Closing out Pairs Trade

The pairs trade we described on December 14th could be closed out this morning. In that trade, we described how you could go long SBW and short ESD for a net outflow of about $7.92. SBW and ESD are two closed-end funds that invest in emerging market debt, they both have similar risk/return profiles. By doing this pairs trade, you would have been long and short about $10,000 of each CEF.

On December 14th, ESD was trading at a 2.65% discount to NAV and SBW was trading at a 6.80% discount to NAV. The difference was 4.14%, we set a target of closing the trade when the discount narrowed to 1.65%.

As I am writing this, SBW is trading at a discount of 2.92%. ESD is trading at a discount of 1.74%. The spread has narrowed from 4.14% to 1.18%. You could close out this transaction for a profit of $200 plus.

pairs

 

Please note there could be considerable risk in a trade like this, so always consult a financial adviser and do lots of research.

Assumptions:
1. Short borrow fee of 3.5%
2. No margin fee
3. Commissions of $10 per transaction