||||||
Total distributions to preferred stockholders | (0.03 | ) | (0.07 | ) | (0.08 | ) | (0.08 | ) | (0.08 | ) | (0.07 | ) | ||||||||||||
Net Increase/(Decrease) in Net Assets Attributable to Common Stockholders Resulting from Operations | 1.11 | 0.57 | 1.24 | (0.58 | ) | 1.38 | 0.75 | |||||||||||||||||
Distributions to Common Stockholders: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net investment income | (0.03 | )* | (0.04 | ) | (0.05 | ) | (0.06 | ) | (0.04 | ) | (0.08 | ) | ||||||||||||
Net realized gain | (0.12 | )* | (0.29 | ) | (0.50 | ) | (0.54 | ) | (0.57 | ) | (0.52 | ) | ||||||||||||
Return of capital | (0.15 | )* | (0.27 | ) | (0.05 | ) | (0.04 | ) | (0.00 | )(b) | (0.00 | )(b) | ||||||||||||
Total distributions to common stockholders | (0.30 | ) | (0.60 | ) | (0.60 | ) | (0.64 | ) | (0.61 | ) | (0.60 | ) | ||||||||||||
Fund Share Transactions: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Increase/(decrease) in net asset value from common share transactions | 0.00 | (b) | 0.00 | (b) | 0.00 | (b) | — | (0.14 | ) | — | ||||||||||||||
Increase in net asset value from repurchase of preferred shares | — | 0.01 | — | — | 0.00 | (b) | 0.00 | (b) | ||||||||||||||||
Offering costs and adjustment to offering costs for preferred shares charged to paid-in capital | 0.00 | (b) | — | (0.01 | ) | — | — | (0.01 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Offering costs and adjustment to offering costs for common shares charged to paid- in capital | — | — | — | (0.00 | )(b) | (0.00 | )(b) | — | ||||||||||||||||
Total Fund share transactions | 0.00 | (b) | 0.01 | (0.01 | ) | (0.00 | )(b) | (0.14 | ) | (0.01 | ) | |||||||||||||
Net Asset Value Attributable to Common Stockholders, End of Period | $ | 6.67 | $ | 5.86 | $ | 5.88 | $ | 5.25 | $ | 6.47 | $ | 5.84 | ||||||||||||
NAV total return † | 19.04 | % | 13.25 | % | 24.03 | % | (10.17 | )% | 24.64 | % | 13.66 | % | ||||||||||||
Market value, end of period | $ | 6.90 | $ | 6.27 | $ | 6.09 | $ | 5.10 | $ | 6.19 | $ | 5.52 | ||||||||||||
Investment total return †† | 17.69 | % | 16.59 | % | 32.19 | % | (8.43 | )% | 24.65 | % | 15.71 | % | ||||||||||||
Ratios to Average Net Assets and Supplemental Data: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net assets including liquidation value of preferred shares, end of period (in 000’s) | $ | 2,200,303 | $ | 1,977,843 | $ | 1,966,007 | $ | 1,743,519 | $ | 2,045,240 | $ | 1,693,448 | ||||||||||||
Net assets attributable to common shares, end of period (in 000’s) | $ | 1,756,665 | $ | 1,534,206 | $ | 1,512,190 | $ | 1,330,606 | $ | 1,632,327 | $ | 1,280,115 | ||||||||||||
Ratio of net investment income to average net assets attributable to common shares before preferred distributions | 0.95 | %(c) | 0.81 | % | 1.01 | % | 1.07 | % | 0.64 | % | 1.23 | % |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
17
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Financial Highlights (Continued)
Selected data for a common share outstanding throughout each period:
Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 | Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(Unaudited) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||
Ratio of operating expenses to average net assets attributable to common shares: before fee reductions (d)(e) | 1.37 | %(c) | 1.48 | % | 1.33 | %(f) | 1.37 | % | 1.42 | % | 1.44 | % | ||||||||||||
Ratio of operating expenses to average net assets attributable to common shares: net of fee reductions, if any (d)(g) | 1.37 | %(c) | 1.48 | % | 1.33 | %(f) | 1.27 | % | 1.42 | % | 1.44 | % | ||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate | 4 | % | 13 | % | 11 | % | 17 | % | 11 | % | 13 | % | ||||||||||||
Cumulative Preferred Stock: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Auction Rate Series C Preferred | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) | $ | 62,300 | $ | 62,300 | $ | 72,000 | $ | 72,000 | $ | 72,000 | $ | 72,000 | ||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Liquidation value (h) | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share (i) | $ | 123,992 | $ | 111,456 | $ | 108,305 | $ | 105,562 | $ | 123,830 | $ | 102,426 | ||||||||||||
5.875% Series D Preferred (j) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) | — | — | — | $ | 59,097 | $ | 59,097 | $ | 59,097 | |||||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) | — | — | — | 2,364 | 2,364 | 2,364 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share | — | — | — | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | |||||||||||||||
Average market value (k) | — | — | — | $ | 25.62 | $ | 26.16 | $ | 26.22 | |||||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share (i) | — | — | — | $ | 105.56 | $ | 123.83 | $ | 102.43 | |||||||||||||||
Auction Rate Series E Preferred | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) | $ | 27,700 | $ | 27,700 | $ | 28,000 | $ | 28,000 | $ | 28,000 | $ | 28,000 | ||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Liquidation value (h) | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share (i) | $ | 123,992 | 111,456 | $ | 108,305 | $ | 105,562 | $ | 123,830 | $ | 102,426 | |||||||||||||
5.000% Series G Preferred | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) | $ | 69,491 | $ | 69,491 | $ | 69,495 | $ | 69,495 | $ | 69,495 | $ | 69,743 | ||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) | 2,780 | 2,780 | 2,780 | 2,780 | 2,780 | 2,791 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | ||||||||||||
Average market value (k) | $ | 25.66 | $ | 25.25 | $ | 24.57 | $ | 23.92 | $ | 24.50 | $ | 24.67 | ||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share (i) | $ | 123.99 | $ | 111.46 | $ | 108.30 | $ | 105.56 | $ | 123.83 | $ | 102.43 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
18
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Financial Highlights (Continued)
Selected data for a common share outstanding throughout each period:
Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 | Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(Unaudited) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||
5.000%Series H Preferred | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) | $ | 104,322 | $ | 104,322 | $ | 104,322 | $ | 104,322 | $ | 104,322 | $ | 104,494 | ||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) | 4,173 | 4,173 | 4,173 | 4,173 | 4,173 | 4,180 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | ||||||||||||
Average market value (k) | $ | 25.56 | $ | 25.30 | $ | 24.68 | $ | 24.18 | $ | 24.64 | $ | 25.00 | ||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share (i) | $ | 123.99 | $ | 111.46 | $ | 108.30 | $ | 105.56 | $ | 123.83 | $ | 102.43 | ||||||||||||
5.450% Series J Preferred | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) | $ | 80,000 | $ | 80,000 | $ | 80,000 | $ | 80,000 | $ | 80,000 | $ | 80,000 | ||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) | 3,200 | 3,200 | 3,200 | 3,200 | 3,200 | 3,200 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | ||||||||||||
Average market value (k) | $ | 26.25 | $ | 26.00 | $ | 25.98 | $ | 25.14 | $ | 25.36 | $ | 25.43 | ||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share (i) | $ | 123.99 | $ | 111.46 | $ | 108.30 | $ | 105.56 | $ | 123.83 | $ | 102.43 | ||||||||||||
5.000% Series K Preferred | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) | $ | 99,825 | $ | 99,825 | $ | 100,000 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) | 3,993 | 3,993 | 4,000 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
Average market value | $ | 26.21 | $ | 25.86 | $ | 25.24 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share (i) | $ | 123.99 | $ | 111.46 | $ | 108.30 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
Asset Coverage (l) | 496 | % | 446 | % | 433 | % | 422 | % | 495 | % | 410 | % |
† | Based on net asset value per share, adjusted for reinvestment of distributions at net asset value on the ex-dividend dates and adjustments for the rights offering. Total return for a period of less than one year is not annualized. |
†† | Based on market value per share, adjusted for reinvestment of distributions at prices determined under the Fund’s dividend reinvestment plan. Total return for a period of less than one year is not annualized. |
* | Based on year to date book income. Amounts are subject to change and recharacterization at year end. |
(a) | Calculated based on average common shares outstanding on the record dates throughout the periods. |
(b) | Amount represents less than $0.005 per share. |
(c) | Annualized. |
(d) | The Fund received credits from a designated broker who agreed to pay certain Fund operating expenses. For all years presented there was no impact on the expense ratios. |
(e) | Ratio of operating expenses to average net assets including liquidation value of preferred shares before fee reductions for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016 would have been 1.08%, 1.10%, 1.03%, 1.09%, 1.10%, and 1.10%, respectively. |
(f) | In 2019, due to failed auctions relating to previous fiscal years, the Fund reversed accumulated auction fees. The 2019 ratio of operating expenses to average net assets attributable to common shares and the ratio of operating expenses to average net assets including liquidation value of preferred shares, excluding the reversal of auction agent fees, were 1.39% and 1.08%, respectively. |
(g) | Ratio of operating expenses to average net assets including liquidation value of preferred shares net of fee reductions for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016 would have been 1.08%, 1.10%, 1.03%, 1.01%, 1.10%, and 1.10%, respectively. |
(h) | Since February 2008, the weekly auctions have failed. Holders that have submitted orders have not been able to sell any or all of their shares in the auction. |
(i) | Asset coverage per share is calculated by combining all series of preferred stock. |
(j) | The Fund redeemed and retired all of the 2,363,860 shares of Series D Preferred Stock on December 26, 2019. |
(k) | Based on weekly prices. |
(l) | Asset coverage is calculated by combining all series of preferred stock. |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
19
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements
1. Organization. The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. (the Fund) is a non-diversified closed-end management investment company organized as a Maryland corporation on May 20, 1986 and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), whose primary objective is long term growth of capital with income as a secondary objective. Investment operations commenced on August 21, 1986.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities under normal market conditions (the 80% Policy). The 80% Policy may be changed without stockholder approval. The Fund will provide stockholders with notice at least sixty days prior to the implementation of any changes in the 80% Policy.
