UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM N-CSR
CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT
INVESTMENT COMPANIES
INVESTMENT COMPANIES
Investment Company Act file number 811-04700
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
Rye, New York 10580-1422
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
Bruce N. Alpert
Gabelli Funds, LLC
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
Gabelli Funds, LLC
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
(Name and address of agent for service)
registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 1-800-422-3554
Date of fiscal year end: December 31
Date of reporting period: June 30, 2009
Form N-CSR is to be used by management investment companies to file reports with the Commission not
later than 10 days after the transmission to stockholders of any report that is required to be
transmitted to stockholders under Rule 30e-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (17 CFR
270.30e-1). The Commission may use the information provided on Form N-CSR in its regulatory,
disclosure review, inspection, and policymaking roles.
A registrant is required to disclose the information specified by Form N-CSR, and the Commission
will make this information public. A registrant is not required to respond to the collection of
information contained in Form N-CSR unless the Form displays a currently valid Office of Management
and Budget (“OMB”) control number. Please direct comments concerning the accuracy of the
information collection burden estimate and any suggestions for reducing the burden to Secretary,
Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The OMB has reviewed
this collection of information under the clearance requirements of 44 U.S.C. § 3507.
| Item 1. | Reports to Stockholders. |
The Report to Shareholders is attached herewith.
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
Semi-Annual Report
June 30, 2009
June 30, 2009
To Our Shareholders,
The Gabelli Equity Trust’s (the “Fund”) net asset value (“NAV”) total return was 7.9% during
the first half of 2009, compared with an increase of 3.2% for the Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) 500
Index and a decrease of 1.9% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The total return for the Fund’s
publicly traded shares was 35.3% during the first half of the year. On June 30, 2009, the Fund’s
NAV per share was $3.99, while the price of the publicly traded shares closed at $4.50 on the New
York Stock Exchange.
Comparative Results
Average Annual Returns through June 30, 2009 (a)
| Since | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year to | Inception | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quarter | Date | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | 15 Year | 20 Year | (08/21/86) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gabelli Equity Trust |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NAV Total Return (b) |
29.41 | % | 7.86 | % | (35.23 | )% | (10.49 | )% | (0.99 | )% | 1.74 | % | 6.68 | % | 6.81 | % | 8.72 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
Investment Total Return (c) |
54.75 | 35.28 | (33.65 | ) | (5.84 | ) | 1.07 | 2.72 | 6.79 | 7.72 | 8.88 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
S&P 500 Index |
15.92 | 3.19 | (26.20 | ) | (8.22 | ) | (2.24 | ) | (2.22 | ) | 6.92 | 7.76 | 8.30 | (d) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Dow Jones Industrial Average |
11.96 | (1.93 | ) | (22.96 | ) | (6.34 | ) | (1.65 | ) | (0.37 | ) | 8.16 | 9.07 | 9.59 | (d) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Nasdaq Composite Index |
20.05 | 16.36 | (19.97 | ) | (5.47 | ) | (2.17 | ) | (3.74 | ) | 6.58 | 7.46 | 7.12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| (a) | Returns represent past performance and do not guarantee future results. Investment returns and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate. When shares are sold, they may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data presented. Visit www.gabelli.com for performance information as of the most recent month end. Performance returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Fund before investing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an unmanaged index of 30 large capitalization stocks. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Indices are unmanaged indicators of stock market performance. Dividends are considered reinvested except for the Nasdaq Composite Index. You cannot invest directly in an index. | |
| (b) | Total returns and average annual returns reflect changes in the NAV per share, reinvestment of distributions at NAV on the ex-dividend date, adjustments for rights offerings, spin-offs, and taxes paid on undistributed long-term capital gains and are net of expenses. Since inception return is based on an initial NAV of $9.34. | |
| (c) | Total returns and average annual returns reflect changes in closing market values on the New York Stock Exchange, reinvestment of distributions, and adjustments for rights offerings, spin-offs, and taxes paid on undistributed long-term capital gains. Since inception return is based on an initial offering price of $10.00. | |
| (d) | From August 31, 1986, the date closest to the Fund’s inception for which data is available. |
We have separated the portfolio manager’s commentary from the financial statements and investment
portfolios due to corporate governance regulations stipulated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. We
have done this to ensure that the content of the portfolio manager’s commentary is unrestricted.
The financial statements and investment portfolios are mailed separately from the commentary. Both
the commentary and the financial statements, including the portfolios of investments, will be
available on our website at www.gabelli.com/funds.
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
Summary of Portfolio Holdings (Unaudited)
Summary of Portfolio Holdings (Unaudited)
The following tables present portfolio holdings as a percent of total investments as of June 30,
2009:
Food and Beverage |
11.9 | % | ||
Financial Services |
8.6 | % | ||
Energy and Utilities |
7.9 | % | ||
Cable and Satellite |
6.9 | % | ||
Diversified Industrial |
6.3 | % | ||
Telecommunications |
6.0 | % | ||
Entertainment |
5.8 | % | ||
Equipment and Supplies |
4.9 | % | ||
Consumer Products |
3.9 | % | ||
U.S. Government Obligations |
3.9 | % | ||
Health Care |
3.4 | % | ||
Automotive: Parts and Accessories |
3.2 | % | ||
Publishing |
2.7 | % | ||
Business Services |
2.3 | % | ||
Consumer Services |
2.0 | % | ||
Retail |
1.9 | % | ||
Aviation: Parts and Services |
1.8 | % | ||
Machinery |
1.8 | % | ||
Aerospace |
1.6 | % | ||
Communications Equipment |
1.5 | % | ||
Hotels and Gaming |
1.4 | % | ||
Specialty Chemicals |
1.4 | % | ||
Wireless Communications |
1.3 | % | ||
Electronics |
1.1 | % | ||
Metals and Mining |
1.1 | % | ||
Agriculture |
1.1 | % | ||
Automotive |
0.8 | % | ||
Environmental Services |
0.8 | % | ||
Computer Software and Services |
0.6 | % | ||
Real Estate |
0.6 | % | ||
Broadcasting |
0.5 | % | ||
Transportation |
0.5 | % | ||
Closed-End Funds |
0.3 | % | ||
Manufactured Housing and Recreational Vehicles |
0.1 | % | ||
Real Estate Investment Trusts |
0.1 | % | ||
| 100.0 | % | |||
The Fund files a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q, the last
of which was filed for the quarter ended March 31, 2009. Shareholders may obtain this information
at www.gabelli.com or by calling the Fund at 800-GABELLI (800-422-3554). The Fund’s Form N-Q is
available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and may also be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s
Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room
may be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.
Proxy Voting
The Fund files Form N-PX with its complete proxy voting record for the twelve months ended
June 30th, no later than August 31st of each year. A description of the Fund’s proxy voting
policies, procedures, and how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities is available
without charge, upon request, by (i) calling 800-GABELLI (800-422-3554); (ii) writing to The
Gabelli Funds at One Corporate Center, Rye, NY 10580-1422; or (iii) visiting the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov.
Shareholder Meeting — May 18, 2009 — Final Results
The Fund’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders was held on May 18, 2009 at the Greenwich Library in
Greenwich, Connecticut. At that meeting, common and preferred shareholders, voting together as a
single class, elected Anthony R. Pustorino as a Director of the Fund. A total of 150,648,561 votes
were cast in favor of this Director and a total of 6,147,673 votes were withheld for this Director.
In addition, preferred shareholders, voting as a separate class, elected James P. Conn as a
Director of the Fund. A total of 8,042,511 votes were cast in favor of this Director and a total of
186,783 votes were withheld for this Director.
Mario J. Gabelli, Thomas E. Bratter, Anthony J. Colavita, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., Arthur V.
Ferrara, and Salvatore J. Zizza continue to serve in their capacities as Directors of the Fund.
We thank you for your participation and appreciate your continued support.
2
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
PORTFOLIO CHANGES
Quarter Ended June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
PORTFOLIO CHANGES
Quarter Ended June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
| Ownership at | ||||||||
| June 30, | ||||||||
| Shares | 2009 | |||||||
NET PURCHASES |
||||||||
Common Stocks |
||||||||
Abbott Laboratories |
10,000 | 12,000 | ||||||
Accor SA (a) |
270 | 5,270 | ||||||
Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. |
5,000 | 15,000 | ||||||
Alcoa Inc. |
5,000 | 70,000 | ||||||
Aruze Corp. |
37,700 | 137,700 | ||||||
Baldor Electric Co. |
5,000 | 160,000 | ||||||
Baxter International Inc. |
3,000 | 20,000 | ||||||
BBA Aviation plc |
3,000 | 3,000 | ||||||
CBS Corp., Cl. A, Voting |
400 | 380,400 | ||||||
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., Cl. A |
10,000 | 120,000 | ||||||
Constellation Brands Inc., Cl. A |
98,000 | 100,000 | ||||||
Covidien plc (b) |
20,000 | 20,000 | ||||||
Danone (c) |
49,374 | 249,374 | ||||||
Dean Foods Co. |
10,000 | 190,000 | ||||||
Eastman Kodak Co. |
20,000 | 140,000 | ||||||
Ferro Corp. |
160,000 | 500,000 | ||||||
GenCorp Inc. |
50,000 | 300,000 | ||||||
General Electric Co. |
35,000 | 200,000 | ||||||
Givaudan SA |
267 | 2,267 | ||||||
Janus Capital Group Inc. |
10,000 | 210,000 | ||||||
Kaman Corp. |
5,000 | 30,899 | ||||||
Legg Mason Inc. |
45,000 | 220,000 | ||||||
Macy’s Inc. |
60,000 | 230,000 | ||||||
MasterCard Inc., Cl. A |
1,000 | 40,500 | ||||||
Material Sciences Corp. |
30,000 | 30,000 | ||||||
Media General Inc., Cl. A |
1,800 | 211,800 | ||||||
MEIJI Holdings Co. Ltd. (d) |
1,000 | 1,000 | ||||||
NCR Corp. |
25,000 | 100,000 | ||||||
O’Reilly Automotive Inc. |
10,000 | 150,000 | ||||||
Rockwell Automation Inc. |
7,000 | 40,000 | ||||||
Rolls-Royce Group plc, Cl. C (e) |
102,960,000 | 102,960,000 | ||||||
Sara Lee Corp. |
20,000 | 350,000 | ||||||
Texas Instruments Inc. |
10,000 | 275,000 | ||||||
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. |
6,000 | 160,038 | ||||||
The Boeing Co. |
3,000 | 103,000 | ||||||
The Coca-Cola Co. |
5,000 | 75,000 | ||||||
The Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels Ltd. |
60,000 | 200,000 | ||||||
The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. |
62,000 | 327,000 | ||||||
The St. Joe Co. |
8,000 | 145,000 | ||||||
Tyco Electronics Ltd. (f) |
62,000 | 62,000 | ||||||
Zimmer Holdings Inc. |
3,500 | 7,000 | ||||||
NET SALES |
||||||||
Common Stocks |
||||||||
Ajinomoto Co. Inc. |
(28,000 | ) | — | |||||
Allianz SE |
(2,500 | ) | — | |||||
Anglo American plc |
(24,030 | ) | — | |||||
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. |
(15,000 | ) | 295,000 | |||||
AstraZeneca plc |
(7,000 | ) | — | |||||
AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. |
(100,000 | ) | — | |||||
Bayer AG |
(12,000 | ) | — | |||||
BHP Billiton Ltd. |
(16,000 | ) | — | |||||
Bouygues SA |
(6,000 | ) | — | |||||
BP plc |
(55,000 | ) | — | |||||
British American Tobacco plc |
(26,000 | ) | — | |||||
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc |
(40,000 | ) | — | |||||
Cadbury plc |
(40,000 | ) | — | |||||
Canon Inc. |
(15,400 | ) | — | |||||
Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. |
(34,000 | ) | — | |||||
China Mobile Ltd. |
(32,000 | ) | — | |||||
Christian Dior SA |
(10,000 | ) | 17,000 | |||||
Ciba Holding AG, ADR (g) |
(5,400 | ) | — | |||||
Cincinnati Bell Inc. |
(50,000 | ) | 835,000 | |||||
Citigroup Inc. |
(100,000 | ) | 160,000 | |||||
CNH Global NV |
(6,600 | ) | 20,000 | |||||
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co. SA |
(20,000 | ) | — | |||||
Cochlear Ltd. |
(7,000 | ) | — | |||||
Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, Cl. A |
(35,000 | ) | — | |||||
Covidien Ltd. (b) |
(20,000 | ) | — | |||||
CRH plc |
(30,000 | ) | — | |||||
Diageo plc |
(40,000 | ) | — | |||||
Earl Scheib Inc. (h) |
(82,500 | ) | — | |||||
Experian plc |
(7,000 | ) | — | |||||
Fanuc Ltd. |
(6,200 | ) | — | |||||
Galp Energia SGPS SA, Cl. B |
(16,000 | ) | — | |||||
General Motors Corp. |
(230,000 | ) | — | |||||
GlaxoSmithKline plc |
(18,000 | ) | — | |||||
Great Plains Energy Inc. |
(4,480 | ) | 68,000 | |||||
Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd., ADR |
(25,000 | ) | — | |||||
Heineken NV |
(12,000 | ) | 36,000 | |||||
Hennes & Mauritz AB, Cl. B |
(10,000 | ) | — | |||||
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. |
(20,000 | ) | — | |||||
Imperial Oil Ltd. |
(13,100 | ) | — | |||||
Japan Tobacco Inc. |
(100 | ) | — | |||||
Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. |
(26,000 | ) | 12,000 | |||||
Keyence Corp. |
(2,992 | ) | — | |||||
Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. (d) |
(10,000 | ) | — | |||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
3
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
PORTFOLIO CHANGES (Continued)
Quarter Ended June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
PORTFOLIO CHANGES (Continued)
Quarter Ended June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
| Ownership at | ||||||||
| June 30, | ||||||||
| Shares | 2009 | |||||||
NET SALES (Continued) |
||||||||
Common Stocks (Continued) |
||||||||
Mitsui & Co. Ltd. |
(25,000 | ) | — | |||||
Nestlé SA |
(14,000 | ) | 25,000 | |||||
Novartis AG |
(11,000 | ) | — | |||||
Orascom Telecom Holding SAE, GDR |
(12,000 | ) | — | |||||
PepsiAmericas Inc. |
(10,000 | ) | 540,000 | |||||
PepsiCo Inc. |
(5,000 | ) | 140,000 | |||||
Pernod-Ricard SA |
(413 | ) | 50,587 | |||||
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, ADR |
(17,450 | ) | 3,500 | |||||
Rio Tinto plc |
(20,000 | ) | — | |||||
Roche Holding AG |
(6,000 | ) | — | |||||
Rollins Inc. |
(5,000 | ) | 1,049,600 | |||||
Saipem SpA |
(25,000 | ) | — | |||||
Sanofi-Aventis |
(4,000 | ) | — | |||||
Schroders plc |
(36,000 | ) | — | |||||
Seat Pagine Gialle SpA |
(1 | ) | 332 | |||||
Secom Co. Ltd. |
(10,000 | ) | — | |||||
SMC Corp. |
(3,400 | ) | — | |||||
Smith & Nephew plc |
(40,000 | ) | — | |||||
Square Enix Holdings Co. Ltd. |
(10,300 | ) | — | |||||
Standard Chartered plc |
(32,000 | ) | — | |||||
State Street Corp. |
(10,000 | ) | 130,000 | |||||
Straumann Holding AG |
(1,500 | ) | — | |||||
Swedish Match AB |
(25,000 | ) | 975,000 | |||||
Swire Pacific Ltd., Cl. A |
(35,200 | ) | — | |||||
Syngenta AG |
(3,000 | ) | — | |||||
Synthes Inc. |
(4,000 | ) | — | |||||
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. |
(10,000 | ) | — | |||||
Technip SA |
(6,000 | ) | — | |||||
Tele2 AB, Cl. B |
(23,000 | ) | — | |||||
Tesco plc |
(60,000 | ) | — | |||||
The Fairchild Corp., Cl. A |
(7,100 | ) | 132,900 | |||||
The Swatch Group AG |
(15,000 | ) | — | |||||
Time Warner Inc. |
(1 | ) | 300,000 | |||||
Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd. |
(52,000 | ) | — | |||||
Toll Holdings Ltd. |
(26,000 | ) | — | |||||
Total SA |
(8,000 | ) | — | |||||
Tullow Oil plc |
(5,000 | ) | — | |||||
Tyco Electronics Ltd. (f) |
(62,000 | ) | — | |||||
Vivendi (i) |
(7,424 | ) | 400,576 | |||||
William Demant Holding A/S |
(5,000 | ) | 66,000 | |||||
Woolworths Ltd. |
(30,000 | ) | — | |||||
Xstrata plc |
(152,298 | ) | — | |||||
Yahoo! Japan Corp. |
(1,000 | ) | — | |||||
Warrants |
||||||||
CRH plc, expire 04/09/09 |
(17,714 | ) | — | |||||
Seat Pagine Gialle SpA, expire 04/17/09 |
(333 | ) | — | |||||
| (a) | Stock Dividend — 0.0540275049 share for every 1 share held. | |
| (b) | Exchange — 1 share of Covidien plc (G2554F105) for every 1 share of Covidien Ltd. (G2552X108) held. | |
| (c) | Stock Dividend — 0.037453 share for every 1 share held. | |
| (d) | Merger — 0.1 share of MEIJI Holdings Co. Ltd. (B60DQV3) for every share of Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. (6576185) held. | |
| (e) | Stock Dividend — 85.8 shares of Rolls-Royce Group plc, Cl. C for every 1 share of Rolls-Royce Group plc held. | |
| (f) | Exchange — 1 share of Tyco Electronics Ltd. (H8912P106) for every 1 share of Tyco Electronics Ltd. (G9144P105) held. | |
| (g) | Tender Offer — $21.52962 for every 1 share held. | |
| (h) | Merger — $2 for every 1 share held. | |
| (i) | Stock Dividend — 0.0823529411 share for every 1 share held. |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
4
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
| Market | ||||||||||||
| Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS — 95.8% |
||||||||||||
Food and Beverage — 11.9% |
||||||||||||
| 32,000 | Brown-Forman Corp., Cl. A |
$ | 1,556,972 | $ | 1,475,520 | |||||||
| 6,250 | Brown-Forman Corp., Cl. B |
410,925 | 268,625 | |||||||||
| 120,000 | Cadbury plc, ADR |
5,698,877 | 4,128,000 | |||||||||
| 70,000 | Campbell Soup Co. |
1,928,257 | 2,059,400 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | China Mengniu Dairy Co. Ltd.† |
138,064 | 116,515 | |||||||||
| 15,000 | Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. |
275,289 | 249,750 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Constellation Brands Inc., Cl. A† |
1,264,244 | 1,268,000 | |||||||||
| 45,000 | Corn Products International Inc. |
633,413 | 1,205,550 | |||||||||
| 249,374 | Danone |
11,966,513 | 12,307,239 | |||||||||
| 300,000 | Davide
Campari - Milano SpA |
3,120,039 | 2,400,993 | |||||||||
| 190,000 | Dean Foods Co.† |
4,074,416 | 3,646,100 | |||||||||
| 60,000 | Del Monte Foods Co. |
564,374 | 562,800 | |||||||||
| 204,000 | Diageo plc, ADR |
8,526,541 | 11,679,000 | |||||||||
| 120,000 | Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc.† |
2,970,121 | 2,542,800 | |||||||||
| 70,000 | Flowers Foods Inc. |
519,947 | 1,528,800 | |||||||||
| 97,000 | Fomento
Economico Mexicano SAB de CV, ADR |
1,332,725 | 3,127,280 | |||||||||
| 25,000 | General Mills Inc. |
1,213,148 | 1,400,500 | |||||||||
| 775,000 | Grupo Bimbo
SAB de CV, Cl. A |
2,221,581 | 4,119,758 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | H.J. Heinz Co. |
3,532,093 | 3,570,000 | |||||||||
| 36,000 | Heineken NV |
1,682,918 | 1,335,297 | |||||||||
| 140,000 | ITO EN Ltd. |
3,303,844 | 1,992,422 | |||||||||
| 60,000 | ITO EN Ltd., Preference |
1,329,644 | 519,437 | |||||||||
| 16,000 | Kellogg Co. |
574,418 | 745,120 | |||||||||
| 68,000 | Kerry Group plc, Cl. A |
781,198 | 1,540,620 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Kraft Foods Inc., Cl. A |
3,162,392 | 2,534,000 | |||||||||
| 11,500 | LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA |
397,547 | 877,629 | |||||||||
| 1,000 | MEIJI Holdings Co. Ltd.† |
50,608 | 40,276 | |||||||||
| 70,000 | Morinaga Milk Industry Co. Ltd. |
299,202 | 268,853 | |||||||||
| 25,000 | Nestlé SA |
513,610 | 941,512 | |||||||||
| 540,000 | PepsiAmericas Inc. |
10,149,558 | 14,477,400 | |||||||||
| 140,000 | PepsiCo Inc. |
6,758,454 | 7,694,400 | |||||||||
| 50,587 | Pernod-Ricard SA |
4,578,387 | 3,184,264 | |||||||||
| 64,000 | Ralcorp Holdings Inc.† |
1,243,785 | 3,898,880 | |||||||||
| 37,000 | Remy Cointreau SA |
2,143,700 | 1,339,169 | |||||||||
| 350,000 | Sara Lee Corp. |
5,433,461 | 3,416,000 | |||||||||
| 75,000 | The Coca-Cola Co. |
3,336,186 | 3,599,250 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | The Hain Celestial Group Inc.† |
267,663 | 312,200 | |||||||||
| 70,000 | The Hershey Co. |
2,941,476 | 2,520,000 | |||||||||
| 2,000 | The J.M. Smucker Co. |
52,993 | 97,320 | |||||||||
| 125,660 | Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. |
1,558,589 | 2,851,225 | |||||||||
| 140,000 | Tyson Foods Inc., Cl. A |
1,805,240 | 1,765,400 | |||||||||
| 400,000 | YAKULT HONSHA Co. Ltd. |
11,239,379 | 7,648,311 | |||||||||
| 115,551,791 | 121,255,615 | |||||||||||
Financial Services — 8.6% |
||||||||||||
| 540,000 | American Express Co. |
25,543,388 | 12,549,600 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | American International Group Inc. |
327,750 | 116,000 | |||||||||
| 6,000 | Ameriprise Financial Inc. |
174,632 | 145,620 | |||||||||
| 19,452 | Argo Group International Holdings Ltd.† |
752,879 | 548,935 | |||||||||
| 90,000 | Banco Santander SA, ADR |
322,130 | 1,089,000 | |||||||||
| 134 | Berkshire
Hathaway Inc., Cl. A† |
393,177 | 12,060,000 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | Calamos Asset Management Inc., Cl. A |
155,620 | 141,100 | |||||||||
| 160,000 | Citigroup Inc. |
1,388,170 | 475,200 | |||||||||
| 140,000 | Commerzbank AG, ADR† |
2,650,900 | 887,600 | |||||||||
| 146,000 | Deutsche Bank AG |
11,783,543 | 8,906,000 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | Federal National Mortgage Association |
49,750 | 29,000 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | Fortress Investment Group LLC, Cl. A† |
176,151 | 68,400 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | H&R Block Inc. |
329,930 | 344,600 | |||||||||
| 25,000 | Interactive Brokers Group Inc., Cl. A† |
687,185 | 388,250 | |||||||||
| 210,000 | Janus Capital Group Inc. |
3,589,340 | 2,394,000 | |||||||||
| 70,088 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
2,006,316 | 2,390,702 | |||||||||
| 220,000 | Legg Mason Inc. |
6,820,193 | 5,363,600 | |||||||||
| 132,000 | Leucadia National Corp.† |
1,652,339 | 2,783,880 | |||||||||
| 5,000 | Loews Corp. |
183,078 | 137,000 | |||||||||
| 260,000 | Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. |
8,004,551 | 5,233,800 | |||||||||
| 65,000 | Moody’s Corp. |
3,235,338 | 1,712,750 | |||||||||
| 22,000 | Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, Cl. A |
214,559 | 196,020 | |||||||||
| 2,500 | Prudential Financial Inc. |
68,750 | 93,050 | |||||||||
| 130,000 | State Street Corp. |
4,547,559 | 6,136,000 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | SunTrust Banks Inc. |
419,333 | 329,000 | |||||||||
| 150,000 | T. Rowe Price Group Inc. |
4,610,820 | 6,250,500 | |||||||||
| 5,000 | The Allstate Corp. |
209,064 | 122,000 | |||||||||
| 160,038 | The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. |
5,421,388 | 4,690,714 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | The Blackstone Group LP |
156,323 | 105,400 | |||||||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
5
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
| Market | ||||||||||||
| Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) |
||||||||||||
Financial Services (Continued) |
||||||||||||
| 43,000 | The Charles Schwab Corp. |
$ | 628,338 | $ | 754,220 | |||||||
| 15,000 | The Dun
& Bradstreet Corp. |
353,346 | 1,218,150 | |||||||||
| 115,000 | The Phoenix Companies Inc.† |
1,529,476 | 192,050 | |||||||||
| 3,000 | The Travelers Companies Inc. |
113,277 | 123,120 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Waddell & Reed Financial Inc., Cl. A |
2,058,579 | 2,637,000 | |||||||||
| 299,910 | Wells Fargo & Co. |
8,981,504 | 7,275,817 | |||||||||
| 99,538,676 | 87,888,078 | |||||||||||
Energy and Utilities — 7.9% |
||||||||||||
| 3,500 | AGL Resources Inc. |
63,091 | 111,300 | |||||||||
| 68,000 | Allegheny Energy Inc. |
1,081,525 | 1,744,200 | |||||||||
| 70,000 | Apache Corp. |
2,728,670 | 5,050,500 | |||||||||
| 247,000 | BP plc, ADR |
15,155,797 | 11,776,960 | |||||||||
| 61,000 | CH Energy Group Inc. |
2,515,309 | 2,848,700 | |||||||||
| 65,000 | CMS Energy Corp. |
416,572 | 785,200 | |||||||||
| 314,000 | ConocoPhillips |
19,227,910 | 13,206,840 | |||||||||
| 70,000 | Constellation Energy Group Inc. |
2,067,062 | 1,860,600 | |||||||||
| 2,800 | Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. |
313,674 | 232,540 | |||||||||
| 60,000 | DPL Inc. |
1,411,620 | 1,390,200 | |||||||||
| 12,000 | DTE Energy Co. |
531,798 | 384,000 | |||||||||
| 200,000 | Duke Energy Corp. |
3,620,407 | 2,918,000 | |||||||||
| 300,000 | El Paso Corp. |
3,636,326 | 2,769,000 | |||||||||
| 265,000 | El Paso Electric Co.† |
4,404,805 | 3,699,400 | |||||||||
| 75,000 | Exxon Mobil Corp. |
2,571,862 | 5,243,250 | |||||||||
| 23,000 | FPL Group Inc. |
897,653 | 1,307,780 | |||||||||
| 68,000 | Great Plains Energy Inc. |
1,714,182 | 1,057,400 | |||||||||
| 220,000 | Halliburton Co. |
4,034,029 | 4,554,000 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | Marathon Oil Corp. |
242,414 | 602,600 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | Mirant Corp.† |
192,014 | 157,400 | |||||||||
| 140,000 | Mirant Corp., Escrow† (a) |
0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 2,000 | Niko Resources Ltd., New York |
110,842 | 137,557 | |||||||||
| 1,000 | Niko Resources Ltd., Toronto |
55,421 | 68,779 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | NiSource Inc. |
215,500 | 116,600 | |||||||||
| 200,000 | Northeast Utilities |
3,864,577 | 4,462,000 | |||||||||
| 19,000 | Oceaneering International Inc.† |
512,207 | 858,800 | |||||||||
| 1,500 | PetroChina Co. Ltd., ADR |
105,964 | 165,720 | |||||||||
| 3,500 | Petroleo Brasileiro SA, ADR |
115,194 | 143,430 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Progress Energy Inc., CVO† (a) |
52,000 | 33,000 | |||||||||
| 200,000 | Rowan Companies Inc. |
7,306,068 | 3,864,000 | |||||||||
| 5,000 | SJW Corp. |
68,704 | 113,500 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | Southwest Gas Corp. |
451,132 | 444,200 | |||||||||
| 130,000 | Spectra Energy Corp. |
3,274,110 | 2,199,600 | |||||||||
| 60,000 | The AES Corp.† |
342,617 | 696,600 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | Transocean Ltd.† |
782,489 | 742,900 | |||||||||
| 270,000 | Westar Energy Inc. |
4,552,840 | 5,067,900 | |||||||||
| 88,636,385 | 80,814,456 | |||||||||||
Cable and Satellite — 6.9% |
||||||||||||
| 1,475,000 | Cablevision Systems Corp., Cl. A |
31,020,671 | 28,629,750 | |||||||||
| 110,000 | Comcast Corp., Cl. A, Special |
658,947 | 1,551,000 | |||||||||
| 120,000 | DISH Network Corp., Cl. A† |
3,144,564 | 1,945,200 | |||||||||
| 26,740 | EchoStar Corp., Cl. A† |
841,442 | 426,236 | |||||||||
| 176,770 | Liberty Global Inc., Cl. A† |
2,780,875 | 2,808,875 | |||||||||
| 139,001 | Liberty Global Inc., Cl. C† |
2,941,276 | 2,197,606 | |||||||||
| 495,690 | Rogers Communications Inc., Cl. B, New York |
4,053,956 | 12,764,017 | |||||||||
| 19,310 | Rogers Communications Inc., Cl. B, Toronto |
137,424 | 496,384 | |||||||||
| 125,000 | Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., Cl. A |
4,016,039 | 3,478,750 | |||||||||
| 160,000 | Shaw Communications Inc., Cl. B, New York |
329,198 | 2,697,600 | |||||||||
| 40,000 | Shaw Communications Inc., Cl. B, Toronto |
52,983 | 673,344 | |||||||||
| 410,000 | The DIRECTV Group Inc.† |
10,478,763 | 10,131,100 | |||||||||
| 76,976 | Time Warner Cable Inc. |
4,861,450 | 2,437,830 | |||||||||
| 65,317,588 | 70,237,692 | |||||||||||
Diversified Industrial — 6.3% |
||||||||||||
| 4,000 | Acuity Brands Inc. |
102,010 | 112,200 | |||||||||
| 160,000 | Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. |
2,094,820 | 3,752,000 | |||||||||
| 160,000 | Baldor Electric Co. |
5,359,250 | 3,806,400 | |||||||||
| 225,000 | Cooper Industries Ltd., Cl. A |
6,075,292 | 6,986,250 | |||||||||
| 250,000 | Crane Co. |
5,569,151 | 5,577,500 | |||||||||
| 200,000 | General Electric Co. |
5,114,818 | 2,344,000 | |||||||||
| 190,000 | Greif Inc., Cl. A |
2,309,052 | 8,401,800 | |||||||||
| 18,000 | Greif Inc., Cl. B |
559,808 | 724,500 | |||||||||
| 440,000 | Honeywell International Inc. |
14,851,225 | 13,816,000 | |||||||||
| 250,000 | ITT Corp. |
6,493,529 | 11,125,000 | |||||||||
| 30,000 | Material Sciences Corp.† |
30,306 | 28,500 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Park-Ohio Holdings Corp.† |
1,062,045 | 342,000 | |||||||||
| 1,000 | Pentair Inc. |
31,908 | 25,620 | |||||||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
6
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
| Shares/ | Market | |||||||||||
| Units | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) |
||||||||||||
Diversified Industrial (Continued) |
||||||||||||
| 19,000 | Sulzer AG |
$ | 403,775 | $ | 1,203,074 | |||||||
| 70,000 | Trinity Industries Inc. |
899,679 | 953,400 | |||||||||
| 205,000 | Tyco International Ltd. |
9,823,935 | 5,325,900 | |||||||||
| 60,780,603 | 64,524,144 | |||||||||||
Telecommunications — 5.9% |
||||||||||||
| 65,000 | BCE Inc. |
1,607,838 | 1,342,900 | |||||||||
| 15,000 | Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund (a)(b) |
481,466 | 339,810 | |||||||||
| 30,000 | Brasil Telecom Participacoes SA, ADR |
1,743,257 | 1,152,000 | |||||||||
| 1,700,000 | BT Group plc |
7,029,679 | 2,838,787 | |||||||||
| 7,040,836 | Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd.† (c) |
128,658 | 36,127 | |||||||||
| 835,000 | Cincinnati Bell Inc.† |
5,491,857 | 2,371,400 | |||||||||
| 170,000 | Deutsche
Telekom AG, ADR |
2,806,557 | 2,006,000 | |||||||||
| 5,000 | France Telecom SA, ADR |
146,305 | 114,050 | |||||||||
| 45,000 | Frontier Communications Corp. |
660,600 | 321,300 | |||||||||
| 30,000 | Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA |
660,359 | 458,735 | |||||||||
| 8,500 | Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA, ADR |
90,649 | 65,025 | |||||||||
| 95,000 | Koninklijke KPN NV |
221,092 | 1,305,928 | |||||||||
| 360,000 | Qwest Communications International Inc. |
1,384,936 | 1,494,000 | |||||||||
| 790,000 | Sprint Nextel Corp.† |
12,763,323 | 3,799,900 | |||||||||
| 184,000 | Tele Norte Leste Participacoes SA, ADR |
2,443,834 | 2,736,080 | |||||||||
| 48,000 | Telecom
Argentina SA, ADR† |
369,540 | 615,840 | |||||||||
| 1,000,000 | Telecom Italia SpA |
4,090,270 | 1,381,816 | |||||||||
| 205,000 | Telefonica SA, ADR |
9,753,929 | 13,917,450 | |||||||||
| 55,000 | Telefonos de Mexico SAB de CV, Cl. L, ADR |
250,894 | 891,550 | |||||||||
| 265,000 | Telephone & Data Systems Inc. |
12,354,090 | 7,499,500 | |||||||||
| 360,000 | Telephone & Data Systems Inc., Special |
15,809,811 | 9,345,600 | |||||||||
| 60,000 | Telmex Internacional SAB de CV, ADR |
187,288 | 759,000 | |||||||||
| 15,000 | TELUS Corp. |
280,203 | 397,842 | |||||||||
| 150,000 | Verizon Communications Inc. |
5,247,005 | 4,609,500 | |||||||||
| 5,169 | Windstream Corp. |
19,996 | 43,213 | |||||||||
| 86,023,436 | 59,843,353 | |||||||||||
| Shares | ||||||||||||
Entertainment — 5.8% |
||||||||||||
| 137,700 | Aruze Corp.† $ |
3,328,043 | 1,054,888 | |||||||||
| 32,000 | Canal+ Groupe |
34,011 | 217,679 | |||||||||
| 2,002 | Chestnut Hill Ventures† (a) |
54,500 | 67,427 | |||||||||
| 134,500 | Discovery Communications Inc., Cl. A† |
2,306,045 | 3,032,975 | |||||||||
| 134,500 | Discovery Communications Inc., Cl. C† |
1,609,881 | 2,761,285 | |||||||||
| 3,000 | DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., Cl. A† |
68,959 | 82,770 | |||||||||
| 690,000 | Grupo Televisa SA, ADR |
8,053,491 | 11,730,000 | |||||||||
| 430,000 | Liberty Media Corp. -Entertainment, Cl. A† |
8,493,064 | 11,502,500 | |||||||||
| 125 | Live Nation Inc.† |
1,296 | 607 | |||||||||
| 65,341 | Macrovision Solutions Corp.† |
1,341,728 | 1,425,087 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.† |
483,433 | 929,000 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | Regal Entertainment Group, Cl. A |
