New York, May 03, 2013 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has assigned an A1 long-term
rating to $100 million Series B cumulative preferred shares recently
issued by GAMCO Global Gold, Natural Resources & Income Trust
by Gabelli (GGN) managed by Gabelli Funds, LLC (Gabelli).
Moody's also affirmed GGN's outstanding 6.625%
Series A cumulative preferred shares. Net proceeds from the new
offering will be used to retire the outstanding $48 million Series
A preferred shares with remaining proceeds reinvested back in the portfolio.
The Series B cumulative preferred shares are perpetual and may not be
called for redemption prior to 7 May 2018.
Rating Rationale:
The A1 ratings are based on the following key rating factors:
Adjusted Leverage
The fund's pro-forma risk adjusted asset coverage ratio,
at 510%, is very strong and consistent with a score of Aaa
for this metric. The fund has a low risk of an Investment Company
of 1940 Act breach as measured by Moody's ratio (1940 Act maximum
leverage of 50% minus fund's actual leverage divided by the
fund's 5-year historical asset volatility) at 2.8
times and consistent with a score of Aaa for this metric.
Portfolio Profile
The funds' asset profile is consistent with a score of Baa2 which reflects
the high liquidity of the fund's portfolio of exchange-traded
equity securities, offset by the higher risk of loss of principal
in equity securities. The narrow focus of the fund's investment
strategy on companies principally engaged in the gold industry and natural
resources industries is reflected in a low sector concentration score
of Ba2.
Fixed Charge Coverage
The Fund's fixed charge coverage at 0.9 times and 0.8
times, calculated on a trailing one-year and five-year
basis, is consistent with a Ba2 score and evidences GGN's
weak capacity to meet periodic dividend payments from recurring earnings.
The score has been adjusted up one-notch to Ba1 to reflect the
incremental benefit of lower dividend costs from the refinancing and the
positive effect of fixed rate preferreds if long-term rates were
to rise.
Relative Priority of Claim
In addition to assessing the key rating factors described above,
Moody's considers the priority of claim of a fund's specific security
types and any other qualitative factors relevant to the fund's credit
profile. In the case of preferred securities, which is the
instrument class associated with these ratings, a one-notch
downward adjustment from the rating suggested by the key factors is made
to reflect the weaker position of investors holding preferred stock relative
to those holding senior unsecured debt obligations.
Derivative Strategy
As part of its investment strategy, the fund endeavors to earn income
through an option strategy of writing covered calls on 90%-100%
of the equity securities in the portfolio. The fund also seeks
to earn investment income by selling put options. These positions
are fully collateralized with cash and U.S treasury securities.
Total notional amount of put options written is expected to remain under
a $100 million. The option overlay strategy is well developed
and managed and benefits from strong collateral management practices.
Gabelli Funds, LLC is the investment advisor for the fund,
responsible for determining the fund's overall investment strategy.
At 31 December 2012, GAMCO Investors, Inc., through
its subsidiaries had approximately $36 billion in assets under
management.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Moody's Methodology
for Rating Securities Issued by U.S. Closed-End Funds
published in May 2012. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this rating action, and
whose ratings may change as a result of this rating action, the
associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Robert M. Callagy
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Managed Investments Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Yaron Ernst
MD - Managed Investments
Managed Investments Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's assigns A1 rating to preferred shares issued by GAMCO Global Gold, Natural Resources & Income Trust by Gabelli