2. Significant Accounting Policies. As an investment company, the Fund follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance, which is part of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) that may require the use of management estimates and assumptions in the preparation of its financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial statements.
The global outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, has caused adverse effects on many companies, sectors, nations, regions and the markets in general, and may continue for an unpredictable duration. The effects of this pandemic may materially impact the value and performance of the Fund, its ability to buy and sell fund investments at appropriate valuations, and its ability to achieve its investment objectives.
Security Valuation. Portfolio securities listed or traded on a nationally recognized securities exchange or traded in the U.S. over-the-counter market for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the last quoted sale price or a market’s official closing price as of the close of business on the day the securities are being valued. If there were no sales that day, the security is valued at the average of the closing bid and asked prices or, if there were no asked prices quoted on that day, then the security is valued at the closing bid price on that day. If no bid or asked prices are quoted on such day, the security is valued at the most recently available price or, if the Board of Directors (the Board) so determines, by such other method as the Board shall determine in good faith to reflect its fair market value. Portfolio securities traded on more than one national securities exchange or market are valued according to the broadest and most representative market, as determined by Gabelli Funds, LLC (the Adviser).
Portfolio securities primarily traded on a foreign market are generally valued at the preceding closing values of such securities on the relevant market, but may be fair valued pursuant to procedures established by the Board if market conditions change significantly after the close of the foreign market, but prior to the close of business on the day the securities are being valued. Debt obligations for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the average of the latest bid and asked prices. If there were no asked prices quoted on such day, the securities are valued using the closing bid price, unless the Board determines such amount does not reflect the securities’ fair value, in which case these securities will be fair valued as determined by the Board. Certain securities are valued principally using dealer quotations. Futures contracts are valued at the closing settlement price of the exchange or board of trade on which the applicable contract is traded. OTC futures and options on futures for which market quotations are readily available will be valued by quotations received from a pricing service or, if no quotations are available from a pricing service, by quotations obtained from one or more dealers in the instrument in question by the Adviser.
20
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
Securities and assets for which market quotations are not readily available are fair valued as determined by the Board. Fair valuation methodologies and procedures may include, but are not limited to: analysis and review of available financial and non-financial information about the company; comparisons with the valuation and changes in valuation of similar securities, including a comparison of foreign securities with the equivalent U.S. dollar value American Depositary Receipt securities at the close of the U.S. exchange; and evaluation of any other information that could be indicative of the value of the security.
The inputs and valuation techniques used to measure fair value of the Fund’s investments are summarized into three levels as described in the hierarchy below:
● | Level 1 — quoted prices in active markets for identical securities; |
● | Level 2 — other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.); and |
● | Level 3 — significant unobservable inputs (including the Board’s determinations as to the fair value of investments). |
A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input both individually and in the aggregate that is significant to the fair value measurement. The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities. The summary of the Fund’s investments in securities and other financial instruments by inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of June 30, 2021 is as follows:
Valuation Inputs | ||||||||||||||||
Level
1 Quoted Prices | Level
2 Other Significant Observable Inputs | Level
3 Significant Unobservable Inputs (a) | Total
Market Value at 06/30/21 | |||||||||||||
INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES: | ||||||||||||||||
ASSETS (Market Value): | ||||||||||||||||
Common Stocks: | ||||||||||||||||
Consumer Products | $ | 115,934,600 | $ | 3,314,488 | — | $ | 119,249,088 | |||||||||
Energy and Utilities | 61,271,832 | 9 | — | 61,271,841 | ||||||||||||
Financial Services | 256,410,466 | 197,699 | — | 256,608,165 | ||||||||||||
Health Care | 119,574,369 | 240 | — | 119,574,609 | ||||||||||||
Real Estate | 19,714,389 | 560 | — | 19,714,949 | ||||||||||||
Telecommunications | 39,780,891 | 6,632 | $ | 2,441,529 | 42,229,052 | |||||||||||
Other Industries (b) | 1,522,349,512 | — | — | 1,522,349,512 | ||||||||||||
Total Common Stocks | 2,135,036,059 | 3,519,628 | 2,441,529 | 2,140,997,216 | ||||||||||||
Closed-End Funds | 6,866,559 | 3,564,750 | — | 10,431,309 | ||||||||||||
Preferred Stocks (b) | 831,067 | — | — | 831,067 | ||||||||||||
Convertible Preferred Stocks (b) | 1,273,810 | — | — | 1,273,810 | ||||||||||||
Rights (b) | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
Warrants (b) | 375,931 | — | — | 375,931 | ||||||||||||
Convertible Corporate Bonds (b) | — | 8,519 | — | 8,519 | ||||||||||||
U.S. Government Obligations | — | 44,058,062 | — | 44,058,062 | ||||||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES – ASSETS | $ | 2,144,383,426 | $ | 51,150,959 | $ | 2,441,529 | $ | 2,197,975,914 |
21
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
Valuation Inputs | ||||||||||||||
Level
1 Quoted Prices | Level
2 Other Significant Observable Inputs | Level
3 Significant Unobservable Inputs (a) | Total
Market Value at 06/30/21 | |||||||||||
OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS:* | ||||||||||||||
LIABILITIES (Unrealized Depreciation): | ||||||||||||||
EQUITY CONTRACTS | ||||||||||||||
Index Futures Contracts - Short | ||||||||||||||
Position | $ | (348,625 | ) | — | — | $ | (348,625 | ) |
(a) | Level 3 securities are valued at last available closing price. The inputs for these securities are not readily available and are derived based on the judgment of the Adviser according to procedures approved by the Board of Directors. |
(b) | Please refer to the Schedule of Investments (SOI) for the industry classifications of these portfolio holdings. |
* | Other financial instruments are derivatives reflected in the SOI, such as options, futures, forwards, and swaps, which may be valued at the unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) of the instrument. |
During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund had a transfer into Level 3 of $2,387,000 or 0.16% of net assets as of December 31, 2020. Transfers into Level 3 are due to a decrease in market activity, e.g., frequency of trades, which resulted in a decrease in available market inputs to determine the prices. The Fund’s policy is to recognize transfers among Levels as of the beginning of the reporting period.