134,259 | 132,900 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | The Walt Disney Co. |
164,934 | 233,300 | |||||||||
| 300,000 | Time Warner Inc. |
14,131,586 | 7,557,000 | |||||||||
| 114,000 | Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings Inc. |
3,338,313 | 1,793,990 | |||||||||
| 305,000 | Viacom Inc., Cl. A† |
14,287,551 | 7,313,900 | |||||||||
| 400,576 | Vivendi |
11,757,875 | 9,572,846 | |||||||||
| 69,588,969 | 59,408,154 | |||||||||||
Equipment and Supplies — 4.9% |
||||||||||||
| 254,000 | AMETEK Inc. |
4,284,352 | 8,783,320 | |||||||||
| 4,000 | Amphenol Corp., Cl. A |
14,775 | 126,560 | |||||||||
| 94,000 | CIRCOR International Inc. |
974,241 | 2,219,340 | |||||||||
| 193,000 | Donaldson Co. Inc. |
2,982,411 | 6,685,520 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | Fedders Corp.† (a) |
71,252 | 0 | |||||||||
| 147,000 | Flowserve Corp. |
5,489,623 | 10,262,070 | |||||||||
| 23,000 | Franklin Electric Co. Inc. |
250,434 | 596,160 | |||||||||
| 95,000 | Gerber Scientific Inc.† |
999,244 | 237,500 | |||||||||
| 85,000 | GrafTech International Ltd.† |
837,991 | 961,350 | |||||||||
| 318,000 | IDEX Corp. |
7,631,663 | 7,813,260 | |||||||||
| 40,000 | Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., Cl. A |
826,578 | 836,000 | |||||||||
| 102,000 | Lufkin Industries Inc. |
990,973 | 4,289,100 | |||||||||
| 11,000 | Mueller Industries Inc. |
485,034 | 228,800 | |||||||||
| 2,000 | Sealed Air Corp. |
17,404 | 36,900 | |||||||||
| 75,000 | Tenaris SA, ADR |
3,308,011 | 2,028,000 | |||||||||
| 4,000 | The Manitowoc Co. Inc. |
25,450 | 21,040 | |||||||||
| 90,000 | The Weir Group plc |
378,710 | 684,073 | |||||||||
| 190,000 | Watts Water Technologies Inc., Cl. A |
2,957,983 | 4,092,600 | |||||||||
| 32,526,129 | 49,901,593 | |||||||||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
7
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
| Market | ||||||||||||
| Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) |
||||||||||||
Consumer Products — 3.9% |
||||||||||||
| 70,000 | Avon Products Inc. |
$ | 1,945,464 | $ | 1,804,600 | |||||||
| 17,000 | Christian Dior SA |
643,155 | 1,268,030 | |||||||||
| 12,000 | Church & Dwight Co. Inc. |
79,628 | 651,720 | |||||||||
| 12,000 | Clorox Co. |
667,921 | 669,960 | |||||||||
| 140,000 | Eastman Kodak Co. |
1,617,153 | 414,400 | |||||||||
| 105,000 | Energizer Holdings Inc.† |
4,653,239 | 5,485,200 | |||||||||
| 120,000 | Fortune Brands Inc. |
5,780,354 | 4,168,800 | |||||||||
| 2,267 | Givaudan SA |
653,941 | 1,388,311 | |||||||||
| 60,000 | Hanesbrands Inc.† |
1,376,148 | 900,600 | |||||||||
| 32,000 | Harley-Davidson Inc. |
1,486,605 | 518,720 | |||||||||
| 4,000 | Jarden Corp.† |
91,909 | 75,000 | |||||||||
| 8,000 | Mattel Inc. |
144,000 | 128,400 | |||||||||
| 14,000 | National Presto Industries Inc. |
447,682 | 1,065,400 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | Oil-Dri Corp. of America |
171,255 | 148,500 | |||||||||
| 80,000 | Pactiv Corp.† |
828,772 | 1,736,000 | |||||||||
| 56,000 | Reckitt Benckiser Group plc |
1,721,681 | 2,548,344 | |||||||||
| 33,000 | Svenska
Cellulosa AB, Cl. B |
450,176 | 346,484 | |||||||||
| 975,000 | Swedish Match AB |
10,871,307 | 15,829,461 | |||||||||
| 5,000 | The Procter & Gamble Co. |
219,250 | 255,500 | |||||||||
| 33,849,640 | 39,403,430 | |||||||||||
Health Care — 3.4% |
||||||||||||
| 12,000 | Abbott Laboratories |
506,418 | 564,480 | |||||||||
| 14,046 | Allergan Inc. |
655,380 | 668,309 | |||||||||
| 40,000 | Amgen Inc.† |
2,338,356 | 2,117,600 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | Baxter International Inc. |
1,150,370 | 1,059,200 | |||||||||
| 2,000 | Becton, Dickinson and Co. |
174,354 | 142,620 | |||||||||
| 35,000 | Biogen Idec Inc.† |
806,669 | 1,580,250 | |||||||||
| 120,000 | Boston Scientific Corp.† |
1,655,930 | 1,216,800 | |||||||||
| 85,000 | Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. |
2,152,363 | 1,726,350 | |||||||||
| 2,000 | Cephalon Inc.† |
152,351 | 113,300 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | Covidien plc |
876,365 | 748,800 | |||||||||
| 4,000 | GlaxoSmithKline plc, ADR |
216,096 | 141,360 | |||||||||
| 30,000 | Henry Schein Inc.† |
764,324 | 1,438,500 | |||||||||
| 18,000 | Hospira Inc.† |
635,417 | 693,360 | |||||||||
| 60,000 | Johnson & Johnson |
3,883,697 | 3,408,000 | |||||||||
| 80,000 | Life Technologies Corp.† |
2,065,234 | 3,337,600 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | Mead Johnson Nutrition Co., Cl. A† |
240,000 | 317,700 | |||||||||
| 55,000 | Merck & Co. Inc. |
1,809,761 | 1,537,800 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | Nobel Biocare Holding AG |
286,712 | 218,306 | |||||||||
| 98,000 | Novartis AG, ADR |
4,369,878 | 3,997,420 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Schering-Plough Corp. |
1,707,438 | 2,512,000 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | SSL International plc |
439,178 | 426,106 | |||||||||
| Shares/ | ||||||||||||
| Units | ||||||||||||
| 110,000 | UnitedHealth Group Inc. |
5,183,081 | 2,747,800 | |||||||||
| 66,000 | William Demant Holding A/S† |
2,996,437 | 3,412,861 | |||||||||
| 7,000 | Zimmer Holdings Inc.† |
339,145 | 298,200 | |||||||||
| 35,404,954 | 34,424,722 | |||||||||||
Automotive: Parts and Accessories — 3.2% |
||||||||||||
| 2,000 | BERU AG |
210,290 | 212,393 | |||||||||
| 86,000 | BorgWarner Inc. |
1,126,424 | 2,936,900 | |||||||||
| 173,000 | CLARCOR Inc. |
1,433,218 | 5,049,870 | |||||||||
| 280,000 | Genuine Parts Co. |
9,952,619 | 9,396,800 | |||||||||
| 200,000 | Johnson Controls Inc. |
4,137,496 | 4,344,000 | |||||||||
| 135,000 | Midas Inc.† |
1,878,589 | 1,414,800 | |||||||||
| 330,000 | Modine Manufacturing Co. |
8,213,644 | 1,584,000 | |||||||||
| 150,000 | O’Reilly Automotive Inc.† |
4,434,957 | 5,712,000 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Proliance International Inc.† (a) |
573,231 | 14,080 | |||||||||
| 175,000 | Standard Motor Products Inc. |
1,873,526 | 1,447,250 | |||||||||
| 35,000 | Superior Industries International Inc. |
822,800 | 493,500 | |||||||||
| 34,656,794 | 32,605,593 | |||||||||||
Publishing — 2.7% |
||||||||||||
| 10,000 | Idearc Inc.† |
1,041 | 371 | |||||||||
| 1,690,587 | Il Sole 24 Ore |
14,169,101 | 5,146,492 | |||||||||
| 348,266 | Independent
News & Media plc |
663,968 | 121,165 | |||||||||
| 211,800 | Media General Inc., Cl. A |
12,078,455 | 446,898 | |||||||||
| 122,000 | Meredith Corp. |
5,066,964 | 3,117,100 | |||||||||
| 1,400,000 | News Corp., Cl. A |
18,051,173 | 12,754,000 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | News Corp., Cl. B |
186,274 | 211,400 | |||||||||
| 332 | Seat Pagine Gialle SpA† |
15,932 | 76 | |||||||||
| 50,333 | The E.W. Scripps Co., Cl. A |
375,680 | 105,196 | |||||||||
| 182,000 | The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. |
7,122,447 | 5,480,020 | |||||||||
| 57,731,035 | 27,382,718 | |||||||||||
Business Services — 2.3% |
||||||||||||
| 6,000 | ACCO Brands Corp.† |
77,008 | 16,920 | |||||||||
| 16,850 | Ascent Media Corp., Cl. A† |
523,580 | 447,873 | |||||||||
| 310,000 | BPW Acquisition Corp.† |
3,066,277 | 2,968,250 | |||||||||
| 120,000 | Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., Cl. A† |
2,016,845 | 636,000 | |||||||||
| 186,554 | Contax Participacoes SA, ADR |
76,632 | 238,789 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Diebold Inc. |
3,841,978 | 2,636,000 | |||||||||
| 200,000 | G4S plc |
0 | 686,047 | |||||||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
8
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
| Market | ||||||||||||
| Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) |
||||||||||||
Business Services (Continued) |
||||||||||||
| 1,000 | Hertz Global Holdings Inc.† |
$ | 7,031 | $ | 7,990 | |||||||
| 12,000 | Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. |
289,300 | 329,040 | |||||||||
| 92,000 | Landauer Inc. |
2,498,708 | 5,643,280 | |||||||||
| 40,500 | MasterCard Inc., Cl. A |
1,780,529 | 6,776,055 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | Monster Worldwide Inc.† |
1,145,594 | 590,500 | |||||||||
| 72,500 | Nashua Corp.† |
656,628 | 485,750 | |||||||||
| 327,000 | The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.† |
2,846,619 | 1,651,350 | |||||||||
| 8,000 | Visa Inc., Cl. A |
352,000 | 498,080 | |||||||||
| 19,178,729 | 23,611,924 | |||||||||||
Consumer Services — 2.0% |
||||||||||||
| 100,000 | IAC/InterActiveCorp.† |
2,555,272 | 1,605,000 | |||||||||
| 210,000 | Liberty
Media Corp. - Interactive, Cl. A† |
4,593,199 | 1,052,100 | |||||||||
| 1,049,600 | Rollins Inc. |
10,756,203 | 18,168,576 | |||||||||
| 17,904,674 | 20,825,676 | |||||||||||
Aviation: Parts and Services — 1.8% |
||||||||||||
| 350,000 | Curtiss-Wright Corp. |
4,965,900 | 10,405,500 | |||||||||
| 300,000 | GenCorp Inc.† |
2,853,511 | 573,000 | |||||||||
| 104,000 | Precision Castparts Corp. |
5,728,725 | 7,595,120 | |||||||||
| 132,900 | The Fairchild Corp., Cl. A† |
418,673 | 2,392 | |||||||||
| 13,966,809 | 18,576,012 | |||||||||||
Machinery — 1.8% |
||||||||||||
| 20,000 | Caterpillar Inc. |
136,559 | 660,800 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | CNH Global NV† |
135,583 | 280,800 | |||||||||
| 435,000 | Deere & Co. |
12,737,846 | 17,378,250 | |||||||||
| 13,009,988 | 18,319,850 | |||||||||||
Retail — 1.7% |
||||||||||||
| 100,000 | AutoNation Inc.† |
1,070,027 | 1,735,000 | |||||||||
| 500 | AutoZone Inc.† |
43,965 | 75,555 | |||||||||
| 40,000 | Coldwater Creek Inc.† |
157,162 | 242,400 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | Costco Wholesale Corp. |
2,293,269 | 2,285,000 | |||||||||
| 75,000 | CVS Caremark Corp. |
2,782,778 | 2,390,250 | |||||||||
| 10,108 | Denny’s Corp.† |
14,357 | 21,732 | |||||||||
| 27,000 | HSN Inc.† |
477,075 | 285,390 | |||||||||
| 230,000 | Macy’s Inc. |
4,288,722 | 2,704,800 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | Sally Beauty Holdings Inc.† |
416,928 | 318,000 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | SUPERVALU Inc. |
1,453,171 | 647,500 | |||||||||
| 225,000 | The Great
Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc.† |
4,217,005 | 956,250 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | Wal-Mart Stores Inc. |
2,439,000 | 2,422,000 | |||||||||
| 90,000 | Walgreen Co. |
3,188,463 | 2,646,000 | |||||||||
| 32,000 | Whole Foods Market Inc. |
805,826 | 607,360 | |||||||||
| 23,647,748 | 17,337,237 | |||||||||||
Aerospace — 1.6% |
||||||||||||
| 3,000 | BBA Aviation plc |
6,033 | 5,627 | |||||||||
| 30,899 | Kaman Corp. |
665,917 | 516,013 | |||||||||
| 8,000 | Lockheed Martin Corp. |
468,720 | 645,200 | |||||||||
| 65,000 | Northrop Grumman Corp. |
3,791,156 | 2,969,200 | |||||||||
| 1,200,000 | Rolls-Royce Group plc† |
9,166,092 | 7,136,865 | |||||||||
| 102,960,000 | Rolls-Royce Group plc, Cl. C† |
149,673 | 169,389 | |||||||||
| 103,000 | The Boeing Co. |
6,065,092 | 4,377,500 | |||||||||
| 20,312,683 | 15,819,794 | |||||||||||
Communications Equipment — 1.5% |
||||||||||||
| 480,000 | Corning Inc. |
4,124,295 | 7,708,800 | |||||||||
| 80,000 | Motorola Inc. |
889,575 | 530,400 | |||||||||
| 100 | Nortel Networks Corp.† |
688 | 4 | |||||||||
| 250,000 | Thomas & Betts Corp.† |
8,254,260 | 7,215,000 | |||||||||
| 13,268,818 | 15,454,204 | |||||||||||
Hotels and Gaming — 1.4% |
||||||||||||
| 5,270 | Accor SA |
272,007 | 208,891 | |||||||||
| 200,000 | Gaylord Entertainment Co.† |
5,147,797 | 2,542,000 | |||||||||
| 45,000 | Interval Leisure Group Inc.† |
876,000 | 419,400 | |||||||||
| 1,100,058 | Ladbrokes plc |
11,258,708 | 3,330,054 | |||||||||
| 90,000 | Las Vegas Sands Corp.† |
769,685 | 707,400 | |||||||||
| 3,900,000 | Mandarin Oriental International Ltd. |
7,272,574 | 5,187,000 | |||||||||
| 140,000 | MGM Mirage† |
5,123,471 | 894,600 | |||||||||
| 44,000 | Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., Cl. A |
1,003,821 | 373,560 | |||||||||
| 34,000 | Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. |
520,597 | 754,800 | |||||||||
| 200,000 | The Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels Ltd. |
155,450 | 200,773 | |||||||||
| 2,000 | Wynn Resorts Ltd.† |
74,539 | 70,600 | |||||||||
| 32,474,649 | 14,689,078 | |||||||||||
Specialty Chemicals — 1.4% |
||||||||||||
| 13,000 | Ashland Inc. |
217,620 | 364,650 | |||||||||
| 30,000 | E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. |
1,263,365 | 768,600 | |||||||||
| 500,000 | Ferro Corp. |
7,515,802 | 1,375,000 | |||||||||
| 4,000 | FMC Corp. |
136,430 | 189,200 | |||||||||
| 45,000 | H.B. Fuller Co. |
620,163 | 844,650 | |||||||||
| 70,000 | International
Flavors & Fragrances Inc. |
3,296,486 | 2,290,400 | |||||||||
| 291,018 | Omnova Solutions Inc.† |
1,910,452 | 948,719 | |||||||||
| 260,000 | Sensient Technologies Corp. |
4,760,885 | 5,868,200 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Zep Inc. |
1,293,508 | 1,205,000 | |||||||||
| 21,014,711 | 13,854,419 | |||||||||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
9
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
| Market | ||||||||||||
| Shares | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) |
||||||||||||
Wireless Communications — 1.3% |
||||||||||||
| 95,000 | America
Movil SAB de CV, Cl. L, ADR |
$ | 1,335,987 | $ | 3,678,400 | |||||||
| 14,000 | Clearwire Corp., Cl. A† |
250,895 | 77,420 | |||||||||
| 1,700 | NTT DoCoMo Inc. |
3,438,005 | 2,491,722 | |||||||||
| 5,087 | Telemig Celular Participacoes SA, ADR |
147,017 | 258,013 | |||||||||
| 32,165 | Tim Participacoes SA, ADR |
390,212 | 560,636 | |||||||||
| 115,400 | United States Cellular Corp.† |
5,343,392 | 4,437,130 | |||||||||
| 43,000 | Vivo Participacoes SA, ADR |
2,086,104 | 814,420 | |||||||||
| 45,000 | Vodafone Group plc, ADR |
1,223,275 | 877,050 | |||||||||
| 14,214,887 | 13,194,791 | |||||||||||
Electronics — 1.1% |
||||||||||||
| 6,000 | Advanced Micro Devices Inc.† |
57,915 | 23,220 | |||||||||
| 16,000 | Bel Fuse Inc., Cl. A |
500,167 | 224,640 | |||||||||
| 5,000 | Hitachi Ltd., ADR |
347,376 | 154,850 | |||||||||
| 180,000 | Intel Corp. |
3,637,892 | 2,979,000 | |||||||||
| 80,000 | LSI Corp.† |
474,386 | 364,800 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | Molex Inc., Cl. A |
519,697 | 287,600 | |||||||||
| 7,500 | NEC Corp., ADR† (a) |
43,625 | 29,506 | |||||||||
| 35,000 | Royal Philips Electronics NV |
48,221 | 644,700 | |||||||||
| 275,000 | Texas Instruments Inc. |
6,623,135 | 5,857,500 | |||||||||
| 62,000 | Tyco Electronics Ltd. |
2,392,821 | 1,152,580 | |||||||||
| 14,645,235 | 11,718,396 | |||||||||||
Metals and Mining — 1.1% |
||||||||||||
| 15,000 | Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. |
717,413 | 787,200 | |||||||||
| 70,000 | Alcoa Inc. |
1,438,415 | 723,100 | |||||||||
| 88,000 | Barrick Gold Corp. |
2,576,640 | 2,952,400 | |||||||||
| 4,000 | Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. |
102,895 | 200,440 | |||||||||
| 75,000 | Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.† |
560,208 | 420,000 | |||||||||
| 52,000 | New Hope Corp. Ltd. |
70,252 | 191,491 | |||||||||
| 155,000 | Newmont Mining Corp. |
4,747,145 | 6,334,850 | |||||||||
| 10,212,968 | 11,609,481 | |||||||||||
Agriculture — 1.1% |
||||||||||||
| 295,000 | Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. |
6,794,792 | 7,897,150 | |||||||||
| 31,000 | Monsanto Co. |
1,451,491 | 2,304,540 | |||||||||
| 15,000 | Syngenta AG, ADR |
189,981 | 697,800 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | The Mosaic Co. |
176,051 | 443,000 | |||||||||
| 8,612,315 | 11,342,490 | |||||||||||
Automotive — 0.8% |
||||||||||||
| 125,000 | Navistar International Corp.† |
3,272,936 | 5,450,000 | |||||||||
| 96,750 | PACCAR Inc. |
431,444 | 3,145,343 | |||||||||
| 3,704,380 | 8,595,343 | |||||||||||
Environmental Services — 0.8% |
||||||||||||
| 97,000 | Republic Services Inc. |
905,229 | 2,367,770 | |||||||||
| 200,000 | Waste Management Inc. |
5,105,986 | 5,632,000 | |||||||||
| 6,011,215 | 7,999,770 | |||||||||||
Computer Software and Services — 0.6% |
||||||||||||
| 8,000 | Alibaba.com Ltd.† |
