Summary FFC has been paying $0.13 monthly for 5 years. FFC uses leverage to increase dividends. FFC is a fund that is highly sensitive to interest rates. Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Securities Income Fund Incorporated (NYSE: FFC ) is a United States based diversified, closed-end management investment company. FFC’s objective is to provide a high yield while preserving capital by using preferred securities. (TD Ameritrade) Flaherty and Crumrine serves as the investment advisor to the CEF. The 5 year chart below shows how successful this CEF has been in meeting these objectives: (click to enlarge) Source: Interactive Brokers The chart shows that FFC has consistently paid the current $0.13 monthly dividend for 5 years. At the end of each year the company adjusts the payout to match its annual earnings and consequently the December payout is often less than $0.13. The share price modulates somewhat but the median price over the past 3 years has been about $19.00 per share. For those of us that need and/or like to have dividends delivered to us monthly, Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Securities Income Fund might be the right ticket. This closed end fund recently released its quarterly letter and offered the statistics shown below: Source: FFC Shareholders Letter dated 9/22/15 with statistics as of 8/31/15 Source: FFC Shareholders Letter dated 9/22/15 with statistics as of 8/31/15 Source: FFC Shareholders Letter dated 9/22/15 with statistics as of 8/31/15 Currently FFC is selling at a premium to NAV by about 3% since NAV is about $19.06 and the current price is around $20.10 per share. At this share price the CEF is offering an 8% return and about 8.5 % on NAV. FFC is able to offer this high yield because it uses leverage of around 35%. (Information from Morningstar) That means the fund borrows money to buy more shares over and above what it could buy with only its own cash. Operating expenses for FFC including interest for leverage are running at 1.39% of NAV. Excluding interest operating expenses are running at 0.87% of NAV which is relatively reasonable when compared to most other specialized mutual funds. (Taken from FFC’s Form N-Q filed for the 3rd quarter) Conclusion: As a matter of principle I normally don’t invest in a CEF when it is selling above NAV. You can see that at the end of August FFC was selling below NAV and was an opportune time to buy. Since the fund is currently selling above NAV, I recommend waiting until the fund is selling at or below NAV if you see this as a desirable vehicle for steady monthly income.. Be advised that this CEF is highly sensitive to interest rate changes and one should consider the direction of interest rates when buying this CEF. As interest rates rise, the cost of leverage increases which translates into higher expenses for the fund. Furthermore the value of the preferred shares is likely to decline as interest rates escalate hence NAV will drop as well. Capital losses could be excessive in an environment where interest rates are rising rapidly.