Here’s the thing about high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs) : sometimes a CEF will seem to have all the earmarks of a terrific investment: high (and monthly) dividends, reasonable fees and reputable management. But it’ll still come up short. We, of course, love CEFs and see them as the critical pieces of our income portfolios. The portfolio of my CEF Insider service, for example, holds plenty of top-quality buys and yields 9% as I write this. But when picking these funds, we need to make sure we don’t let a big name, high yield or so-called “low” fees dominate our thinking. We also need to look deeper, at factors like past performance and even management’s track record with its other funds.… Read more