13,935 | 14,183 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.† |
169,874 | 234,700 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | NCR Corp.† |
1,769,210 | 1,183,000 | |||||||||
| 40,000 | Rockwell Automation Inc. |
1,653,266 | 1,284,800 | |||||||||
| 25,256 | Telecom Italia Media SpA† |
26,868 | 4,145 | |||||||||
| 185,000 | Yahoo! Inc.† |
5,607,536 | 2,897,100 | |||||||||
| 9,240,689 | 5,617,928 | |||||||||||
Real Estate — 0.6% |
||||||||||||
| 2,000 | Brookfield Asset Management Inc., Cl. A |
70,670 | 34,140 | |||||||||
| 55,500 | Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc. |
529,368 | 1,736,040 | |||||||||
| 145,000 | The St. Joe Co.† |
8,124,996 | 3,841,050 | |||||||||
| 8,725,034 | 5,611,230 | |||||||||||
Broadcasting — 0.5% |
||||||||||||
| 380,400 | CBS Corp., Cl. A, Voting |
11,840,600 | 2,643,780 | |||||||||
| 10,343 | Citadel Broadcasting Corp.† |
4,052 | 414 | |||||||||
| 2,000 | Cogeco Inc. |
39,014 | 36,642 | |||||||||
| 25,334 | Corus Entertainment Inc., Cl. B, New York |
46,981 | 322,502 | |||||||||
| 6,666 | Corus Entertainment Inc., Cl. B, Toronto |
12,406 | 85,105 | |||||||||
| 110,000 | Gray Television Inc. |
712,903 | 53,900 | |||||||||
| 18,000 | Gray Television Inc., Cl. A |
214,996 | 10,800 | |||||||||
| 77,000 | Liberty
Media Corp. - Capital, Cl. A† |
990,182 | 1,044,120 | |||||||||
| 50,000 | LIN TV Corp., Cl. A† |
419,853 | 84,000 | |||||||||
| 100,000 | Television Broadcasts Ltd. |
396,239 | 401,933 | |||||||||
| 14,677,226 | 4,683,196 | |||||||||||
Transportation — 0.5% |
||||||||||||
| 100,000 | AMR Corp.† |
1,924,248 | 402,000 | |||||||||
| 165,000 | GATX Corp. |
4,548,661 | 4,243,800 | |||||||||
| 15,000 | Grupo TMM SA, Cl. A, ADR† |
70,729 | 13,200 | |||||||||
| 6,543,638 | 4,659,000 | |||||||||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
10
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (Continued)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
| Shares/ | Market | |||||||||||
| Units | Cost | Value | ||||||||||
COMMON STOCKS (Continued) |
||||||||||||
Closed-End Funds — 0.3% |
||||||||||||
| 31,500 | Royce Value Trust Inc. |
$ | 388,297 | $ | 264,915 | |||||||
| 104,000 | The Central Europe and
Russia Fund Inc. |
2,391,965 | 2,322,320 | |||||||||
| 70,000 | The New Germany
Fund Inc. |
754,518 | 600,600 | |||||||||
| 3,534,780 | 3,187,835 | |||||||||||
| Manufactured Housing and Recreational Vehicles — 0.1% | ||||||||||||
| 150,000 | Champion
Enterprises Inc.† |
782,392 | 48,000 | |||||||||
| 20,000 | Huttig Building
Products Inc.† |
51,845 | 18,800 | |||||||||
| 7,000 | Martin Marietta
Materials Inc. |
144,225 | 552,160 | |||||||||
| 10,000 | Nobility Homes Inc. |
195,123 | 83,000 | |||||||||
| 30,000 | Skyline Corp. |
1,072,261 | 652,500 | |||||||||
| 2,245,846 | 1,354,460 | |||||||||||
| Real Estate Investment Trusts — 0.1% | ||||||||||||
| 2,000 | Camden Property Trust |
37,490 | 55,200 | |||||||||
| 24,984 | Rayonier Inc. |
798,811 | 908,168 | |||||||||
| 836,301 | 963,368 | |||||||||||
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS |
1,057,589,323 | 976,715,030 | ||||||||||
| CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS — 0.1% | ||||||||||||
Telecommunications — 0.1% |
||||||||||||
| 25,000 | Cincinnati Bell Inc.,
6.750% Cv. Pfd., Ser. B |
787,113 | 725,000 | |||||||||
WARRANTS — 0.0% |
||||||||||||
Business Services — 0.0% |
||||||||||||
| 310,000 | BPW Acquisition Corp.,
expire 02/26/14† |
30,972 | 71,300 | |||||||||
Energy and Utilities — 0.0% |
||||||||||||
| 12,183 | Mirant Corp., Ser. A,
expire 01/03/11† |
36,353 | 17,909 | |||||||||
TOTAL WARRANTS |
67,325 | 89,209 | ||||||||||
| Principal | ||||||||||||
| Amount | ||||||||||||
| CONVERTIBLE CORPORATE BONDS — 0.2% | ||||||||||||
Retail — 0.2% |
||||||||||||
| $ | 3,300,000 | The Great Atlantic &
Pacific Tea Co. Inc., Cv.,
5.125%, 06/15/11 |
3,222,203 | 2,425,500 | ||||||||
CORPORATE BONDS — 0.0% |
||||||||||||
Consumer Products — 0.0% |
||||||||||||
| 1,000,000 | Pillowtex Corp., Sub. Deb.,
9.000%, 12/15/17† (a)
|
0 | 0 | |||||||||
| U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS — 3.9% | ||||||||||||
| 39,273,000 | U.S. Treasury Bills,
0.086% to 0.452%††, 07/02/09 to 12/24/09 |
39,255,474 | 39,259,204 | |||||||||
| TOTAL INVESTMENTS — 100.0% | $ | 1,100,921,438 | 1,019,213,943 | |||||||||
| Other Assets and Liabilities (Net) | (2,323,798 | ) | ||||||||||
PREFERRED STOCK (8,218,978 preferred shares outstanding) |
(305,374,450 | ) | ||||||||||
NET ASSETS — COMMON STOCK (178,263,618 common shares outstanding) |
$ | 711,515,695 | ||||||||||
NET ASSET VALUE PER COMMON SHARE ($711,515,695 ÷ 178,263,618 shares outstanding) |
$ | 3.99 | ||||||||||
| (a) | Security fair valued under procedures established by the Board of Directors. The procedures may include reviewing available financial information about the company and reviewing the valuation of comparable securities and other factors on a regular basis. At June 30, 2009, the market value of fair valued securities amounted to $483,823 or 0.05% of total investments. | |
| (b) | Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This security may be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified institutional buyers. At June 30, 2009, the market value of the Rule 144A security amounted to $339,810 or 0.03% of total investments. | |
| (c) | At June 30, 2009, the Fund held an investment in a restricted security amounting to $36,127 or 0.00% of total investments, which were valued under methods approved by the Board of Directors as follows: |
| 06/30/09 | ||||||||||||||||
| Acquisition | Acquisition | Acquisition | Carrying Value | |||||||||||||
| Shares | Issuer | Date | Cost | Per Unit | ||||||||||||
| 7,040,836 | Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd. |
09/30/93 | $128,658 | $0.0051 | ||||||||||||
| † | Non-income producing security. | |
| †† | Represents annualized yield at date of purchase. | |
| ADR | American Depositary Receipt | |
| CVO | Contingent Value Obligation |
| % of | ||||||||
| Market | Market | |||||||
| Geographic Diversification | Value | Value | ||||||
North America |
78.7 | % | $ | 801,877,523 | ||||
Europe |
14.7 | 150,163,903 | ||||||
Latin America |
4.9 | 50,218,347 | ||||||
Japan |
1.6 | 15,994,254 | ||||||
Asia/Pacific |
0.1 | 959,916 | ||||||
Total Investments |
100.0 | % | $ | 1,019,213,943 | ||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
11
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
Assets: |
||||
Investments, at value (cost $1,100,921,438) |
$ | 1,019,213,943 | ||
Foreign currency, at value (cost $114,732) |
115,953 | |||
Cash |
14,887 | |||
Receivable for investments sold |
2,035,421 | |||
Dividends and interest receivable |
1,963,466 | |||
Unrealized appreciation on swap contracts |
52,302 | |||
Deferred offering expense |
143,532 | |||
Prepaid expense |
21,001 | |||
Total Assets |
1,023,560,505 | |||
Liabilities: |
||||
Payable for investments purchased |
3,746,149 | |||
Distributions payable |
179,840 | |||
Payable for investment advisory fees |
2,118,909 | |||
Payable for payroll expenses |
17,847 | |||
Payable for accounting fees |
3,750 | |||
Payable for auction agent fees |
537,813 | |||
Other accrued expenses |
66,052 | |||
Total Liabilities |
6,670,360 | |||
Preferred Stock: |
||||
Series C Cumulative Preferred Stock (Auction Rate,
$25,000 liquidation value, $0.001 par value, 5,200
shares authorized with 2,880 shares
issued and outstanding) |
72,000,000 | |||
Series D Cumulative Preferred Stock (5.875%, $25
liquidation value, $0.001 par value, 3,000,000 shares
authorized with 2,364,576 shares issued
and outstanding) |
59,114,400 | |||
Series E Cumulative Preferred Stock (Auction Rate,
$25,000 liquidation value, $0.001 par value, 2,000
shares authorized with 1,120 shares issued
and outstanding) |
28,000,000 | |||
Series F Cumulative Preferred Stock (6.200%, $25
liquidation value, $0.001 par value, 6,000,000 shares
authorized with 5,850,402 shares issued
and outstanding) |
146,260,050 | |||
Total Preferred Stock |
305,374,450 | |||
Net Assets Attributable to Common Shareholders |
$ | 711,515,695 | ||
Net Assets Attributable to Common Shareholders Consist of: |
||||
Paid-in capital, at $0.001 par value |
$ | 866,218,649 | ||
Accumulated distributions in excess of
net investment income |
(1,187,228 | ) | ||
Accumulated net realized loss on investments, swap
contracts, and foreign currency transactions |
(71,858,490 | ) | ||
Net unrealized depreciation on investments |
(81,707,495 | ) | ||
Net unrealized appreciation on swap contracts |
52,302 | |||
Net unrealized depreciation on foreign
currency translations |
(2,043 | ) | ||
Net Assets |
$ | 711,515,695 | ||
Net Asset Value per Common Share |
||||
($711,515,695 ÷ 178,263,618 shares outstanding;
246,000,000 shares authorized) |
$ | 3.99 | ||
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2009 (Unaudited)
Investment Income: |
||||
Dividends (net of foreign taxes of $479,220) |
$ | 13,685,780 | ||
Interest |
168,118 | |||
Total Investment Income |
13,853,898 | |||
Expenses: |
||||
Investment advisory fees |
4,966,710 | |||
Shareholder communications expenses |
404,279 | |||
Auction agent expenses |
159,157 | |||
Custodian fees |
109,469 | |||
Shareholder services fees |
74,187 | |||
Directors’ fees |
71,023 | |||
Legal and audit fees |
66,272 | |||
Payroll expenses |
59,028 | |||
Accounting fees |
22,500 | |||
Interest expense |
264 | |||
Miscellaneous expenses |
159,856 | |||
Total Expenses |
6,092,745 | |||
Less: |
||||
Advisory fee reduction |
(177,201 | ) | ||
Advisory fee reduction on unsupervised assets |
(1,554 | ) | ||
Custodian fee credits |
(13 | ) | ||
Total Reductions and Credits |
(178,768 | ) | ||
Net Expenses |
5,913,977 | |||
Net Investment Income |
7,939,921 | |||
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain/(Loss) on Investments,
Swap Contracts, and Foreign Currency: |
||||
Net realized loss on investments |
(50,407,407 | ) | ||
Net realized gain on swap contracts |
264,282 | |||
Net realized gain on foreign currency transactions |
335,338 | |||
Net realized loss on investments, swap contracts, and
foreign currency transactions |
(49,807,787 | ) | ||
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation: |
||||
on investments |
92,991,497 | |||
on swap contracts |
(24,826 | ) | ||
on foreign currency translations |
(261,817 | ) | ||
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on
investments, swap contracts, and foreign
currency translations |
92,704,854 | |||
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain/(Loss) on
Investments, Swap Contracts, and Foreign
Currency |
42,897,067 | |||
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting
from Operations |
50,836,988 | |||
Total Distributions to Preferred Stock Shareholders |
(6,645,633 | ) | ||
Net Increase in Net Assets Attributable to
Common Shareholders Resulting
from Operations |
$ | 44,191,355 | ||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
12
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS
| Six Months Ended | ||||||||
| June 30, 2009 | Year Ended | |||||||
| (Unaudited) | December 31, 2008 | |||||||
Operations: |
||||||||
Net investment income |
$ | 7,939,921 | $ | 20,949,808 | ||||
Net realized loss on investments, written options, swap contracts, futures contracts, and
foreign currency transactions |
(49,807,787 | ) | (16,429,163 | ) | ||||
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments, written options,
swap contracts, futures contracts, and foreign currency translations |
92,704,854 | (730,777,915 | ) | |||||
Net Increase/(Decrease) in Net Assets Resulting from Operations |
50,836,988 | (726,257,270 | ) | |||||
Distributions to Preferred Shareholders: |
||||||||
Net investment income |
(6,618,378) | * | (19,287,568 | ) | ||||
Return of capital |
(27,255) | * | — | |||||
Total Distributions to Preferred Shareholders |
(6,645,633 | ) | (19,287,568 | ) | ||||
Net Increase/(Decrease) in Net Assets Attributable to Common Shareholders
Resulting from Operations |
44,191,355 | (745,544,838 | ) | |||||
Distributions to Common Shareholders: |
||||||||
Net investment income |
(2,111,510) | * | (549,586 | ) | ||||
Return of capital |
(68,272,144) | * | (138,218,574 | ) | ||||
Total Distributions to Common Shareholders |
(70,383,654 | ) | (138,768,160 | ) | ||||
Fund Share Transactions: |
||||||||
Net increase in net assets from common shares issued upon reinvestment of distributions |
13,314,288 | 21,433,746 | ||||||
Net increase in net assets from repurchase of preferred shares |
317,628 | 573,717 | ||||||
Offering costs for preferred shares charged to paid-in-capital |
— | 650 | ||||||
Net Increase in Net Assets from Fund Share Transactions |
13,631,916 | 22,008,113 | ||||||
Net Decrease in Net Assets Attributable to Common Shareholders |
(12,560,383 | ) | (862,304,885 | ) | ||||
Net Assets Attributable to Common Shareholders: |
||||||||
Beginning of period |
724,076,078 | 1,586,380,963 | ||||||
End of period (including undistributed net investment income of $0 and $0, respectively) |
$ | 711,515,695 | $ | 724,076,078 | ||||
| * | Based on year to date book income. Amounts are subject to change and recharacterization at year end. |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
13
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
| Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selected data for a share | June 30, 2009 | Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| outstanding throughout each period: | (Unaudited) | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||
Operating Performance: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 4.14 | $ | 9.22 | $ | 9.40 | $ | 8.10 | $ | 8.69 | $ | 7.98 | ||||||||||||
Net investment income |
0.05 | 0.12 | 0.14 | 0.18 | 0.09 | 0.02 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain/(loss) on investments,
written options, swap contracts, future contracts,
and foreign currency transactions |
0.24 | (4.30 | ) | 1.12 | 2.18 | 0.47 | 1.63 | |||||||||||||||||
Total from investment operations |
0.29 | (4.18 | ) | 1.26 | 2.36 | 0.56 | 1.65 | |||||||||||||||||
Distributions to Preferred Shareholders:(a) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net investment income |
(0.04 | )(d) | (0.11 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.03 | ) | (0.01 | ) | (0.00 | )(e) | ||||||||||||
Net realized gain |
— | — | (0.12 | ) | (0.12 | ) | (0.14 | ) | (0.14 | ) | ||||||||||||||
Return of capital |
(0.00 | )(d)(e) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
Total distributions to preferred shareholders |
(0.04 | ) | (0.11 | ) | (0.14 | ) | (0.15 | ) | (0.15 | ) | (0.14 | ) | ||||||||||||
Net Increase/(Decrease) in Net Assets Attributable
to Common Shareholders Resulting
from Operations |
0.25 | (4.29 | ) | 1.12 | 2.21 | 0.41 | 1.51 | |||||||||||||||||
Distributions to Common Shareholders: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net investment income |
(0.01 | )(d) | (0.00 | )(e) | (0.12 | ) | (0.16 | ) | (0.08 | ) | (0.01 | ) | ||||||||||||
Net realized gain |
— | — | (0.57 | ) | (0.72 | ) | (0.77 | ) | (0.79 | ) | ||||||||||||||
Return of capital |
(0.39 | )(d) | (0.80 | ) | (0.61 | ) | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
Total distributions to common shareholders |
(0.40 | ) | (0.80 | ) | (1.30 | ) | (0.88 | ) | (0.85 | ) | (0.80 | ) | ||||||||||||
Fund Share Transactions: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Increase/(decrease) in net asset value from common
stock share transactions |
0.00 | (e) | 0.01 | — | — | (0.00 | )(e) | 0.00 | (e) | |||||||||||||||
Decrease in net asset value from shares issued
in rights offering |
— | — | — | — | (0.15 | ) | — | |||||||||||||||||
Increase in net asset value from repurchase of
preferred shares |
0.00 | (e) | 0.00 | (e) | — | — | — | 0.00 | (e) | |||||||||||||||
Offering costs for preferred shares charged to
paid-in capital |
— | 0.00 | (e) | — | (0.03 | ) | (0.00 | )(e) | 0.00 | (e) | ||||||||||||||
Offering costs for issuance of rights charged to
paid-in capital |
— | — | — | (0.00 | )(e) | (0.00 | )(e) | — | ||||||||||||||||
Total fund share transactions |
