TSC Ratings Begins Coverage on Eight Closed-End Funds

TheStreet.com Ratings initiated coverage of eight closed-end funds that accrued a sufficient track record of risk and performance data by the end of April.

None of the closed-end funds that began trading in March and April 2007 received buy ratings. Only one fund ranked in the hold range. The remainder underperformed their more seasoned competitors on a risk-adjusted return basis.

The Nuveen Multi-Currency Short-term Government Income Fund(JGT Quote), the best-rated fund of the group at C-, barely avoided sinking into the bottom 30% of our rankings. The stated investment strategy of this closed-end fund is to be invested in non-U.S, short term securities in each country's local currency.

However, the largest holding of Nuveen Multi-Currency is actually Federal Home Loan Bank mortgages at 47.6% of the portfolio. A 58.3% portion of the fund is made up of U.S. agency & asset-backed securities, while 41.6% of the fund is sovereign debt with maturities less than five years including 15% Turkey, 14.9% Hungary, 4.3% United Kingdom, 3.9% Mexico, and 3.1% Norway. ...