Balance as of 12/31/20 | Accrued discounts/ (premiums) | Realized gain/ (loss) | Net
Change in unrealized appreciation/ depreciation† | Purchases | Sales | Transfers Into Level 3†† | Transfers Out of Level 3†† | Balance as of 06/30/21 | Net
change in unrealized appreciation/ depreciation during the period on Level 3 investments still held at 06/30/21† | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ASSETS (Market Value): | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common Stocks (a) | $ | 57,334 | — | — | $ | (2,805 | ) | — | — | $ | 2,387,000 | — | $ | 2,441,529 | $ | (2,805 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Rights (a) | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IN SECURITIES | $ | 57,334 | — | — | $ | (2,805 | ) | — | — | $ | 2,387,000 | — | $ | 2,441,529 | (b) | $ | (2,805 | ) |
† | Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments is included in the related amounts in the Statement of Operations. |
†† | The Fund’s policy is to recognize transfers into and out of Level 3 as of the beginning of the reporting period. |
(a) | Please refer to the Schedule of Investments (SOI) for the industry classifications of these portfolio holdings. |
(b) | The Level 3 common stock was valued at the net realizable value of the proposed corporate action. The total value of these securities at June 30, 2021 was $2,441,529. The inputs for the valuation of these securities were based on the judgment of the Adviser according to procedures approved by the Board. |
Additional Information to Evaluate Qualitative Information.
General. The Fund uses recognized industry pricing services – approved by the Board and unaffiliated with the Adviser – to value most of its securities, and uses broker quotes provided by market makers of securities not valued by these and other recognized pricing sources. Several different pricing feeds are received to value domestic equity securities, international equity securities, preferred equity securities, and fixed income
22
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
securities. The data within these feeds are ultimately sourced from major stock exchanges and trading systems where these securities trade. The prices supplied by external sources are checked by obtaining quotations or actual transaction prices from market participants. If a price obtained from the pricing source is deemed unreliable, prices will be sought from another pricing service or from a broker/dealer that trades that security or similar securities.
Fair Valuation. Fair valued securities may be common or preferred equities, warrants, options, rights, or fixed income obligations. Where appropriate, Level 3 securities are those for which market quotations are not available, such as securities not traded for several days, or for which current bids are not available, or which are restricted as to transfer. When fair valuing a security, factors to consider include recent prices of comparable securities that are publicly traded, reliable prices of securities not publicly traded, the use of valuation models, current analyst reports, valuing the income or cash flow of the issuer, or cost if the preceding factors do not apply. A significant change in the unobservable inputs could result in a lower or higher value in Level 3 securities. The circumstances of Level 3 securities are frequently monitored to determine if fair valuation measures continue to apply.
The Adviser reports quarterly to the Board the results of the application of fair valuation policies and procedures. These may include backtesting the prices realized in subsequent trades of these fair valued securities to fair values previously recognized.
Derivative Financial Instruments. The Fund may engage in various portfolio investment strategies by investing in derivative financial instruments for the purposes of increasing the income of the Fund, hedging against changes in the value of its portfolio securities and in the value of securities it intends to purchase, or hedging against a specific transaction with respect to either the currency in which the transaction is denominated or another currency. Investing in certain derivative financial instruments, including participation in the options, futures, or swap markets, entails certain execution, liquidity, hedging, tax, and securities, interest, credit, or currency market risks. Losses may arise if the Adviser’s prediction of movements in the direction of the securities, foreign currency, and interest rate markets is inaccurate. Losses may also arise if the counterparty does not perform its duties under a contract, or, in the event of default, the Fund may be delayed in or prevented from obtaining payments or other contractual remedies owed to it under derivative contracts. The creditworthiness of the counterparties is closely monitored in order to minimize these risks. Participation in derivative transactions involves investment risks, transaction costs, and potential losses to which the Fund would not be subject absent the use of these strategies. The consequences of these risks, transaction costs, and losses may have a negative impact on the Fund’s ability to pay distributions.
Collateral requirements differ by type of derivative. Collateral requirements are set by the broker or exchange clearing house for exchange traded derivatives, while collateral terms are contract specific for derivatives traded over-the-counter. Securities pledged to cover obligations of the Fund under derivative contracts are noted in the Schedule of Investments. Cash collateral, if any, pledged for the same purpose will be reported separately in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
The Fund’s policy with respect to offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination of the agreement, the master agreement does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets
23
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the Fund and the applicable counterparty. The enforceability of the right to offset may vary by jurisdiction.
The Fund’s derivative contracts held at June 30, 2021, if any, are not accounted for as hedging instruments under GAAP and are disclosed in the Schedule of Investments together with the related counterparty.
Futures Contracts. The Fund may engage in futures contracts for the purpose of hedging against changes in the value of its portfolio securities and in the value of securities it intends to purchase. Upon entering into a futures contract, the Fund is required to deposit with the broker an amount of cash or cash equivalents equal to a certain percentage of the contract amount. This is known as the “initial margin.” Subsequent payments (variation margin) are made or received by the Fund each day, depending on the daily fluctuations in the value of the contract, and are included in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on futures contracts. The Fund recognizes a realized gain or loss when the contract is closed.
There are several risks in connection with the use of futures contracts as a hedging instrument. The change in value of futures contracts primarily corresponds with the value of their underlying instruments, which may not correlate with the change in value of the hedged investments. In addition, there is the risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction because of an illiquid secondary market. Open positions in futures contracts at June 30, 2021 are reflected within the Schedule of Investments.
During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund held an average monthly notional amount of equity index futures contracts of approximately $18,181,057.
As of June 30, 2021, the equity risk exposure associated with the futures contracts can be found in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities, under Liabilities, Variation margin payable. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, the effect of futures contracts with equity risk exposure can be found in the Statement of Operations, under Net Realized and Unrealized Gain/(Loss) on Investments, Futures Contracts, and Foreign Currency; Net realized loss on futures contracts; and Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on futures contracts.
Limitations on the Purchase and Sale of Futures Contracts, Certain Options, and Swaps. Subject to the guidelines of the Board, the Fund may engage in “commodity interest” transactions (generally, transactions in futures, certain options, certain currency transactions, and certain types of swaps) only for bona fide hedging or other permissible transactions in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Pursuant to amendments by the CFTC to Rule 4.5 under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), the Adviser has filed a notice of exemption from registration as a “commodity pool operator” with respect to the Fund. The Fund and the Adviser are therefore not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the CEA. In addition, certain trading restrictions are now applicable to the Fund which permit the Fund to engage in commodity interest transactions that include (i) “bona fide hedging” transactions, as that term is defined and interpreted by the CFTC and its staff, without regard to the percentage of the Fund’s assets committed to margin and options premiums and (ii) non-bona fide hedging transactions, provided that the Fund does not enter into such non-bona fide hedging transactions if, immediately thereafter, either (a) the sum of the amount of initial margin deposits on the Fund’s existing futures positions or swaps positions and option or swaption premiums would exceed 5% of the market value of the Fund’s liquidating value, after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such transactions, or (b) the aggregate net notional value of the Fund’s commodity interest transactions would not exceed 100% of the market value of the Fund’s
24
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
liquidating value, after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such transactions. Therefore, in order to claim the Rule 4.5 exemption, the Fund is limited in its ability to invest in commodity futures, options, and certain types of swaps (including securities futures, broad based stock index futures, and financial futures contracts). As a result, in the future the Fund will be more limited in its ability to use these instruments than in the past, and these limitations may have a negative impact on the ability of the Adviser to manage the Fund, and on the Fund’s performance.
Investments in Other Investment Companies. The Fund may invest, from time to time, in shares of other investment companies (or entities that would be considered investment companies but are excluded from the definition pursuant to certain exceptions under the 1940 Act) (the Acquired Funds) in accordance with the 1940 Act and related rules. Stockholders in the Fund would bear the pro rata portion of the periodic expenses of the Acquired Funds in addition to the Fund’s expenses. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund’s pro rata portion of the periodic expenses charged by the Acquired Funds was less than one basis point.