0.00 | (e) | 0.01 | — | (0.03 | ) | (0.15 | ) | 0.00 | (e) | ||||||||||||||
Net Asset Value Attributable to Common
Shareholders, End of Period |
$ | 3.99 | $ | 4.14 | $ | 9.22 | $ | 9.40 | $ | 8.10 | $ | 8.69 | ||||||||||||
Net Asset Value Total Return † |
7.20 | % | (49.06 | )% | 12.14 | % | 28.17 | % | 5.50 | % | 19.81 | % | ||||||||||||
Market Value, End of Period |
$ | 4.50 | $ | 3.70 | $ | 9.28 | $ | 9.41 | $ | 8.03 | $ | 9.02 | ||||||||||||
Total
Investment Return †† |
35.28 | % | (54.77 | )% | 12.75 | % | 29.42 | % | 0.66 | % | 24.04 | % | ||||||||||||
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
14
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (Continued)
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (Continued)
| Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selected data for a share | June 30, 2009 | Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| outstanding throughout each period: | (Unaudited) | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||
Ratios and Supplemental Data: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net assets including liquidation value of
preferred shares, end of period (in 000’s) |
$ | 1,016,890 | $ | 1,106,614 | $ | 1,990,123 | $ | 2,114,399 | $ | 1,764,634 | $ | 1,638,225 | ||||||||||||
Net assets attributable to common shares,
end of period (in 000’s) |
$ | 711,516 | $ | 724,076 | $ | 1,586,381 | $ | 1,586,906 | $ | 1,345,891 | $ | 1,219,483 | ||||||||||||
Ratio of net investment income to average net assets
attributable to common shares before
preferred distributions |
2.43 | %(f) | 1.73 | % | 1.16 | % | 2.12 | % | 1.27 | % | 0.64 | % | ||||||||||||
Ratio of operating expenses to average net assets
attributable to common shares before fees waived |
1.86 | %(f) | 1.52 | % | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
Ratio of operating expenses to average net assets
attributable to common shares net of fee reduction,
if any |
1.81 | %(f) | 1.19 | % | 1.46 | % | 1.43 | % | 1.39 | % | 1.57 | % | ||||||||||||
Ratio of operating expenses to average net assets
including liquidation value of preferred shares
before fees waived |
1.23 | %(f) | 1.14 | % | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
Ratio of operating expenses to average net assets
including liquidation value of preferred shares
net of fee reduction, if any |
1.19 | %(f) | 0.89 | % | 1.17 | % | 1.11 | % | 1.04 | % | 1.14 | % | ||||||||||||
Portfolio
turnover rate ††† |
4.7 | % | 13.5 | % | 17.2 | % | 29.5 | % | 22.4 | % | 28.6 | % | ||||||||||||
Preferred Stock: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
7.200% Series B Cumulative Preferred Stock |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) |
— | — | — | $ | 123,750 | $ | 165,000 | $ | 165,000 | |||||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) |
— | — | — | 4,950 | 6,600 | 6,600 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share |
— | — | — | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | |||||||||||||||
Average market value (b) |
— | — | — | $ | 25.27 | $ | 25.92 | $ | 26.57 | |||||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share |
— | — | — | $ | 100.21 | $ | 105.35 | $ | 97.81 | |||||||||||||||
Auction Rate Series C Cumulative Preferred Stock |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) |
$ | 72,000 | $ | 117,000 | $ | 130,000 | $ | 130,000 | $ | 130,000 | $ | 130,000 | ||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) |
3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share |
$ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Average market value (b) |
$ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share |
$ | 83,249 | $ | 72,320 | $ | 123,230 | $ | 100,211 | $ | 105,353 | $ | 97,806 | ||||||||||||
5.875% Series D Cumulative Preferred Stock |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) |
$ | 59,114 | $ | 72,532 | $ | 73,743 | $ | 73,743 | $ | 73,743 | $ | 73,743 | ||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) |
2,365 | 2,901 | 2,950 | 2,950 | 2,950 | 2,950 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share |
$ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | ||||||||||||
Average market value (b) |
$ | 22.71 | $ | 22.69 | $ | 23.86 | $ | 23.98 | $ | 24.82 | $ | 24.81 | ||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share |
$ | 83.25 | $ | 72.32 | $ | 123.23 | $ | 100.21 | $ | 105.35 | $ | 97.81 | ||||||||||||
Auction Rate Series E Cumulative Preferred Stock |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) |
$ | 28,000 | $ | 45,000 | $ | 50,000 | $ | 50,000 | $ | 50,000 | $ | 50,000 | ||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) |
1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share |
$ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Average market value (b) |
$ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share |
$ | 83,249 | $ | 72,320 | $ | 123,230 | $ | 100,211 | $ | 105,353 | $ | 97,806 | ||||||||||||
6.200% Series F Cumulative Preferred Stock |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation value, end of period (in 000’s) |
$ | 146,260 | $ | 148,007 | $ | 150,000 | $ | 150,000 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
Total shares outstanding (in 000’s) |
5,850 | 5,920 | 6,000 | 6,000 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquidation preference per share |
$ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 25.00 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
Average market value (b) |
$ | 23.20 | $ | 23.48 | $ | 24.69 | $ | 25.12 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
Asset coverage per share |
$ | 83.25 | $ | 72.32 | $ | 123.23 | $ | 100.21 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
Asset Coverage (c) |
333 | % | 289 | % | 493 | % | 401 | % | 421 | % | 391 | % | ||||||||||||
| † | Based on net asset value per share, adjusted for reinvestment of distributions, at prices dependent upon the relationship of the net asset value per share and the market value per share on the ex-dividend dates, including the effect of shares issued pursuant to the 2005 rights offering, assuming full subscription by shareholders. Total return for a period of less than one year is not annualized. | |
| †† | Based on market value per share, adjusted for reinvestment of distributions, including the effect of shares issued pursuant to the 2005 rights offering, assuming full subscription by shareholders. Total return for a period of less than one year is not annualized. | |
| ††† | Effective in 2008, a change in accounting policy was adopted with regard to the calculation of the portfolio turnover rate to include cash proceeds due to mergers. Had this policy been adopted retroactively, the portfolio turnover rate for the years ended December 31, 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004 would have been 27.3%, 33.1%, 27.0%, and 29.9%, respectively. | |
| (a) | Calculated based upon average common shares outstanding on the record dates throughout the periods. | |
| (b) | Based on weekly prices. | |
| (c) | Asset coverage is calculated by combining all series of preferred stock. | |
| (d) | Based on year to date book income. Amounts are subject to change and recharacterization at year end. | |
| (e) | Amount represents less than $0.005 per share. | |
| (f) | Annualized. |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
15
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Unaudited)
1. Organization. The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. (the “Equity Trust”) is a non-diversified closed-end
management investment company organized as a Maryland corporation on May 20, 1986 and registered
under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), whose primary objective is
long-term growth of capital. Investment operations commenced on August 21, 1986.
The Equity Trust will invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities under normal
market conditions (the “80% Policy”). The 80% Policy may be changed without shareholder approval.
The Equity Trust will provide shareholders with notice at least sixty days prior to the
implementation of any changes in the 80% Policy.
2. Significant Accounting Policies. The preparation of financial statements in accordance with
United States (“U.S.”) generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make
estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The following is a summary of
significant accounting policies followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial
statements.
Security Valuation. Portfolio securities listed or traded on a nationally recognized
securities exchange or traded in the U.S. over-the-counter market for which market quotations are
readily available are valued at the last quoted sale price or a market’s official closing price as
of the close of business on the day the securities are being valued. If there were no sales that
day, the security is valued at the average of the closing bid and asked prices or, if there were no
asked prices quoted on that day, then the security is valued at the closing bid price on that day.
If no bid or asked prices are quoted on such day, the security is valued at the most recently
available price or, if the Board of Directors (the “Board”) so determines, by such other method as
the Board shall determine in good faith to reflect its fair market value. Portfolio securities
traded on more than one national securities exchange or market are valued according to the broadest
and most representative market, as determined by Gabelli Funds, LLC (the “Adviser”).
Portfolio securities primarily traded on a foreign market are generally valued at the
preceding closing values of such securities on the relevant market, but may be fair valued pursuant
to procedures established by the Board if market conditions change significantly after the close of
the foreign market but prior to the close of business on the day the securities are being valued.
Debt instruments with remaining maturities of sixty days or less that are not credit impaired are
valued at amortized cost, unless the Board determines such amount does not reflect the securities’
fair value, in which case these securities will be fair valued as determined by the Board. Debt
instruments having a maturity greater than sixty days for which market quotations are readily
available are valued at the average of the latest bid and asked prices. If there were no asked
prices quoted on such day, the security is valued using the closing bid price. Futures contracts
are valued at the closing settlement price of the exchange or board of trade on which the
applicable contract is traded.
Securities and assets for which market quotations are not readily available are fair valued as
determined by the Board. Fair valuation methodologies and procedures may include, but are not
limited to: analysis and review of available financial and non-financial information about the
company; comparisons with the valuation and changes in valuation of similar securities, including a
comparison of foreign securities with the equivalent U.S. dollar value ADR securities at the close
of the U.S. exchange; and evaluation of any other information that could be indicative of the value
of the security.
Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements” (“SFAS 157”)
clarifies the definition of fair value for financial reporting, establishes a framework for
measuring fair value, and requires additional disclosures about the use of fair value measurements.
The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under SFAS 157 are described below:
| • | Level 1 — quoted prices in active markets for identical securities; |
16
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
| • | Level 2 — other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.); and | ||
| • | Level 3 — significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s determinations as to the fair value of investments). |
The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not necessarily an indication of the
risk associated with investing in those securities. The summary of the Fund’s investments and other
financial instruments by inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of June 30, 2009 is as
follows:
| Valuation Inputs | ||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 - | Level 2 - | Level 3 - | Total | |||||||||||||
| Quoted | Other Significant | Significant | Market Value | |||||||||||||
| Prices | Observable Inputs | Unobservable Inputs | at 6/30/09 | |||||||||||||
INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES: |
||||||||||||||||
ASSETS (Market Value): |
||||||||||||||||
Common Stocks |
||||||||||||||||
Energy and Utilities |
$ | 80,781,456 | — | $ | 33,000 | $ | 80,814,456 | |||||||||
Telecommunications |
59,503,543 | $ | 339,810 | — | 59,843,353 | |||||||||||
Entertainment |
59,340,727 | — | 67,427 | 59,408,154 | ||||||||||||
Equipment and Supplies |
49,901,593 | — | 0 | 49,901,593 | ||||||||||||
Aerospace |
15,650,405 | 169,389 | — | 15,819,794 | ||||||||||||
Electronics |
11,688,890 | 29,506 | — | 11,718,396 | ||||||||||||
Other Industries(a) |
699,209,284 | — | — | 699,209,284 | ||||||||||||
Total Common Stocks |
976,075,898 | 538,705 | 100,427 | 976,715,030 | ||||||||||||
Convertible Preferred Stocks(a) |
725,000 | — | — | 725,000 | ||||||||||||
Warrants(a) |
89,209 | — | — | 89,209 | ||||||||||||
Convertible Corporate Bonds |
— | 2,425,500 | — | 2,425,500 | ||||||||||||
Corporate Bonds |
— | — | 0 | — | ||||||||||||
U.S. Government Obligations |
— | 39,259,204 | — | 39,259,204 | ||||||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES |
$ | 976,890,107 | $ | 42,223,409 | $ | 100,427 | $ | 1,019,213,943 | ||||||||
OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS: |
||||||||||||||||
ASSETS (Unrealized Appreciation): * |
||||||||||||||||
Contract for Difference Swaps |
$ | — | $ | 52,302 | $ | — | $ | 52,302 | ||||||||
| (a) | Security and industry classifications for these categories are detailed in the Schedule of Investments. | |
| * | Other financial instruments are derivative instruments not reflected in the Schedule of Investments, such as futures, forwards, and swaps, which are valued at the unrealized appreciation/depreciation of the investment. |
The following is a reconciliation of Level 3 investments for which significant unobservable
inputs were used to determine fair value:
| Net change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| in unrealized | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| appreciation/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| depreciation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change in | during the | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance | Accrued | Realized | unrealized | Net | Transfers in | Balance | period on Level 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| as of | discounts/ | gain/ | appreciation/ | purchases/ | and/or out | as of | investments held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12/31/08 | (premiums) | (loss) | depreciation† | (sales) | of Level 3 | 6/30/09 | at 6/30/09† | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ASSETS (Market Value): |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common Stocks |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Energy and Utilities |
$ | 33,000 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 33,000 | $ | — | ||||||||||||||||
Entertainment |
67,427 | — | — | — | — | — | 67,427 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Equipment and Supplies |
0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total Common Stocks |
100,427 | — | — | — | — | — | 100,427 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corporate Bonds |
0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES |
$ | 100,427 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 100,427 | $ | — | ||||||||||||||||
| † | Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments is included in the related amounts in the Statement of Operations. |
17
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
Derivative Financial Instruments.
The Fund may invest in various derivative financial instruments and engage in various portfolio
investment strategies for the purpose of increasing the income of the Fund, hedging or protecting
its exposure to interest rate movements and movements in the securities markets, hedging against
changes in the value of its portfolio securities and in the value of securities it intends to
purchase, or hedging against a specific transaction with respect to either the currency in which
the transaction is denominated or another currency. Losses may arise if the value of the contract
decreases due to an unfavorable change in the price of the underlying security or if the
counterparty does not perform its duties under the contract. Investing in certain derivative
financial instruments entails certain execution, market, liquidity, hedging, and tax risks.
Participation in the options or futures markets and in currency exchange transactions involves
investment risks and transaction costs to which the Fund would not be subject absent the use of
these strategies. If the Adviser’s prediction of movements in the direction of the securities,
foreign currency, and interest rate markets is inaccurate, the consequences to the Fund may leave
the Fund in a worse position than if it had not used such strategies.
The Fund is subject to equity price risk, interest rate risk, and foreign currency exchange rate
risk in the normal course of pursuing its investment objectives by investing in various derivative
financial instruments, as described below.
Options. The Fund may purchase or write call or put options on securities or indices for the
purpose of increasing the income of the Fund. As a writer of put options, the Fund receives a
premium at the outset and then bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the price of the financial
instrument underlying the option. The Fund would incur a loss if the price of the underlying
financial instrument decreases between the date the option is written and the date on which the
option is terminated. The Fund would realize a gain, to the extent of the premium, if the price of
the financial instrument increases between those dates. If a written call option is exercised, the
premium is added to the proceeds from the sale of the underlying security in determining whether
there has been a realized gain or loss. If a written put option is exercised, the premium reduces
the cost basis of the security.
As a purchaser of put options, the Fund pays a premium for the right to sell to the seller of the
put option the underlying security at a specified price. The seller of the put has the obligation
to purchase the underlying security upon exercise at the exercise price. If the price of the
underlying security declines, the Fund would realize a gain upon sale or exercise. If the price of
the underlying security increases or stays the same, the Fund would realize a loss upon sale or at
the expiration date, but only to the extent of the premium paid.
In the case of call options, these exercise prices are referred to as “in-the-money”,
“at-the-money”, and “out-of-the-money”, respectively. The Fund may write (a) in-the-money call
options when the Adviser expects that the price of the underlying security will remain stable or
decline during the option period, (b) at-the-money call options when the Adviser expects that the
price of the underlying security will remain stable, decline or advance moderately during the
option period, and (c) out-of-the-money call options when the Adviser expects that the premiums
received from writing the call option will be greater than the appreciation in the price of the
underlying security above the exercise price. By writing a call option, the Fund limits its
opportunity to profit from any increase in the market value of the underlying security above the
exercise price of the option. Out-of-the-money, at-the-money, and in-the-money put options (the
reverse of call options as to the relation of exercise price to market price) may be utilized in
the same market environments that such call options are used in equivalent transactions. There were
no open option contracts at June 30, 2009.
18
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
Swap Agreements. The Fund may enter into equity, contract for difference, and interest rate swap or
cap transactions for the purpose of increasing the income of the Fund or to hedge or protect its
exposure to interest rate movements and movements in the securities markets. The use of swaps and
caps is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from
those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. A swap agreement may involve, to
varying degrees, elements of market and counterparty risk and exposure to loss in excess of the
related amounts reflected in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. In an interest rate swap, the
Fund would agree to pay to the other party to the interest rate swap (which is known as the
“counterparty”) periodically a fixed rate payment in exchange for the counterparty agreeing to pay
to the Fund periodically a variable rate payment that is intended to approximate the Fund’s
variable rate payment obligation on Series C Preferred Stock and Series E Preferred Stock. In an
interest rate cap, the Fund would pay a premium to the counterparty and, to the extent that a
specified variable rate index exceeds a predetermined fixed rate, would receive from that
counterparty payments of the difference based on the notional amount of such cap. In a swap, a set
of future cash flows are exchanged between two counterparties. One of these cash flow streams will
typically be based on a reference interest rate combined with the performance of a notional value
of shares of a stock. The other will be based on the performance of the shares of a stock. Swap and
cap transactions introduce additional risk because the Fund would remain obligated to pay preferred
stock dividends when due in accordance with the Articles Supplementary even if the counterparty
defaulted. If there is a default by the counterparty to a swap contract, the Fund will be limited
to contractual remedies pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction. There is no
assurance that the swap contract counterparties will be able to meet their obligations pursuant to
a swap contract or that, in the event of default, the Fund will succeed in pursuing contractual
remedies. The Fund thus assumes the risk that it may be delayed in or prevented from obtaining
payments owed to it pursuant to a swap contract. The creditworthiness of the swap contract
counterparties is closely monitored in order to minimize this risk. Depending on the general state
of short-term interest rates and the returns on the Fund’s portfolio securities at that point in
time, such a default could negatively affect the Fund’s ability to make dividend payments. In
addition, at the time a swap or cap transaction reaches its scheduled termination date, there is a
risk that the Fund will not be able to obtain a replacement transaction or that the terms of the
replacement will not be as favorable as on the expiring transaction.
The use of derivative instruments involves, to varying degrees, elements of market and counterparty
risk in excess of the amount recognized below.
Unrealized gains related to swaps are reported as an asset and unrealized losses are reported as a
liability in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. The change in value of swaps, including the
accrual of periodic amounts of interest to be paid or received on swaps, is reported as unrealized
gain or loss in the Statement of Operations. A realized gain or loss is recorded upon payment or
receipt of a periodic payment or termination of swap agreements.
At June 30, 2009, there were no open interest rate swap agreements.
The Fund has entered into an equity contract for difference swap agreement with The Goldman Sachs
Group, Inc. Details of the swap at June 30, 2009 are as follows:
| Notional | Equity Security | Interest Rate/ | Termination | Net Unrealized | ||||
| Amount | Received | Equity Security Paid | Date | Appreciation | ||||
| Market Value | Overnight LIBOR plus 90 bps plus | |||||||
| Appreciation on: | Market Value Depreciation on: | |||||||
$1,017,738 (180,000 Shares) |
Rolls-Royce Group plc | Rolls-Royce Group plc | 6/25/10 | $52,302 |
19
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
Futures Contracts. The Fund may engage in futures contracts for the purpose of hedging against
changes in the value of its portfolio securities and in the value of securities it intends to
purchase. Upon entering into a futures contract, the Fund is required to deposit with the broker an
amount of cash or cash equivalents equal to a certain percentage of the contract amount. This is
known as the “initial margin.” Subsequent payments (“variation margin”) are made or received by the
Fund each day, depending on the daily fluctuations in the value of the contract, which are included
in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments and futures contracts. The Fund recognizes a
realized gain or loss when the contract is closed.
There are several risks in connection with the use of futures contracts as a hedging instrument.
The change in value of futures contracts primarily corresponds with the value of their underlying
instruments, which may not correlate with the change in value of the hedged investments. In
addition, there is the risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction
because of an illiquid secondary market. At June 30, 2009, there were no open futures contracts.
Forward Foreign Exchange Contracts. The Fund may engage in forward foreign exchange contracts for
the purpose of hedging a specific transaction with respect to either the currency in which the
transaction is denominated or another currency as deemed appropriate by the Adviser. Forward
foreign exchange contracts are valued at the forward rate and are marked-to-market daily. The
change in market value is included in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments and
foreign currency translations. When the contract is closed, the Fund records a realized gain or
loss equal to the difference between the value of the contract at the time it was opened and the
value at the time it was closed.
The use of forward foreign exchange contracts does not eliminate fluctuations in the underlying
prices of the Fund’s portfolio securities, but it does establish a rate of exchange that can be
achieved in the future. Although forward foreign exchange contracts limit the risk of loss due to a
decline in the value of the hedged currency, they also limit any potential gain that might result
should the value of the currency increase. In addition, the Fund could be exposed to risks if the
counterparties to the contracts are unable to meet the terms of their contracts. At June 30, 2009,
there were no open forward foreign exchange contracts.
Repurchase Agreements. The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements with primary government
securities dealers recognized by the Federal Reserve Board, with member banks of the Federal
Reserve System, or with other brokers or dealers that meet credit guidelines established by the
Adviser and reviewed by the Board. Under the terms of a typical repurchase agreement, the Fund
takes possession of an underlying debt obligation subject to an obligation of the seller to
repurchase, and the Fund to resell, the obligation at an agreed-upon price and time, thereby
determining the yield during the Fund’s holding period. It is the policy of the Fund to always
receive and maintain securities as collateral whose market value, including accrued interest, is at
least equal to 102% of the dollar amount invested by the Fund in each agreement. The Fund will make
payment for such securities only upon physical delivery or upon evidence of book entry transfer of
the collateral to the account of the custodian. To the extent that any repurchase transaction
exceeds one business day, the value of the collateral is marked-to-market on a daily basis to
maintain the adequacy of the collateral. If the seller defaults and the value of the collateral
declines or if bankruptcy proceedings are commenced with respect to the seller of the security,
realization of the collateral by the Fund may be delayed or limited. At June 30, 2009, there were
no open repurchase agreements.
Investments in other Investment Companies. The Fund may invest, from time to time, in shares
of other investment companies (or entities that would be considered investment companies but are
excluded from the definition pursuant to certain exceptions under the 1940 Act) (the “Acquired
Funds”) in accordance with the 1940 Act and related rules. As a shareholder in the Fund, you would
bear the pro rata portion of the periodic expenses of the Acquired Funds in addition to the Fund’s
expenses. For the six months ended June 30, 2009, the Fund’s pro rata portion of the periodic
expenses charged by the Acquired Funds was less than one basis point.
20
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
Foreign Currency Translations. The books and records of the Fund are maintained in U.S.
dollars. Foreign currencies, investments, and other assets and liabilities are translated into U.S.
dollars at the current exchange rates. Purchases and sales of investment securities, income, and
expenses are translated at the exchange rate prevailing on the respective dates of such
transactions. Unrealized gains and losses that result from changes in foreign exchange rates and/or
changes in market prices of securities have been included in unrealized appreciation/depreciation
on investments and foreign currency translations. Net realized foreign currency gains and losses
resulting from changes in exchange rates include foreign currency gains and losses between trade
date and settlement date on investment securities transactions, foreign currency transactions, and
the difference between the amounts of interest and dividends recorded on the books of the Fund and
the amounts actually received. The portion of foreign currency gains and losses related to
fluctuation in exchange rates between the initial trade date and subsequent sale trade date is
included in realized gain/loss on investments.
Foreign Securities. The Fund may directly purchase securities of foreign issuers. Investing in
securities of foreign issuers involves special risks not typically associated with investing in
securities of U.S. issuers. The risks include possible revaluation of currencies, the ability to
repatriate funds, less complete financial information about companies, and possible future adverse
political and economic developments. Moreover, securities of many foreign issuers and their markets
may be less liquid and their prices more volatile than those of securities of comparable U.S.
issuers.
Foreign Taxes. The Fund may be subject to foreign taxes on income, gains on investments, or
currency repatriation, a portion of which may be recoverable. The Fund will accrue such taxes and
recoveries as applicable, based upon its current interpretation of tax rules and regulations that
exist in the markets in which it invests.
Restricted and Illiquid Securities. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in
securities for which the markets are illiquid. Illiquid securities include securities the
disposition of which is subject to substantial legal or contractual restrictions. The sale of
illiquid securities often requires more time and results in higher brokerage charges or dealer
discounts and other selling expenses than does the sale of securities eligible for trading on
national securities exchanges or in the over-the-counter markets. Restricted securities may sell at
a price lower than similar securities that are not subject to restrictions on resale. Securities
freely saleable among qualified institutional investors under special rules adopted by the SEC may
be treated as liquid if they satisfy liquidity standards established by the Board. The continued
liquidity of such securities is not as well assured as that of publicly traded securities, and
accordingly the Board will monitor their liquidity.
Securities Transactions and Investment Income. Securities transactions are accounted for on
the trade date with realized gain or loss on investments determined by using the identified cost
method. Interest income (including amortization of premium and accretion of discount) is recorded
on the accrual basis. Premiums and discounts on debt securities are amortized using the effective
yield to maturity method. Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date except for certain
dividends which are recorded as soon as the Fund is informed of the dividend.
Custodian Fee Credits and Interest Expense. When cash balances are maintained in the custody
account, the Fund receives credits which are used to offset custodian fees. The gross expenses paid
under the custody arrangement are included in custodian fees in the Statement of Operations with
the corresponding expense offset, if any, shown as “custodian fee credits.” When cash balances are
overdrawn, the Fund is charged an overdraft fee equal to 110% of the 90 day Treasury Bill rate on
outstanding balances. This amount, if any, would be included in “interest expense” in the Statement
of Operations.
Distributions to Shareholders. Distributions to common shareholders are recorded on the
ex-dividend date. Distributions to shareholders are based on income and capital gains as determined
in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from income and capital gains
as determined under U.S. generally accepted accounting
21
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
principles. These differences are primarily due to differing treatments of income and gains on
various investment securities and foreign currency transactions held by the Fund, timing
differences, and differing characterizations of distributions made by the Fund. Distributions from
net investment income include net realized gains on foreign currency transactions. These book/tax
differences are either temporary or permanent in nature. To the extent these differences are
permanent, adjustments are made to the appropriate capital accounts in the period when the
differences arise. Permanent differences were primarily due to reclassifications of distributions
and swap investments. These reclassifications have no impact on the NAV of the Fund.
Distributions to shareholders of the Fund’s Series C Auction Rate Cumulative Preferred Stock,
5.875% Series D Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series E Auction Rate Cumulative Preferred Stock, and
6.20% Series F Cumulative Preferred Stock (“Cumulative Preferred Stock”) are recorded on a daily
basis and are determined as described in Note 5.
The tax character of distributions paid during the year ended December 31, 2008 was as follows:
| Common | Preferred | |||||||
Distributions paid from: |
||||||||
Ordinary income (inclusive of net short-term capital gains) |
$ | 549,586 | $ | 19,287,568 | ||||
Return of capital |
138,218,574 | — | ||||||
Total distributions paid |
$ | 138,768,160 | $ | 19,287,568 | ||||
Provision for Income Taxes. The Fund intends to continue to qualify as a regulated investment
company under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). It is the
policy of the Fund to comply with the requirements of the Code applicable to regulated investment
companies and to distribute substantially all of its net investment company taxable income and net
capital gains. Therefore, no provision for federal income taxes is required.
At December 31, 2008, the Fund had net capital loss carryforwards for federal income tax
purposes of $5,677,238 which are available to reduce future required distributions of net capital
gains to shareholders through 2016.
As of December 31, 2008, the components of accumulated earnings/losses on a tax basis were as
follows:
Accumulated capital loss carryforward |
$ | (5,677,238 | ) | |
Net unrealized depreciation on investments and swap contracts |
(191,166,529 | ) | ||
Net unrealized appreciation on foreign currency translations |
259,774 | |||
Other temporary differences* |
(226,061 | ) | ||
Total |
$ | (196,810,054 | ) | |
| * | Other temporary differences are primarily due to adjustments on dividend payables. |
The following summarizes the tax cost of investments, swap contracts, and the related
unrealized appreciation/depreciation at June 30, 2009:
| Gross | Gross | Net Unrealized | ||||||||||||||
| Unrealized | Unrealized | Appreciation/ | ||||||||||||||
| Cost | Appreciation | Depreciation | Depreciation | |||||||||||||
Investments |
$ | 1,117,294,573 | $ | 186,805,756 | $ | (284,886,386 | ) | $ | (98,080,630 | ) | ||||||
Swap contracts |
— | 52,302 | — | 52,302 | ||||||||||||
| $ | 1,117,294,573 | $ | 186,858,058 | $ | (284,886,386 | ) | $ | (98,028,328 | ) | |||||||
22
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
Management has analyzed the Fund’s tax positions taken on federal income tax returns for all
open tax years (current and prior three tax years) and has concluded that no provision for federal
income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. The Fund’s federal and state income and
federal excise tax returns for tax years for which the applicable statutes of limitations have not
expired are subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service and state departments of
revenue.