Foreign Currency Translations. The books and records of the Fund are maintained in U.S. dollars. Foreign currencies, investments, and other assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars at current exchange rates. Purchases and sales of investment securities, income, and expenses are translated at the exchange rate prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions. Unrealized gains and losses that result from changes in foreign exchange rates and/or changes in market prices of securities have been included in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments and foreign currency translations. Net realized foreign currency gains and losses resulting from changes in exchange rates include foreign currency gains and losses between trade date and settlement date on investment securities transactions, foreign currency transactions, and the difference between the amounts of interest and dividends recorded on the books of the Fund and the amounts actually received. The portion of foreign currency gains and losses related to fluctuation in exchange rates between the initial purchase trade date and subsequent sale trade date is included in realized gain/(loss) on investments.
Foreign Securities. The Fund may directly purchase securities of foreign issuers. Investing in securities of foreign issuers involves special risks not typically associated with investing in securities of U.S. issuers. The risks include possible revaluation of currencies, the inability to repatriate funds, less complete financial information about companies, and possible future adverse political and economic developments. Moreover, securities of many foreign issuers and their markets may be less liquid and their prices more volatile than securities of comparable U.S. issuers.
Foreign Taxes. The Fund may be subject to foreign taxes on income, gains on investments, or currency repatriation, a portion of which may be recoverable. The Fund will accrue such taxes and recoveries as applicable, based upon its current interpretation of tax rules and regulations that exist in the markets in which it invests.
Restricted Securities. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in securities for which the markets are restricted. Restricted securities include securities whose disposition is subject to substantial legal or contractual restrictions. The sale of restricted securities often requires more time and results in higher brokerage charges or dealer discounts and other selling expenses than the sale of securities eligible for trading on national securities exchanges or in the over-the-counter markets. Restricted securities may sell at a price lower than similar securities that are not subject to restrictions on resale. Securities freely saleable among qualified institutional investors under special rules adopted by the SEC may be treated as liquid if they satisfy liquidity standards
25
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
established by the Board. The continued liquidity of such securities is not as well assured as that of publicly traded securities, and accordingly the Board will monitor their liquidity. At June 30, 2021, the Fund held no restricted securities.
Securities Transactions and Investment Income. Securities transactions are accounted for on the trade date with realized gain/(loss) on investments determined by using the identified cost method. Interest income (including amortization of premium and accretion of discount) is recorded on an accrual basis. Premiums and discounts on debt securities are amortized using the effective yield to maturity method or amortized to earliest call date, if applicable. Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date, except for certain dividends from foreign securities that are recorded as soon after the ex-dividend date as the Fund becomes aware of such dividends.
Custodian Fee Credits and Interest Expense. When cash balances are maintained in the custody account, the Fund receives credits which are used to offset custodian fess. The gross expenses paid under the custody arrangement are included in custodian fees in the Statement of Operations with the corresponding expense offset, if any, shown as “Custodian fee credits.” When cash balances are overdrawn, the Fund is charged an overdraft fee of 110% of the 90 day U.S. Treasury Bill rate on outstanding balances. This amount, if any, would be included in the Statement of Operations.
Distributions to Stockholders. Distributions to common stockholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Distributions to stockholders are based on income and capital gains as determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from income and capital gains as determined under GAAP. These differences are primarily due to differing treatments of income and gains on various investment securities and foreign currency transactions held by the Fund, timing differences, and differing characterizations of distributions made by the Fund. Distributions from net investment income for federal income tax purposes include net realized gains on foreign currency transactions. These book/tax differences are either temporary or permanent in nature. To the extent these differences are permanent, adjustments are made to the appropriate capital accounts in the period when the differences arise. These reclassifications have no impact on the NAV of the Fund.
Under the Fund’s current common share distribution policy, the Fund declares and pays quarterly distributions from net investment income, capital gains, and paid-in capital. The actual source of the distribution is determined after the end of the year. Pursuant to this policy, distributions during the year may be made in excess of required distributions. To the extent such distributions are made from current earnings and profits, they are considered ordinary income or long term capital gains. Distributions sourced from paid-in capital should not be considered as dividend yield or the total return from an investment in the Fund. The Board will continue to monitor the Fund’s distribution level, taking into consideration the Fund’s NAV and the financial market environment. The Fund’s distribution policy is subject to modification by the Board at any time.
Distributions to stockholders of the Fund’s Series C Auction Rate Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series E Auction Rate Cumulative Preferred Stock, 5.000% Series G Cumulative Preferred Stock, 5.000% Series H Cumulative Preferred Stock, 5.450% Series J Cumulative Preferred Stock, and 5.000% Series K Cumulative Preferred Stock (Preferred Stock) are recorded on a daily basis and are determined as described in Note 5.
26
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
The tax character of distributions paid during the year ended December 31, 2020 was as follows:
Common | Preferred | |||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 9,115,669 | $ | 2,005,675 | ||||
Net long term capital gains | 76,229,582 | 16,772,413 | ||||||
Return of capital | 70,082,226 | — | ||||||
Total distributions paid | $ | 155,427,477 | $ | 18,778,088 |
Provision for Income Taxes. The Fund intends to continue to qualify as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). It is the policy of the Fund to comply with the requirements of the Code applicable to regulated investment companies and to distribute substantially all of its net investment company taxable income and net capital gains. Therefore, no provision for federal income taxes is required.
The following summarizes the tax cost of investments and derivatives and the related net unrealized appreciation at June 30, 2021:
Gross | Gross | ||||||
Unrealized | Unrealized | Net Unrealized | |||||
Cost | Appreciation | Depreciation | Appreciation | ||||
Investments | $1,200,721,666 | $1,019,721,575 | $(22,467,327) | $997,254,248 |
The Fund is required to evaluate tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the course of preparing the Fund’s tax returns to determine whether the tax positions are “more-likely-than-not” of being sustained by the applicable tax authority. Income tax and related interest and penalties would be recognized by the Fund as tax expense in the Statement of Operations if the tax positions were deemed not to meet the more-likely-than-not threshold. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund did not incur any income tax, interest, or penalties. As of June 30, 2021, the Adviser has reviewed all open tax years and concluded that there was no impact to the Fund’s net assets or results of operations. The Fund’s federal and state tax returns for the prior three fiscal years remain open, subject to examination. On an ongoing basis, the Adviser will monitor the Fund’s tax positions to determine if adjustments to this conclusion are necessary.
3. Investment Advisory Agreement and Other Transactions. The Fund has entered into an investment advisory agreement (the Advisory Agreement) with the Adviser which provides that the Fund will pay the Adviser a fee, computed weekly and paid monthly, equal on an annual basis to 1.00% of the value of the Fund’s average weekly net assets including the liquidation value of preferred stock. In accordance with the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser provides a continuous investment program for the Fund’s portfolio and oversees the administration of all aspects of the Fund’s business and affairs.
The Adviser has agreed to reduce the management fee on the incremental assets attributable to the Series C and Series E Preferred Stock (C and E Preferred Stock) if the total return of the NAV of the common shares of the Fund, including distributions and advisory fee subject to reduction, does not exceed the stated dividend rate of the C and E Preferred Stock for the year. The Fund’s total return on the NAV of the common shares is monitored on a monthly basis to assess whether the total return on the NAV of the common shares exceeds the
27
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
stated dividend rate of the C and E Preferred Stock for the period. During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund’s total return on the NAV of the common shares exceeded the dividend rate of the outstanding C and E Preferred Stock.
During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund paid $13,640 in brokerage commissions on security trades to G.research, LLC, an affiliate of the Adviser.
During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund received credits from a designated broker who agreed to pay certain Fund operating expenses. The amount of such expenses paid through this directed brokerage arrangement during this period was $7,118.
The cost of calculating the Fund’s NAV per share is a Fund expense pursuant to the Advisory Agreement between the Fund and the Adviser. Under the sub-administration agreement with Bank of New York Mellon, the fees paid include the cost of calculating the Fund’s NAV. The Fund reimburses the Adviser for this service. During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund accrued $22,500 in accounting fees in the Statement of Operations.
There was a reduction in the advisory fee paid to the Adviser relating to certain portfolio holdings, i.e., unsupervised assets, of the Fund with respect to which the Adviser transferred dispositive and voting control to the Fund’s Proxy Voting Committee. During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund’s Proxy Voting Committee exercised control and discretion over all rights to vote or consent with respect to such securities, and the Adviser reduced its fee with respect to such securities by $8,013.
The Fund pays retainer and per meeting fees to Directors not affiliated with the Adviser, plus specified amounts to the Lead Director and Audit Committee Chairman. Directors are also reimbursed for out of pocket expenses incurred in attending meetings. Directors who are directors or employees of the Adviser or an affiliated company receive no compensation or expense reimbursement from the Fund.