3. Agreements and Transactions with Affiliates. The Fund has an investment advisory agreement (the
“Advisory Agreement”) with the Adviser which provides that the Fund will pay the Adviser a fee,
computed weekly and paid monthly, equal on an annual basis to 1.00% of the value of the Fund’s
average weekly net assets including the liquidation value of preferred stock. In accordance with
the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser provides a continuous investment program for the Fund’s
portfolio and oversees the administration of all aspects of the Fund’s business and affairs. The
Adviser has agreed to reduce the management fee on the incremental assets attributable to the
Cumulative Preferred Stock if the total return of the NAV of the common shares of the Fund,
including distributions and advisory fee subject to reduction, does not exceed the stated dividend
rate or corresponding swap rate of each particular series of the Cumulative Preferred Stock for the
year.
The Fund’s total return on the NAV of the common shares is monitored on a monthly basis to
assess whether the total return on the NAV of the common shares exceeds the stated dividend rate or
the corresponding swap rate of each particular series of Cumulative Preferred Stock for the period.
For the six months ended June 30, 2009, the Fund’s total return on the NAV of the common shares
exceeded the stated dividend rate or the corresponding swap rate on the outstanding Preferred Stock
except for the liquidation value of the 6.20% Class F Preferred Shares whose management fees were
reduced by $177,201.
During the six months ended June 30, 2009, the Fund paid brokerage commissions on security
trades of $111,051 to Gabelli & Company, Inc. (“Gabelli & Company”), an affiliate of the Adviser.
The cost of calculating the Fund’s NAV per share is a Fund expense pursuant to the Advisory
Agreement between the Fund and the Adviser. During the six months ended June 30, 2009, the Fund
paid or accrued $22,500 to the Adviser in connection with the cost of computing the Fund’s NAV.
As per the approval of the Board, the Fund compensates officers of the Fund who are employed
by the Fund and are not employed by the Adviser (although the officers may receive incentive based
variable compensation from affiliates of the Adviser) and pays its allocated portion of the cost of
the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer. For the six months ended June 30, 2009, the Fund paid or
accrued $59,028, which is included in payroll expenses in the Statement of Operations.
The Fund pays each Director who is not considered to be an affiliated person an annual
retainer of $12,000 plus $1,500 for each Board meeting attended. Each Director is reimbursed by the
Fund for any out of pocket expenses incurred in attending meetings. All Board committee members
receive $1,000 per meeting attended. In addition, the Audit Committee Chairman receives an annual
fee of $3,000, the Proxy Voting Committee Chairman receives an annual fee of $1,500, the Nominating
Committee Chairman receives an annual fee of $2,000, and the Lead Director receives an annual fee
of $1,000. A Director may receive a single meeting fee, allocated among the participating funds,
for participation in certain meetings held on behalf of multiple funds. Directors who are directors
or employees of the Adviser or an affiliated company receive no compensation or expense
reimbursement from the Fund.
23
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
4. Portfolio Securities. Purchases and sales of securities for the six months ended June 30, 2009,
other than short-term securities and U.S. Government obligations, aggregated $43,248,119 and
$120,193,071, respectively.
5. Capital. The charter permits the Fund to issue 246,000,000 shares of common stock (par value
$0.001) and authorizes the Board to increase its authorized shares from time to time. The Board has
authorized the repurchase of its shares on the open market when the shares are trading on the New
York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) at a discount of 10% or more (or such other percentage as the Board
may determine from time to time) from the NAV of the shares. During the six months ended June 30,
2009, the Fund did not repurchase any shares of its common stock in the open market.
Transactions in common shares were as follows:
| Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||
| June 30, 2009 | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||
| (Unaudited) | December 31, 2008 | |||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||
Net increase from shares issued
upon reinvestment of distributions
|
3,344,466 | $ | 13,314,288 | 2,814,862 | $ | 21,433,746 | ||||||||||
The Fund’s Articles of Incorporation, as amended, authorizes the issuance of up to 18,000,000
shares of $0.001 par value Cumulative Preferred Stock. The Cumulative Preferred Stock is senior to
the common stock and results in the financial leveraging of the common stock. Such leveraging tends
to magnify both the risks and opportunities to common shareholders. Dividends on shares of the
Cumulative Preferred Stock are cumulative. The Fund is required by the 1940 Act and by the Articles
Supplementary to meet certain asset coverage tests with respect to the Cumulative Preferred Stock.
If the Fund fails to meet these requirements and does not correct such failure, the Fund may be
required to redeem, in part or in full, the Series C Auction Rate, 5.875% Series D, Series E
Auction Rate, and 6.20% Series F Cumulative Preferred Stock at redemption prices of $25,000, $25,
$25,000, and $25, respectively, per share plus an amount equal to the accumulated and unpaid
dividends whether or not declared on such shares in order to meet these requirements. Additionally,
failure to meet the foregoing asset coverage requirements could restrict the Fund’s ability to pay
dividends to common shareholders and could lead to sales of portfolio securities at inopportune
times. The income received on the Fund’s assets may vary in a manner unrelated to the fixed and
variable rates, which could have either a beneficial or detrimental impact on net investment income
and gains available to common shareholders.
A shelf registration authorizing the offering of additional preferred shares was declared
effective by the SEC on March 20, 2008.
On June 27, 2002, the Fund received net proceeds of $128,246,557 (after underwriting discounts
of $1,300,000 and offering expenses of $453,443) from the public offering of 5,200 shares of Series
C Auction Rate Cumulative Preferred Stock (“Series C Stock”). The dividend rate, as set by the
auction process, which is generally held every seven days, is expected to vary with short-term
interest rates. Since February 2008, the number of Series C Stock subject to bid orders by
potential holders has been less than the number of Series C Stock subject to sell orders.
Therefore, the weekly auctions have failed, and the dividend rate has been the maximum rate.
Holders that have submitted sell orders have not been able to sell any or all of the Series C Stock
for which they have submitted sell orders. The current maximum rate is 150% of the “AA” Financial
Composite Commercial Paper Rate. The dividend rates of Series C Stock ranged from 0.120% to 1.725%
during the six months ended June 30, 2009. Existing shareholders may submit an order to hold, bid,
or sell such shares on each auction date. Shareholders of Series C Stock may also trade their
shares in the secondary market. The Fund, at its option, may redeem the Series C Stock in whole or
in part at the redemption price at any time. During the six months ended June 30, 2009, the Fund
redeemed and retired 1,800 shares of Series C Stock. Shareholders received the redemption
24
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
price of $25,000 per share, which was equal to the liquidation preference, together with any
accumulated and unpaid dividends, for each share redeemed. At June 30, 2009, 2,880 shares of Series
C Stock were outstanding with an annualized dividend rate of 0.300% and accrued dividends amounted
to $4,200.
On October 7, 2003, the Fund received net proceeds of $72,375,842 (after underwriting
discounts of $2,362,500 and offering expenses of $261,658) from the public offering of 3,000,000
shares of 5.875% Series D Cumulative Preferred Stock (“Series D Stock”). Commencing October 7, 2008
and thereafter, the Fund, at its option, may redeem the Series D Stock in whole or in part at the
redemption price at any time. The Board has authorized the repurchase of Series D Stock in the open
market at prices less than the $25 liquidation value per share. During the six months ended June
30, 2009, the Fund repurchased and retired 56,693 shares of Series D Stock in the open market at a
cost of $1,275,956 and an average discount of approximately 10.01% from its liquidation preference.
In addition, the Fund also redeemed and retired 480,000 shares of its outstanding Series D Stock as
authorized by the Board. The redemption date was March 26, 2009 and the redemption price was $25.00
per Series D Stock, which was equal to the liquidation preference of the Series D Stock. Dividends
on the redeemed Series D Stock ceased to accumulate on the redemption date. At June 30, 2009,
2,364,576 shares of 5.875% Series D Stock were outstanding and accrued dividends amounted to
$48,236.
On October 7, 2003, the Fund received net proceeds of $49,350,009 (after underwriting
discounts of $500,000 and offering expenses of $149,991) from the public offering of 2,000 shares
of Series E Auction Rate Cumulative Preferred Stock (“Series E Stock”). The dividend rate, as set
by the auction process, which is generally held every seven days, is expected to vary with
short-term interest rates. Since February 2008, the number of Series E Stock subject to bid orders
by potential holders has been less than the number of Series E Stock subject to sell orders.
Therefore, the weekly auctions have failed, and the dividend rate has been the maximum rate. In
that event, holders that have submitted sell orders have not been able to sell any or all of the
Series E Stock for which they have submitted sell orders. The current maximum rate is 150% of the
“AA” Financial Composite Commercial Paper Rate. The dividend rates of Series E Stock ranged from
0.105% to 0.525% during the six months ended June 30, 2009. Existing shareholders may submit an
order to hold, bid, or sell such shares on each auction date. Shareholders of Series E Stock may
also trade shares in the secondary market. The Fund, at its option, may redeem the Series E Stock
in whole or in part at the redemption price at any time. During the six months ended June 30, 2009,
the Fund redeemed and retired 680 shares of Series E Stock. Shareholders received the redemption
price of $25,000 per share, which was equal to the liquidation preference, together with any
accumulated and unpaid dividends, for each share redeemed. At June 30, 2009, 1,120 shares of Series
E Stock were outstanding with an annualized dividend rate of 0.375% and accrued dividends amounted
to $1,458.
On November 10, 2006, the Fund received net proceeds of $144,765,000 (after underwriting
discounts of $4,725,000 and estimated offering expenses of $510,000) from the public offering of
6,000,000 shares of 6.20% Series F Cumulative Preferred Stock (“Series F Stock”). Commencing
November 10, 2011 and thereafter, the Fund, at its option, may redeem the 6.20% Series F Stock in
whole or in part at the redemption price at any time. The Board has authorized the repurchase of
Series F Stock in the open market at prices less than the $25 liquidation value per share. During
the six months ended June 30, 2009, the Fund repurchased and retired 69,864 shares of Series F
Stock in the open market at a cost of $1,570,341 and an average discount of approximately 10.13%
from its liquidation preference. At June 30, 2009, 5,850,402 shares of Series F Stock were
outstanding and accrued dividends amounted to $125,946.
The Fund used currently available cash to fund these partial redemptions.
25
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued) (Unaudited)
The holders of Cumulative Preferred Stock generally are entitled to one vote per share held on
each matter submitted to a vote of shareholders of the Fund and will vote together with holders of
common stock as a single class. The holders of Cumulative Preferred Stock voting together as a
single class also have the right currently to elect two Directors and under certain circumstances
are entitled to elect a majority of the Board of Directors. In addition, the affirmative vote of a
majority of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of all outstanding shares of the preferred
stock, voting as a single class, will be required to approve any plan of reorganization adversely
affecting the preferred stock, and the approval of two-thirds of each class, voting separately, of
the Fund’s outstanding voting stock must approve the conversion of the Fund from a closed-end to an
open-end investment company. The approval of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the
outstanding preferred stock and a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund’s outstanding
voting securities are required to approve certain other actions, including changes in the Fund’s
investment objectives or fundamental investment policies.
6. Indemnifications. The Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnifications. The
Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown. However, the Fund has not had prior
claims or losses pursuant to these contracts and expects the risk of loss to be remote.
7. Other Matters. On April 24, 2008, the Adviser entered into an administrative settlement with the
SEC to resolve the SEC’s inquiry regarding prior frequent trading activity in shares of the GAMCO
Global Growth Fund (the “Global Growth Fund”) by one investor who was banned from the Global Growth
Fund in August 2002. In the settlement, the SEC found that the Adviser had violated Section 206(2)
of the Investment Advisers Act, Section 17(d) of the 1940 Act, and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, and had
aided and abetted and caused violations of Section 12(d)(1)(B)(i) of the 1940 Act. Under the terms
of the settlement, the Adviser, while neither admitting nor denying the SEC’s findings and
allegations, agreed, among other things, to pay the previously reserved total of $16 million
(including a $5 million penalty), of which at least $11 million will be distributed to shareholders
of the Global Growth Fund in accordance with a plan being developed by an independent distribution
consultant and approved by the independent directors of the Global Growth Fund and the staff of the
SEC, and to cease and desist from future violations of the above referenced federal securities
laws. The settlement will not have a material adverse impact on the Adviser or its ability to
fulfill its obligations under the Advisory Agreement. On the same day, the SEC filed a civil action
against the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Adviser, alleging
violations of certain federal securities laws arising from the same matter. The officer is also an
officer of the Global Growth Fund and other funds in the Gabelli/GAMCO fund complex including the
Fund. The officer denies the allegations and is continuing in his positions with the Adviser and
the funds. The Adviser currently expects that any resolution of the action against the officer will
not have a material adverse impact on the Fund or the Adviser or its ability to fulfill its
obligations under the Advisory Agreement.
8. Subsequent Events. Management has evaluated the impact of all subsequent events on the Fund
through August 26, 2009, the date the financial statements were issued, and has determined that
there were no subsequent events requiring recognition or disclosure in the financial statements.
Certifications
The Fund’s Chief Executive Officer has certified to the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) that,
as of June 12, 2009, he was not aware of any violation by the Fund of applicable NYSE corporate
governance listing standards. The Fund reports to the SEC on Form N-CSR which contains
certifications by the Fund’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer that
relate to the Fund’s disclosure in such reports and that are required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the
1940 Act.
26
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
Board Consideration and Re-Approval of Investment Advisory Agreement (Unaudited)
Section 15(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), contemplates that
the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. (the “Fund”), including a
majority of the Directors who have no direct or indirect interest in the investment advisory
agreement and are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as defined in the 1940 Act (the
“Independent Board Members”), are required to annually review and re-approve the terms of the
Fund’s existing investment advisory agreement and approve any newly proposed terms therein. In this
regard, the Board reviewed and re-approved, during the most recent six month period covered by this
report, the Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) with Gabelli Funds, LLC (the
“Adviser”) for the Fund.
More specifically, at a meeting held on May 20, 2009, the Board, including the Independent Board
Members, considered the factors and reached the conclusions described below relating to the
selection of the Adviser and the re-approval of the Advisory Agreement.
Nature, Extent, and Quality of Services. The Independent Board Members considered the nature,
quality, and extent of administrative and shareholder services performed by the Adviser, including
portfolio management, supervision of Fund operations and compliance and regulatory filings and
disclosures to shareholders, general oversight of other service providers, review of Fund legal
issues, assisting the Independent Board Members in their capacity as directors, and other services.
The Independent Board Members concluded that the services are extensive in nature and that the
Adviser consistently delivered a high level of service.
Investment Performance of the Fund and Adviser. The Independent Board Members considered short-term
and long-term investment performance for the Fund over various periods of time as compared with
relevant equity indices and the performance of other equity closed-end funds. The Independent Board
Members noted that the Fund’s total return performance was above the peer average for the five and
ten year periods ended March 31, 2009, and slightly below the average for the three year period,
but that the Fund was below average for the one year period. The Independent Board Members
concluded that the Adviser was delivering satisfactory performance results consistent with the
investment strategies being pursued by the Fund.
Costs of Services and Profits Realized by the Adviser.
(a) Costs of Services to Fund: Fees and Expenses. The Independent Board Members considered the
Fund’s management fee rate and expense ratio relative to industry averages for the Fund’s peer
group category and the advisory fees charged by the Adviser and its affiliates to other fund and
non-fund clients. The Independent Board Members noted that the mix of services under the Advisory
Agreement are much more extensive than those under the advisory agreements for non-fund clients.
The Independent Board Members noted that the investment advisory fee paid by the Fund and the
Fund’s overall expense ratio are below the average for its peer group. They took note of the fact
that the use of leverage impacts comparative expenses. The Independent Board Members were aware
that the Adviser waives its fee on the incremental liquidation value of the Fund’s preferred stock
if the total return on net asset value of the common stock does not exceed the stated dividend rate
or net swap expense for the preferred stock for the year after consideration of the reinvestment of
distributions and the management fees attributable to the incremental value of the preferred stock,
and that the comparative “total expense ratio” and “other expense” information reflected these
waivers. The Independent Board Members concluded that the fee is acceptable based upon the
qualifications, experience, reputation, and performance of the Adviser.
(b) Profitability and Costs of Services to Adviser. The Independent Board Members considered the
Adviser’s overall profitability and costs, and pro forma estimates of the Adviser’s profitability
and costs attributable to the Fund: (i) as part of the Gabelli/GAMCO fund complex; and (ii)
assuming the Fund constituted the Adviser’s only investment company
27
under its management. The Independent Board Members also considered whether the amount of profit is
a fair entrepreneurial profit for the management of the Fund, and noted that the Adviser has
substantially increased its resources devoted to Fund matters in response to regulatory
requirements and new or enhanced Fund policies and procedures. The Independent Board Members
concluded that the Adviser’s profitability was at an acceptable level.
Extent of Economies of Scale as Fund Grows. The Independent Board Members considered whether there
have been economies of scale with respect to the management of the Fund and whether the Fund has
appropriately benefited from any economies of scale. The Independent Board Members noted that
economies of scale may develop for certain funds as their assets increase and their fund-level
expenses decline as a percentage of assets, but that fund-level economies of scale may not
necessarily result in Adviser-level economies of scale. They also recognized that the Adviser has
agreed to reduce the management fee on incremental assets attributable to the preferred shares if
the total return of the common shares does not exceed a specified amount (e.g., the dividend rate
paid on preferred shares or net swap expenses for the year after consideration of reinvestment of
distributions and the management fees attributable to the increment of liquidation value of the
preferred stock). The Independent Board Members concluded that there was an appropriate sharing of
economies of scale.