4. Portfolio Securities. Purchases and sales of securities during the six months ended June 30, 2021, other than short term securities and U.S. Government obligations, aggregated $89,596,943 and $149,867,915, respectively.
5. Capital. The Fund’s Articles of Incorporation, as amended, permit the Fund to issue 337,024,900 shares of common stock (par value $0.001) and authorizes the Board to increase its authorized shares from time to time. The Board has authorized the repurchase of its shares on the open market when the shares are trading on the NYSE at a discount of 10% or more (or such other percentage as the Board may determine from time to time) from the NAV of the shares. During the six months ended June 30, 2021 and the year ended December 31, 2020, the Fund did not repurchase any shares of its common stock in the open market.
Transactions in shares of common stock were as follows:
Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||
June 30, 2021 | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||
(Unaudited) | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||
Net increase in net assets from common shares issued upon reinvestment of distributions | 1,739,285 | $ | 11,351,105 | 4,700,296 | $ | 22,361,817 |
28
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
The Fund has an effective shelf registration authorizing the offering of an additional $500 million of common or preferred stock.
The Fund’s Articles of Incorporation, as amended, authorize the issuance of up to 18,000,000 shares of $0.001 par value Preferred Stock. The Preferred Stock is senior to the common stock and results in the financial leveraging of the common stock. Such leveraging tends to magnify both the risks and opportunities to common stockholders. Dividends on shares of the Preferred Stock are cumulative. The Fund is required by the 1940 Act and by the Fund’s Articles Supplementary to meet certain asset coverage tests with respect to the Preferred Stock. If the Fund fails to meet these requirements and does not correct such failure, the Fund may be required to redeem, in part or in full, the Series C, Series E, Series G, Series H, Series J, and Series K Preferred Stock at redemption prices of $25,000, $25,000, $25, $25, $25, and $25, respectively, per share plus an amount equal to the accumulated and unpaid dividends whether or not declared on such shares in order to meet these requirements. Additionally, failure to meet the foregoing asset coverage requirements could restrict the Fund’s ability to pay dividends to common stockholders and could lead to sales of portfolio securities at inopportune times. The income received on the Fund’s assets may vary in a manner unrelated to the fixed and variable rates, which could have either a beneficial or detrimental impact on net investment income and gains available to common stockholders.
For Series C and Series E Preferred Stock, the dividend rates, as set by the auction process that is generally held every seven days, are expected to vary with short term interest rates. Since February 2008, the number of shares of Series C and Series E Preferred Stock subject to bid orders by potential holders has been less than the number of shares of Series C and Series E Preferred Stock subject to sell orders. Holders that have submitted sell orders have not been able to sell any or all of the Series C and Series E Preferred Stock for which they have submitted sell orders. Therefore, the weekly auctions have failed, and the dividend rate has been the maximum rate. For Series C and Series E Preferred Stock, the maximum auction rate is 175% of the “AA” Financial Composite Commercial Paper Rate. Existing Series C and Series E stockholders may submit an order to hold, bid, or sell such shares on each auction date, or trade their shares in the secondary market.
The Fund may redeem at any time, in whole or in part, the Series C, Series E, Series G, and Series H Preferred Stock at their respective liquidation prices plus any accrued and unpaid dividends. In addition, the Board has authorized the repurchase of the Series J and Series K Preferred Stock in the open market at a price less than the $25 liquidation value per share. During the six months ended June 30, 2021 and the year ended December 31, 2020, the Fund did not repurchase or redeem any shares of Series G, Series H, or Series J Preferred Stock. During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Fund did not repurchase any Preferred Stock.
The Fund has the authority to purchase its auction rate Series C and Series E preferred shares through negotiated private transactions. The Fund is not obligated to purchase any dollar amount or number of auction rate preferred shares, and the timing and amount of any auction rate preferred shares purchased will depend on market conditions, share price, capital availability, and other factors. The Fund is not soliciting holders to sell these shares nor recommending that holders offer them to the Fund. Any offers can be accepted or rejected in the Fund’s discretion.
29
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
The following table summarizes Cumulative Preferred Stock information:
Series | Issue Date | Authorized | Number
of Shares Outstanding at 6/30/2021 |
Net Proceeds | 2021
Dividend Rate Range |
Dividend Rate at 6/30/2021 |
Accrued Dividends at 6/30/2021 |
C Auction Rate | June 27, 2002 | 4,812 | 2,492 | $128,246,557 | 0.070% to 0.210% | 0.140% | $239 |
E Auction Rate | October 7, 2003 | 1,888 | 1,108 | 49,350,009 | 0.070% to 0.210% | 0.140% | 637 |
G 5.000% | August 1, 2012 | 3,280,302 | 2,779,621 | 69,407,417 | Fixed Rate | 5.000 | 48,257 |
H 5.000% | September 28, 2012 | 4,198,880 | 4,172,873 | 100,865,695 | Fixed Rate | 5.000 | 72,446 |
J 5.450% | March 28, 2016 | 4,500,000 | 3,200,000 | 77,212,332 | Fixed Rate | 5.450 | 60,556 |
K 5.000% | December 16, 2019 | 3,993,000 | 3,993,000 | 96,525,000 | Fixed Rate | 5.000 | 69,323 |
The holders of Preferred Shares generally are entitled to one vote per share held on each matter submitted to a vote of stockholders of the Fund and will vote together with holders of common stock as a single class. The holders of Preferred Shares voting together as a single class also have the right currently to elect two Directors and, under certain circumstances, are entitled to elect a majority of the Board of Directors. In addition, the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of all outstanding shares of the preferred shares, voting as a single class, will be required to approve any plan of reorganization adversely affecting the preferred stock, and the approval of two-thirds of each class, voting separately, of the Fund’s outstanding voting stock must approve the conversion of the Fund from a closed-end to an open-end investment company. The approval of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the outstanding preferred shares and a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities are required to approve certain other actions, including changes in the Fund’s investment objectives or fundamental investment policies.
6. Indemnifications. The Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnifications. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown. However, the Fund has not had prior claims or losses pursuant to these contracts. Management has reviewed the Fund’s existing contracts and expects the risk of loss to be remote.
7. Subsequent Events. On May 19, 2021, the Board announced a rights offering (the Offering) with a record date of June 22, 2021 and an expiration date of July 14, 2021. Under the terms of the Offering, each record date shareholder received one transferable right (the Right) for each share of common stock held. Ten Rights plus $5.50 were required to purchase one additional share of common stock (the Primary Subscription). Record date shareholders who fully exercised their Primary Subscription Rights were eligible for an over-subscription privilege entitling these shareholders to subscribe, subject to certain limitations and a pro-rata allotment, for any additional shares of common stock not purchased pursuant to the Primary Subscription. Rights acquired in the secondary market were ineligible to participate in the over-subscription privilege. On July 21, 2021, the Fund issued 26,266,993 shares, receiving $143,868,461 after deduction of estimated offering expenses of $600,000.
Management has evaluated the impact on the Fund of all other subsequent events occurring through the date the financial statements were issued and has determined that there were no other subsequent events requiring recognition or disclosure in the financial statements.
30
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)
Certifications
The Fund’s Chief Executive Officer has certified to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that, as of June 7, 2021, he was not aware of any violation by the Fund of applicable NYSE corporate governance listing standards. The Fund reports to the SEC on Form N-CSR which contains certifications by the Fund’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer that relate to the Fund’s disclosure in such reports and that are required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the 1940 Act.
Shareholder Meeting – May 10, 2021 – Final Results
The Fund’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders was held virtually on May 10, 2021. At that meeting, common and preferred stockholders, voting together as a single class, elected Elizabeth C. Bogan, Michael J. Ferrantino, and Agnes N. Mullady as Directors of the Fund, with 188,264,665, 188,411,212, and 188,316,931 votes cast in favor of these Directors, and 4,762,163, 4,615,616, and 4,709,897 votes withheld for these Directors, respectively.
In addition, preferred stockholders, voting as a separate class, elected James P. Conn as Director of the Fund. A total of 9,659,468 votes were cast in favor of this Director and a total of 469,680 votes were withheld for this Director.