Whether Fee Levels Reflect Economies of Scale. The Independent Board Members also considered
whether the management fee rate is reasonable in relation to the asset size of the Fund and any
economies of scale that may exist, and concluded that the Fund’s current fee schedule (without
breakpoints) was considered reasonable.
Other Relevant Considerations.
(a) Adviser Personnel and Methods. The Independent Board Members considered the size, education,
and experience of the Adviser’s staff, the Adviser’s fundamental research capabilities, and the
Adviser’s approach to recruiting, training, and retaining portfolio managers and other research and
management personnel, and concluded that in each of these areas the Adviser was structured in such
a way to support the high level of services being provided to the Fund.
(b) Other Benefits to the Adviser. The Independent Board Members also considered the character and
amount of other incidental benefits received by the Adviser and its affiliates from its association
with the Fund. The Independent Board Members considered the brokerage commissions paid to an
affiliate of the Adviser. The Independent Board Members concluded that potential “fall-out”
benefits that the Adviser and its affiliates may receive, such as affiliated brokerage commissions,
greater name recognition, or increased ability to obtain research services, appear to be
reasonable, and may in some cases benefit the Fund.
Conclusions. In considering the Advisory Agreement, the Independent Board Members did not identify
any factor as all important or all controlling, and instead considered these factors collectively
in light of the Fund’s surrounding circumstances. Based on this review, it was the judgment of the
Independent Board Members that shareholders had received, over the long-term, satisfactory absolute
and relative performance consistent with the investment strategies being pursued by the Fund at
reasonable fees and, therefore, re-approval of the Agreement was in the best interests of the Fund
and its shareholders. As a part of its decision making process, the Independent Board Members noted
that the Adviser has managed the Fund since its inception, and the Independent Board Members
believe that a long term relationship with a capable, conscientious adviser is in the best
interests of the Fund. The Independent Board Members considered, generally, that shareholders
invested in the Fund knowing that the Adviser managed the Fund and knowing its investment
management fee schedule. As such, the Independent Board Members considered, in particular, whether
the Adviser managed the Fund in accordance with its investment objectives and policies as disclosed
to shareholders. The Independent Board Members concluded that the Fund was managed by the Adviser
consistent with its investment objectives and policies.
28
AUTOMATIC DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT
AND VOLUNTARY CASH PURCHASE PLANS
AND VOLUNTARY CASH PURCHASE PLANS
Enrollment in the Plan
It is the policy of The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. (the “Fund”) to automatically reinvest
dividends payable to common shareholders. As a “registered” shareholder you automatically become a
participant in the Fund’s Automatic Dividend Reinvestment Plan (the “Plan”). The Plan authorizes
the Fund to credit shares of common stock to participants upon an income dividend or a capital
gains distribution regardless of whether the shares are trading at a discount or a premium to net
asset value. All distributions to shareholders whose shares are registered in their own names will
be automatically reinvested pursuant to the Plan in additional shares of the Fund. Plan
participants may send their stock certificates to Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
(“Computershare”) to be held in their dividend reinvestment account. Registered shareholders
wishing to receive their distribution in cash must submit this request in writing to:
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
c/o Computershare
P.O. Box 43010
Providence, RI 02940-3010
c/o Computershare
P.O. Box 43010
Providence, RI 02940-3010
Shareholders requesting this cash election must include the shareholder’s name and address as
they appear on the share certificate. Shareholders with additional questions regarding the Plan or
requesting a copy of the terms of the Plan, may contact Computershare at (800) 336-6983.
If your shares are held in the name of a broker, bank, or nominee, you should contact such
institution. If such institution is not participating in the Plan, your account will be credited
with a cash dividend. In order to participate in the Plan through such institution, it may be
necessary for you to have your shares taken out of “street name” and re-registered in your own
name. Once registered in your own name your dividends will be automatically reinvested. Certain
brokers participate in the Plan. Shareholders holding shares in “street name” at participating
institutions will have dividends automatically reinvested. Shareholders wishing a cash dividend at
such institution must contact their broker to make this change.
The number of shares of common stock distributed to participants in the Plan in lieu of cash
dividends is determined in the following manner. Under the Plan, whenever the market price of the
Fund’s common stock is equal to or exceeds net asset value at the time shares are valued for
purposes of determining the number of shares equivalent to the cash dividends or capital gains
distribution, participants are issued shares of common stock valued at the greater of (i) the net
asset value as most recently determined or (ii) 95% of the then current market price of the Fund’s
common stock. The valuation date is the dividend or distribution payment date or, if that date is
not a New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) trading day, the next trading day. If the net asset value of
the common stock at the time of valuation exceeds the market price of the common stock,
participants will receive shares from the Fund valued at market price. If the Fund should declare a
dividend or capital gains distribution payable only in cash, Computershare will buy common stock in
the open market, or on the NYSE or elsewhere, for the participants’ accounts, except that
Computershare will endeavor to terminate purchases in the open market and cause the Fund to issue
shares at net asset value if, following the commencement of such purchases, the market value of the
common stock exceeds the then current net asset value.
The automatic reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions will not relieve
participants of any income tax which may be payable on such distributions. A participant in the
Plan will be treated for federal income tax purposes as having received, on a dividend payment
date, a dividend or distribution in an amount equal to the cash the participant could have received
instead of shares.
29
Voluntary Cash Purchase Plan
The Voluntary Cash Purchase Plan is yet another vehicle for our shareholders to increase their
investment in the Fund. In order to participate in the Voluntary Cash Purchase Plan, shareholders
must have their shares registered in their own name.
Participants in the Voluntary Cash Purchase Plan have the option of making additional cash
payments to Computershare for investments in the Fund’s shares at the then current market price.
Shareholders may send an amount from $250 to $10,000. Computershare will use these funds to
purchase shares in the open market on or about the 1st and 15th of each month. Computershare will
charge each shareholder who participates $0.75, plus a pro rata share of the brokerage commissions.
Brokerage charges for such purchases are expected to be less than the usual brokerage charge for
such transactions. It is suggested that any voluntary cash payments be sent to Computershare, P.O.
Box 43010, Providence, RI 02940–3010 such that Computershare receives such payments approximately
10 days before the 1st and 15th of the month. Funds not received at least five days before the
investment date shall be held for investment until the next purchase date. A payment may be
withdrawn without charge if notice is received by Computershare at least 48 hours before such
payment is to be invested.
Shareholders wishing to liquidate shares held at Computershare must do so in writing or by
telephone. Please submit your request to the above mentioned address or telephone number. Include
in your request your name, address, and account number. The cost to liquidate shares is $2.50 per
transaction as well as the brokerage commission incurred. Brokerage charges are expected to be less
than the usual brokerage charge for such transactions.
For more information regarding the Dividend Reinvestment Plan and Voluntary Cash Purchase
Plan, brochures are available by calling (914) 921-5070 or by writing directly to the Fund.
The Fund reserves the right to amend or terminate the Plan as applied to any voluntary cash
payments made and any dividend or distribution paid subsequent to written notice of the change sent
to the members of the Plan at least 90 days before the record date for such dividend or
distribution. The Plan also may be amended or terminated by Computershare on at least 90 days
written notice to participants in the Plan.
30
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
One Corporate Center, Rye, NY 10580-1422
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
One Corporate Center, Rye, NY 10580-1422
Directors
Mario J. Gabelli, CFA
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer,
GAMCO Investors, Inc.
Mario J. Gabelli, CFA
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer,
GAMCO Investors, Inc.
Dr. Thomas E. Bratter
President & Founder, John Dewey Academy
President & Founder, John Dewey Academy
Anthony J. Colavita
President,
Anthony J. Colavita, P.C.
President,
Anthony J. Colavita, P.C.
James P. Conn
Former Managing Director &
Chief Investment Officer,
Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd.
Former Managing Director &
Chief Investment Officer,
Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd.
Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.
President & Chief Executive Officer,
American Gaming Association
President & Chief Executive Officer,
American Gaming Association
Arthur V. Ferrara
Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer,
Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer,
Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
Anthony R. Pustorino
Certified Public Accountant,
Professor Emeritus, Pace University
Certified Public Accountant,
Professor Emeritus, Pace University
Salvatore J. Zizza
Chairman, Zizza & Co., Ltd.
Chairman, Zizza & Co., Ltd.
Officers
Bruce N. Alpert
President
President
Carter W. Austin
Vice President
Vice President
Peter D. Goldstein
Chief Compliance Officer
Chief Compliance Officer
Molly A.F. Marion
Vice President & Ombudsman
Vice President & Ombudsman
Agnes Mullady
Treasurer & Secretary
Treasurer & Secretary
Investment Adviser
Gabelli Funds, LLC
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
Gabelli Funds, LLC
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
Custodian
The Bank of New York Mellon
The Bank of New York Mellon
Counsel
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Transfer Agent and Registrar
Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
Stock Exchange Listing
| 5.875% | 6.20% | |||||||||||
| Common | Preferred | Preferred | ||||||||||
NYSE—Symbol:
|
GAB | GAB PrD | GAB PrF | |||||||||
Shares Outstanding:
|
178,263,618 | 2,364,576 | 5,850,402 | |||||||||
The Net Asset Value per share appears in the Publicly Traded Funds column, under the heading
“General Equity Funds,” in Monday’s The Wall Street Journal. It is also listed in Barron’s Mutual
Funds/Closed End Funds section under the heading “General Equity Funds.”
The Net Asset Value per share may be obtained each day by calling (914) 921-5070 or visiting
www.gabelli.com.
For general information about the Gabelli Funds, call 800-GABELLI (800-422-3554), fax us at
914-921-5118, visit Gabelli Funds’ Internet homepage at: www.gabelli.com, or e-mail us at:
closedend@gabelli.com
Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 23(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as
amended, that the Fund may, from time to time, purchase shares of its common stock in the open
market when the Fund’s shares are trading at a discount of 10% or more from the net asset value of
the shares. The Fund may also, from time to time, purchase shares of its preferred stock in the
open market when the preferred shares are trading at a discount to the liquidation value.
| Item 2. | Code of Ethics. |
Not applicable.
| Item 3. | Audit Committee Financial Expert. |
Not applicable.
| Item 4. | Principal Accountant Fees and Services. |
Not applicable.
| Item 5. | Audit Committee of Listed registrants. |
Not applicable.
| Item 6. | Investments. |
| (a) | Schedule of Investments in securities of unaffiliated issuers as of the close of the reporting period is included as part of the report to shareholders filed under Item 1 of this form. | |
| (b) | Not applicable. |
| Item 7. | Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures for Closed-End Management Investment Companies. |
Not applicable.
| Item 8. | Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Management Investment Companies. |
There has been no change, as of the date of this filing, in any of the portfolio managers
identified in response to paragraph (a)(1) of this Item in the registrant’s most recently filed
annual report on Form N-CSR.
| Item 9. | Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Company and Affiliated Purchasers. |
REGISTRANT PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
| (c) Total Number of | (d) Maximum Number (or | |||||||
| Shares (or Units) | Approximate Dollar Value) of | |||||||
| (a) Total Number of | Purchased as Part of | Shares (or Units) that May | ||||||
| Shares (or Units) | (b) Average Price Paid | Publicly Announced | Yet Be Purchased Under the | |||||
| Period | Purchased | per Share (or Unit) | Plans or Programs | Plans or Programs | ||||
Month #1 01/01/09 through 01/31/09 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 11,961 Preferred Series F – 15,803 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – $22.3772 Preferred Series F – $22.8363 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 11,961 Preferred Series F – 15,803 |
Common – 174,571,222 Preferred Series D – 2,901,269 – 11,961 = 2,889,308 Preferred Series F – 5,920,266 – 15,803 = 5,904,463 |
||||
Month #2 02/01/09 through 02/28/09 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 6,119 Preferred Series F – 11,976 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – $21.9267 Preferred Series F – $22.4024 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 6,119 Preferred Series F – 11,976 |
Common – 174,571,222 Preferred Series D – 2,889,308 – 6,119 = 2,883,189 Preferred Series F – 5,904,463 – 11,976 = 5,892,487 |
||||
Month #3 03/01/09 through 03/31/09 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 498,816 Preferred Series F – 29,490 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – $24.8909 Preferred Series F – $22.0582 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 498,816 Preferred Series F – 29,490 |
Common – 174,347,042 Preferred Series D – 2,883,189 – 498,816 = 2,384,373 Preferred Series F – 5,892,487 – 29,490 = 5,862,997 |
||||
Month #4 04/01/09 through 04/30/09 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 11,610 Preferred Series F – 12,595 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – $23.0517 Preferred Series F – $23.0785 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 11,610 Preferred Series F – 12,595 |
Common – 174,347,042 Preferred Series D – 2,384,373 – 11,610 = 2,372,763 Preferred Series F – 5,862,997 – 12,595 = 5,850,402 |
||||
Month #5 05/01/09 through 05/31/09 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 7,614 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – $23.2902 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 7,614 |
Common – 174,347,042 Preferred Series D – 2,372,763 – 7,614 = 2,365,149 |
| (c) Total Number of | (d) Maximum Number (or | |||||||
| Shares (or Units) | Approximate Dollar Value) of | |||||||
| (a) Total Number of | Purchased as Part of | Shares (or Units) that May | ||||||
| Shares (or Units) | (b) Average Price Paid | Publicly Announced | Yet Be Purchased Under the | |||||
| Period | Purchased | per Share (or Unit) | Plans or Programs | Plans or Programs | ||||
| Preferred Series F – N/A | Preferred Series F – N/A | Preferred Series F – N/A | Preferred Series F – 5,850,402 | |||||
Month #6 06/01/09 through 06/30/09 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 573 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – $23.05 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 573 |
Common – 178,263,618 Preferred Series D – 2,365,149 – 573 = 2,364,576 |
||||
| Preferred Series F – N/A | Preferred Series F – N/A | Preferred Series F – N/A | Preferred Series F – 5,850,402 | |||||
Total |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 536,693 Preferred Series F – 69,864 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – $24.74 Preferred Series F – $22.48 |
Common – N/A Preferred Series D – 536,693 Preferred Series F – 69,864 |
N/A |
Footnote columns (c) and (d) of the table, by disclosing the following information in the aggregate
for all plans or programs publicly announced:
| a. | The date each plan or program was announced — The notice of the potential repurchase of common and preferred shares occurs quarterly in the Fund’s quarterly report in accordance with Section 23(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. | |
| b. | The dollar amount (or share or unit amount) approved — Any or all common shares outstanding may be repurchased when the Fund’s common shares are trading at a discount of 10% or more from the net asset value of the shares. | |
| Any or all preferred shares outstanding may be repurchased when the Fund’s preferred shares are trading at a discount to the liquidation value of $25.00. | ||
| c. | The expiration date (if any) of each plan or program — The Fund’s repurchase plans are ongoing. | |
| d. | Each plan or program that has expired during the period covered by the table — The Fund’s repurchase plans are ongoing. | |
| e. | Each plan or program the registrant has determined to terminate prior to expiration, or under which the registrant does not intend to make further purchases. — The Fund’s repurchase plans are ongoing. |
| Item 10. | Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders. |
There have been no material changes to the procedures by which the shareholders may recommend
nominees to the registrant’s Board of Directors, where those changes were implemented after the
registrant last provided disclosure in response to the requirements of Item 407(c)(2)(iv) of
Regulation S-K (17 CFR 229.407) (as required by Item 22(b)(15) of Schedule 14A (17 CFR
240.14a-101)), or this Item.
| Item 11. | Controls and Procedures. |
| (a) | The registrant’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, have concluded that the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 |
| Act”) (17 CFR 270.30a-3(c))) are effective, as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of the report that includes the disclosure required by this paragraph, based on their evaluation of these controls and procedures required by Rule 30a-3(b) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-3(b)) and Rules 13a-15(b) or 15d-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (17 CFR 240.13a-15(b) or 240.15d-15(b)). | |||
| (b) | There were no changes in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-3(d)) that occurred during the registrant’s second fiscal quarter of the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. |
| Item 12. | Exhibits. |
| (a)(1) | Not applicable. | ||
| (a)(2) | Certifications pursuant to Rule 30a-2(a) under the 1940 Act and Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are attached hereto. | ||
| (a)(3) | Not applicable. | ||
| (b) | Certifications pursuant to Rule 30a-2(b) under the 1940 Act and Section 906 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act of 2002 are attached hereto. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act
of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned,
thereunto duly authorized.
(registrant)
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
By (Signature and Title)* |
/s/ Bruce N. Alpert
|
|||
Date 9/1/09 |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act
of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and
in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
By (Signature and Title)*
|
/s/ Bruce N. Alpert
|
|||
Date 9/1/09 |
||||
By (Signature and Title)*
|
/s/ Agnes Mullady | |||
| Agnes Mullady, Principal Financial Officer and Treasurer | ||||
Date 9/1/09 |
| * | Print the name and title of each signing officer under his or her signature. |