Mario J. Gabelli, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Leslie F. Foley, William F. Heitmann, Kuni Nakamura, and Salvatore J. Zizza continue to serve in their capacities as Directors of the Fund.
We thank you for your participation and appreciate your continued support.
31
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Board Consideration and Re-Approval of Investment Advisory Agreement (Unaudited)
Section 15(c) of the 1940 Act, as amended, contemplates that the Board of The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. including a majority of the Directors who have no direct or indirect interest in the investment advisory agreement and are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as defined in the 1940 Act (the Independent Board Members), are required to annually review and re-approve the terms of the Fund’s existing investment advisory agreement and approve any newly proposed terms therein. In this regard, the Board reviewed and re-approved, during the most recent six month period covered by this report, the Investment Advisory Agreement (the Advisory Agreement) with the Adviser for the Fund.
More specifically, at a meeting held on May 12, 2021, the Board, including the Independent Board Members, considered the factors and reached the conclusions described below relating to the selection of the Adviser and the re-approval of the Advisory Agreement.
Nature, Extent, and Quality of Services. The Independent Board Members considered information regarding the portfolio managers, the depth of the analyst pool available to the Adviser and the portfolio managers, the nature, quality and extent of administrative and shareholder services supervised or provided by the Adviser, including portfolio management, supervision of Fund operations and compliance and regulatory filings and disclosures to shareholders, general oversight of other service providers, review of Fund legal issues, assisting the Independent Board Members in their capacity as directors, and other services, and the absence of significant service problems reported to the Board. The Independent Board Members concluded that the services are extensive in nature and that the Adviser consistently delivered a high level of service.
Investment Performance of the Fund and Adviser. The Independent Board Members considered short term and long term investment performance for the Fund over various periods of time as compared with relevant equity indices and the performance of other closed-end funds included in the Broadridge peer category. The Board noted that the Fund’s total return performance (i) for the one, five, and ten year periods ended March 31, 2021 was above the average for a select group of peers, (ii) for the three year period ended March 31, 2021 was below the average and equal to the median for a select group of peers, and for the one, three, five, and ten year periods ended March 31, 2021 was above the average and median for the Fund’s Broadridge peer group category. The Independent Board Members concluded that the Adviser was delivering satisfactory performance results consistent with the investment strategies being pursued by the Fund and disclosed to investors.
Costs of Services and Profits Realized by the Adviser.
(a) Costs of Services to Fund: Fees and Expenses. The Independent Board Members considered the Fund’s advisory fee rate and expense ratio relative to industry averages for the Fund’s Broadridge peer group category and the advisory fees charged by the Adviser and its affiliates to other fund and non-fund clients. The Independent Board Members considered the Adviser’s fee structure as compared to that of the Adviser’s affiliate, GAMCO Asset Management Inc. (GAMCO), for services provided to institutional and high net worth accounts and in connection with subadvisory arrangements, noting that the service level for GAMCO accounts and subadvisory relationships is materially different from the services provided by the Adviser to its registered funds and investors in such funds, which is reflected in the difference in fee structure. The Independent Board Members noted that the mix of services under the Advisory Agreement is more extensive than those under the advisory agreements for non-fund clients. The Independent Board Members noted that the other non-advisory expenses paid by the Fund are above the average and median for the Fund’s Broadridge peer group category
32
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Board Consideration and Re-Approval of Investment Advisory Agreement (Unaudited) (Continued)
and below the average and median for a select group of peers, and that management and gross advisory fees and total expenses were above the average and median of the Broadridge peer group range and a select group of peers. They took note of the fact that the use of leverage impacts comparative expenses to peer funds, not all of which utilize leverage. The Independent Board Members were aware that the Adviser waives its fee on the incremental liquidation value of the Fund’s Series C and Series E Preferred Stock during the Fund’s fiscal year if the total return on NAV of the common stock, including distributions and advisory fee subject to reduction for that year, does not exceed the stated dividend rate for the Series C and Series E Preferred Stock, as applicable, for the year, and that the comparative total expense ratio and other expense information reflected these waivers, if applicable. The Independent Board Members concluded that the advisory fee is not excessive based upon the qualifications, experience, reputation, and performance of the Adviser and the other factors considered.
(b) Profitability and Costs of Services to Adviser. The Independent Board Members considered the Adviser’s overall profitability and costs. The Independent Board Members referred to the Board Materials for the pro forma income statements for the Adviser and the Fund for the period ended December 31, 2020. They noted the pro forma estimates of the Adviser’s profitability and costs attributable to the Fund. The Independent Board Members also considered whether the amount of profit is a fair entrepreneurial profit for the management of the Fund and noted that the Adviser has continued to increase its resources devoted to Fund matters, including portfolio management resources, in response to regulatory requirements and new or enhanced Fund policies and procedures. The Independent Board Members concluded that the profitability to the Adviser of managing the Fund was not excessive.
Extent of Economies of Scale as Fund Grows. The Independent Board Members considered whether there have been economies of scale with respect to the management of the Fund and whether the Fund has appropriately benefited from any economies of scale. The Independent Board Members noted that, although the ability of the Fund to realize economies of scale through growth is more limited than for an open-end fund, economies of scale may develop for certain funds as their assets increase and their fund level expenses decline as a percentage of assets, but that fund level economies of scale may not necessarily result in Adviser level economies of scale. The Board Members were aware that economies can be shared through an adviser’s investment in its fund advisory business and noted the Adviser’s increase in personnel and resources devoted to the Gabelli fund complex in recent years, which could benefit the Fund.
Whether Fee Levels Reflect Economies of Scale. The Independent Board Members also considered whether the advisory fee rate is reasonable in relation to the asset size of the Fund and any economies of scale that may exist, and concluded that the Fund’s current fee schedule (without breakpoints) was considered reasonable, particularly in light of the Fund’s performance over time.
Other Relevant Considerations.
(a) Adviser Personnel and Methods. The Independent Board Members considered the size, education, and experience of the Adviser’s staff, the Adviser’s fundamental research capabilities, and the Adviser’s approach to recruiting, training, and retaining portfolio managers and other research and management personnel and concluded that, in each of these areas, the Adviser was structured in such a way to support the high level of services being provided to the Fund.
33
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Board Consideration and Re-Approval of Investment Advisory Agreement (Unaudited) (Continued)
(b) Other Benefits to the Adviser. The Independent Board Members also considered the character and amount of other incidental benefits received by the Adviser and its affiliates from its association with the Fund. The Independent Board Members considered the brokerage commissions paid to an affiliate of the Adviser. The Independent Board Members concluded that potential fall-out benefits that the Adviser and its affiliates may receive, such as brokerage commissions paid to an affiliated broker, greater name recognition, or increased ability to obtain research services, appear to be reasonable and may in some cases benefit the Fund.
Conclusions In considering the Advisory Agreement, the Independent Board Members did not identify any factor as all-important or all-controlling, and instead considered these factors collectively in light of the Fund’s surrounding circumstances. Based on this review, it was the judgment of the Independent Board Members that shareholders had received satisfactory absolute and relative performance over time consistent with the investment strategies being pursued by the Fund at reasonable fees and, therefore, continuation of the Advisory Agreement was in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders. As a part of its decision making process, the Independent Board Members noted that the Adviser has managed the Fund since its inception, and the Independent Board Members believe that a long term relationship with a capable, conscientious adviser is in the best interests of the Fund. The Independent Board Members considered, generally, that shareholders invested in the Fund knowing that the Adviser manages the Fund and are aware of its investment advisory fee. As such, the Independent Board Members considered, in particular, whether the Adviser managed the Fund in accordance with its investment objectives and policies as disclosed to shareholders. The Independent Board Members concluded that the Fund was managed by the Adviser in a manner consistent with its investment objectives and policies. The Independent Board Members also confirmed that they were satisfied with the information provided by the Adviser, that it included all information the Independent Board Members believed was necessary to evaluate the terms of the Advisory Agreement, and that the Independent Board Members were satisfied that any questions they had were appropriately addressed. On the basis of the foregoing and without assigning particular weight to any single conclusion, the Independent Board Members determined to recommend continuation of the Advisory Agreement to the full Board.
Based on a consideration of all these factors in their totality, the Board Members, including all of the Independent Board Members, determined that the Fund’s advisory fee was fair and reasonable with respect to the nature and quality of services provided and in light of the other factors described above that the Board deemed relevant. Accordingly, the Board Members determined to approve the continuation of the Fund’s Advisory Agreement.
34
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
AND YOUR PERSONAL PRIVACY
Who are we?
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. is a closed-end management investment company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Company Act of 1940. We are managed by Gabelli Funds, LLC, which is affiliated with GAMCO Investors, Inc., a publicly held company that has subsidiaries that provide investment advisory services for a variety of clients.
What kind of non-public information do we collect about you if you become a fund shareholder?
When you purchase shares of the Fund on the New York Stock Exchange, you have the option of registering directly with our transfer agent in order, for example, to participate in our dividend reinvestment plan.
● | Information you give us on your application form. This could include your name, address, telephone number, social security number, bank account number, and other information. |
● | Information about your transactions with us. This would include information about the shares that you buy or sell; it may also include information about whether you sell or exercise rights that we have issued from time to time. If we hire someone else to provide services — like a transfer agent — we will also have information about the transactions that you conduct through them. |
What information do we disclose and to whom do we disclose it?
We do not disclose any non-public personal information about our customers or former customers to anyone other than our affiliates, our service providers who need to know such information, and as otherwise permitted by law. If you want to find out what the law permits, you can read the privacy rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. They are in volume 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 248. The Commission often posts information about its regulations on its website, www. sec.gov.
What do we do to protect your personal information?
We restrict access to non-public personal information about you to the people who need to know that information in order to provide services to you or the fund and to ensure that we are complying with the laws governing the securities business. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to keep your personal information confidential.
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
One Corporate Center
Rye, NY 10580-1422
Portfolio Management Team Biographies
Mario J. Gabelli, CFA, is Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Investment Officer - Value Portfolios of GAMCO Investors, Inc. that he founded in 1977, and Chief Investment Officer - Value Portfolios of Gabelli Funds, LLC and GAMCO Asset Management Inc. He is also Executive Chairman of Associated Capital Group, Inc. Mr. Gabelli is a summa cum laude graduate of Fordham University and holds an MBA degree from Columbia Business School and Honorary Doctorates from Fordham University and Roger Williams University. | |
Christopher J. Marangi joined Gabelli in 2003 as a research analyst. Currently he is a Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Officer for GAMCO Investors, Inc.’s Value team. In addition, he serves as a portfolio manager of Gabelli Funds, LLC and manages several funds within the Fund Complex. Mr. Marangi graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Political Economy from Williams College and holds an MBA degree with honors from Columbia Business School. | |
Kevin V. Dreyer joined Gabelli in 2005 as a research analyst covering companies within the consumer sector. Currently he is a Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Officer for GAMCO Investors, Inc.’s Value team. In addition, he serves as a portfolio manager of Gabelli Funds, LLC and manages several funds within the Fund Complex. Mr. Dreyer received a BSE from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA degree from Columbia Business School. | |
Howard F. Ward, CFA, joined Gabelli Funds in 1995 and currently serves as GAMCO’s Chief Investment Officer of Growth Equities as well as a Gabelli Funds, LLC portfolio manager for several funds within the Fund Complex. Prior to joining Gabelli, Mr. Ward served as Managing Director and Lead Portfolio Manager for several Scudder mutual funds. He also was an Investment Officer in the Institutional Investment Department with Brown Brothers, Harriman & Co. Mr. Ward received his BA in Economics from Northwestern University. | |
Robert D. Leininger, CFA, joined GAMCO Investors, Inc. in 1993 as an equity analyst. Subsequently, he was a partner and portfolio manager at Rorer Asset Management before rejoining GAMCO in 2010 where he currently serves as a portfolio manager of Gabelli Funds, LLC. Mr. Leininger is a magna cum laude graduate of Amherst College with a degree in Economics and holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. | |
Daniel M. Miller currently serves as a portfolio manager of Gabelli Funds, LLC and is also a Managing Director of GAMCO Investors, Inc. Mr. Miller joined the Firm in 2002 and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Finance from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. | |
Jennie Tsai joined Gabelli in 2001 as a research analyst responsible for the healthcare and medical products industries. At Gabelli, Ms. Tsai is focused on medical sectors, including dental, orthopedics, diagnostics, dermatology, and ophthalmology. She received a BS in Commerce at the University of Virginia and an MBA from Columbia Business School. | |
Ian Lapey joined Gabelli in October 2018 as a portfolio manager. Prior to joining Gabelli, Mr. Lapey was a research analyst and partner at Moerus Capital Management LLC. Prior to joining Moerus, he was a partner, research analyst, and a portfolio manager at Third Avenue Management. Mr. Lapey holds an MBA in Finance and Statistics from the Stern School of Business at New York University. He also holds a Master’s degree in Accounting from Northeastern University and a BA in Economics from Williams College. | |
Ashish Sinha joined GAMCO UK in 2012 as a research analyst. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Sinha was a research analyst at Morgan Stanley in London for seven years and has covered European Technology, Mid-Caps and Business Services. He also worked in planning and strategy at Birla Sun Life Insurance in India. Currently Mr. Sinha is a portfolio manager of Gabelli Funds, LLC and an Assistant Vice President of GAMCO Asset Management UK. Mr. Sinha has a BSBA degree from the Institute of Management Studies and an MB from IIFT. |
Gustavo Pifano joined the Firm in 2008 and is based in London. He serves as an assistant vice president of research and covers the industrial and consumer sectors with a focus on small-cap stocks. Gustavo is a member of the risk management group and responsible for the Firm’s UK compliance oversight and AML reporting functions. Gustavo holds a BBA in Finance from University of Miami and an MBA from University of Oxford Said Business School. | |
Hendi Susanto joined Gabelli in 2007 as the lead technology research analyst. He spent his early career in supply chain management consulting and operations in the technology industry. He currently is a portfolio manager of Gabelli Funds, LLC and a Vice President of Associated Capital Group Inc. Mr. Susanto received a BS degree summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota, an MS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. | |
Sara E. Wojda joined the Firm in 2014 as a research analyst and covers the Diagnostics and Life Sciences industries. Since moving to London in 2018, she has expanded the Firm’s global healthcare coverage and assisted with Gabelli’s UK based funds. Sara graduated summa cum laude from Babson College with a BS in Business Management, double majoring in Economics and Accounting. | |
Joseph Gabelli rejoined GAMCO Investors, Inc. in 2018 after serving as a data strategy consultant for Alt/S, an early stage Boston based healthcare, media and marketing analytics firm, beginning in July 2017. From 2008 until June 2017, Joseph served as an equity research analyst covering the global food and beverage industry for GAMCO Investors, Inc. and its affiliate, Associated Capital Group. He began his investment career at Integrity Capital Management, a Boston-based equity hedge fund, where he focused on researching small and micro-cap companies in the technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors. Joseph holds a BA from Boston College and an MBA from Columbia Business School, where he graduated with Dean’s Honors and Distinction. | |
Gordon Grender recently joined GAMCO UK, having previously served as the portfolio manager for a US equity fund at GAM International Ltd. |
We have separated the portfolio managers’ commentary from the financial statements and investment portfolio due to corporate governance regulations stipulated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. We have done this to ensure that the contents of the portfolio managers’ commentary are unrestricted. Both the commentary and the financial statements, including the portfolio of investments, will be available on our website at www.gabelli.com. |
The Net Asset Value per share appears in the Publicly Traded Funds column, under the heading “General Equity Funds,” in Monday’s The Wall Street Journal. It is also listed in Barron’s Mutual Funds/Closed End Funds section under the heading “General Equity Funds.”
The Net Asset Value per share may be obtained each day by calling (914) 921-5070 or visiting www.gabelli.com.
The NASDAQ symbol for the Net Asset Value is “XGABX.”
Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 23(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, that the Fund may, from time to time, purchase its common shares in the open market when the Fund’s shares are trading at a discount of 10% or more from the net asset value of the shares. The Fund may also, from time to time, purchase its preferred shares in the open market when the preferred shares are trading at a discount to the liquidation value. |
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
t | 800-GABELLI (800-422-3554) |
f | 914-921-5118 |
e | info@gabelli.com |
GABELLI.COM
DIRECTORS | Salvatore J. Zizza |
Chairman, | |
Mario J. Gabelli, CFA | Zizza & Associates Corp. |
Chairman and | |
Chief Executive Officer, | OFFICERS |
GAMCO Investors, Inc. | |
Executive Chairman, | Bruce N. Alpert |
Associated Capital Group Inc. | President |
Elizabeth C. Bogan | John C. Ball |
Senior Lecturer in Economics, | Treasurer |
Princeton University | |
Peter Goldstein | |
James P. Conn | Secretary & Vice President |
Former Managing Director & | |
Chief Investment Officer, | Richard J. Walz |
Financial Security Assurance | Chief Compliance Officer |
Holdings LTD. | |
Molly A.F. Marion | |
Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. | Vice President & Ombudsman |
Former President & Chief | |
Executive Officer, | Carter W. Austin |
American Gaming Association | Vice President |
Michael J. Ferrantino | David I. Schachter |
Chief Executive Officer, | Vice President |
InterEx, Inc. | |
INVESTMENT ADVISER | |
Leslie F. Foley | |
Attorney, | Gabelli Funds, LLC |
Addison Gallery of American Art | One Corporate Center |
Rye, New York 10580-1422 | |
William F. Heitmann | |
Former Senior Vice President | CUSTODIAN |
of Finance, | |
Verizon Communications, Inc. | The Bank of New York Mellon |
Agnes Mullady | COUNSEL |
Former Senior Vice President, | |
GAMCO Investors Inc. | Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP |
Kuni Nakamura | TRANSFER AGENT AND |
President, | REGISTRAR |
Advanced Polymer, Inc. | |
Computershare Trust Company, N.A. | |
GAB Q2/2021
(b) | Not applicable. |
Item 2. Code of Ethics.
Not applicable.
Item 3. Audit Committee Financial Expert.
Not applicable.
Item 4. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
Not applicable.
Item 5. Audit Committee of Listed Registrants.
Not applicable.
Item 6. Investments.
(a) | Schedule of Investments in securities of unaffiliated issuers as of the close of the reporting period is included as part of the report to shareholders filed under Item 1 of this form. |
(b) | Not applicable. |
Item 7. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures for Closed-End Management Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 8. Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Management Investment Companies.
Effective August 1, 2021, Macrae Sykes was added to the Fund’s portfolio management team.
Macrae (Mac) Sykes covers the global financial services sector and joined the firm as an analyst in 2008. He has nearly 25 years of industry experience and began his career at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
Mac was ranked #1 investment services analyst by the Wall Street Journal in 2010, was a runner-up in the annual StarMine analyst awards for stock picking in 2014 and 2018, received several honorable mentions for brokers and asset managers from Institutional Investor and was a contributing author to The Warren Buffett Shareholder: Stories from inside the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting by Lawrence Cunningham and Stephanie Cuba.
Mac holds a BA in economics from Hamilton College and an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School.
Information provided as of December 31, 2020
The table below shows the number of other accounts managed by the portfolio manager and the total assets in each of the following categories: registered investment companies, other paid investment vehicles and other accounts. For each category, the table also shows the number of accounts and the total assets in the accounts with respect to which the advisory fee is based on account performance.
Name of Portfolio Manager | Type of accounts | Total # managed |
Total assets | No. of Accounts where Advisory Fee is Based on Performance |
Total Assets with Advisory Fee Based on Performance | ||
Macrae Sykes | Registered Investment Companies | 0 | $0 | 0 | $0 | ||
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles | 0 | $0 | 0 | $0 | |||
Other accounts | 13 | $2.1 million | 0 | $0 | |||
Item 9. Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Company and Affiliated Purchasers.
REGISTRANT PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Period | (a) Total Number of Shares (or Units) Purchased |
(b) Average Price Paid per Share (or Unit) |
(c) Total Number of Shares (or Units) Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs |
(d) Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares (or Units) that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs |
Month #1
|
Common – N/A
|
Common – N/A
|
Common – N/A
|
Common –261,772,335
|
Month #2 02/01/2021 through 02/28/2021 |
Common – N/A
|
Common – N/A Preferred Series K –N/A Preferred Series G – N/A Preferred Series H – N/A Preferred Series J – N/A |
Common – N/A
|
Common – 261,772,335
|
Month #3 03/01/2021 through 03/31/2021 |
Common – N/A
Preferred Series E – N/A
|
Common – N/A
Preferred Series E – N/A
|
Common – N/A
Preferred Series E – N/A
|
Common – 262,669,923
|
Month #4
|
Common – N/A
|
Common – N/A
|
Common – N/A
|
Common –262,669,923
|
Month #5 05/01/2021 through 05/31/2021 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series K –N/A Preferred Series G – N/A Preferred Series H – N/A Preferred Series J – N/A |
Common – N/A Preferred Series K –N/A Preferred Series G – N/A Preferred Series H – N/A Preferred Series J – N/A |
Common – N/A Preferred Series K –N/A Preferred Series G – N/A Preferred Series H – N/A Preferred Series J – N/A |
Common – 262,669,923 Preferred Series K – 3,993,000 Preferred Series G – 2,779,621 Preferred Series H – 4,172,873 Preferred Series J – 3,200,000 |
Month #6 06/01/2021 through 06/30/2021 |
Common – N/A
Preferred Series E – N/A
|
Common – N/A
Preferred Series E – N/A
|
Common – N/A
Preferred Series E – N/A
|
Common – 263,511,620
|
Total |
Common – N/A
|
Common – N/A Preferred Series K –N/A Preferred Series G – N/A Preferred Series H – N/A Preferred Series J – N/A |
Common – N/A
|
N/A
|
Footnote columns (c) and (d) of the table, by disclosing the following information in the aggregate for all plans or programs publicly announced:
a. | The date each plan or program was announced – The notice of the potential repurchase of common and preferred shares occurs in the Fund’s shareholder reports in accordance with Section 23(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. |
b. | The dollar amount (or share or unit amount) approved – Any or all common shares outstanding may be repurchased when the Fund’s common shares are trading at a discount of 10% or more from the net asset value of the shares.Any or all preferred shares outstanding may be repurchased when the Fund’s preferred shares are trading at a discount to the liquidation value of $25.00. |
c. | The expiration date (if any) of each plan or program – The Fund’s repurchase plans are ongoing. |
d. | Each plan or program that has expired during the period covered by the table – The Fund’s repurchase plans are ongoing. |
e. | Each plan or program the registrant has determined to terminate prior to expiration, or under which the registrant does not intend to make further purchases. – The Fund’s repurchase plans are ongoing. |
Item 10. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
There have been no material changes to the procedures by which the shareholders may recommend nominees to the registrant’s Board of Directors, where those changes were implemented after the registrant last provided disclosure in response to the requirements of Item 407(c)(2)(iv) of Regulation S-K (17 CFR 229.407) (as required by Item 22(b)(15) of Schedule 14A (17 CFR 240.14a-101)), or this Item.
Item 11. Controls and Procedures.
(a) | The registrant’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions have concluded that the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”)) are effective as of a date within 90 days of the filing of this report that includes the disclosure required by this paragraph, based on the evaluation of these controls and procedures required by Rule 30a-3(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 15d-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. |
(b) | The registrant’s certifying officers are not aware of any changes in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act) that occurred during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. |
Item 12. Disclosure of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-End Management Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 13. Exhibits.
(a)(1) | Not applicable. |
(a)(2) | Certifications pursuant to Rule 30a-2(a) under the 1940 Act and Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are attached hereto. |
(a)(3) | Not applicable. |
(a)(4) | Not applicable. |
(b) | Certifications pursuant to Rule 30a-2(b) under the 1940 Act and Section 906 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act of 2002 are attached hereto. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
(Registrant) | The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. |
By (Signature and Title)* | /s/ Bruce N. Alpert | ||
Bruce N. Alpert, Principal Executive Officer |
Date | September 3, 2021 |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
By (Signature and Title)* | /s/ Bruce N. Alpert | ||
Bruce N. Alpert, Principal Executive Officer |
Date | September 3, 2021 |
By (Signature and Title)* | /s/ John C. Ball | ||
John C. Ball, Principal Financial Officer and Treasurer |
Date | September 3, 2021 |
* Print the name and title of each signing officer under his or her signature.