Delaware Investments Municipal Income Funds Announce Change in Investment Policy
August 24 2007 - 5:25PM
PR Newswire (US)
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today, Delaware
Investments Arizona Municipal Income Fund, Inc. (ASE:VAZ), Delaware
Investments Colorado Insured Municipal Income Fund, Inc. (ASE:VCF),
Delaware Investments Florida Insured Municipal Income Fund
(ASE:VFL), and Delaware Investments Minnesota Municipal Income Fund
II, Inc. (ASE:VMM), all closed- end management investment
companies, announced that they may invest in credit default swaps.
The investment authority was approved by the Boards of
Directors/Trustees of each fund at a meeting held on August 16,
2007. In a credit default swap, a fund may transfer to another
party the financial risk of a credit event occurring (a bond
default, bankruptcy, restructuring, etc.) for a particular security
or basket of securities. A fund does this by paying a periodic
premium. Likewise, a fund may assume the financial risk of a credit
event occurring on a particular security or basket of securities in
exchange for receiving premium payments from another party. A fund
may enter credit default swaps (write or purchase) to hedge against
a credit event, to enhance total return, to gain exposure to
certain securities or markets, or as a tax management tool. Credit
default swaps may be considered to be illiquid. Credit default swap
transactions may involve risks of general market decline,
illiquidity, counterparty defaults, and adverse credit events. The
value of credit default swaps may also be subject to rapid
movements in response to news and events affecting the underlying
security or securities. When a fund is a seller of protection, the
aggregate notional amount (typically, the principal amount of the
reference security or securities) of a fund's investments in the
credit default swaps will be limited to 15% of its total net
assets, marked-to-market daily. As the purchaser or seller of
credit default swap protection, a fund is required to segregate
cash or other liquid assets to cover its obligations,
marked-to-market daily. The funds may begin to invest in credit
default swaps 60 days after the date of this press release. The
investment objectives of the funds will remain unchanged. The
investment objective of each fund is to provide current income
exempt from federal income tax and from the personal income tax of
its state, if any, consistent with the preservation of capital. In
addition, each fund utilizes leveraging techniques in an attempt to
obtain a higher return for the fund. About Delaware Investments:
Delaware Investments, an affiliate of Lincoln Financial Group, is a
Philadelphia-based diversified asset management firm with more than
$164 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2007.
Through a broad range of managed accounts and portfolios, mutual
funds, retirement accounts, sub- advised funds, education savings
plans and other investment products, Delaware Investments provides
investment services to individual investors and to institutional
investors such as private and public pension funds, foundations,
and endowment funds. Delaware Investments is the marketing name for
Delaware Management Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more
information on Delaware Investments, visit the company at
http://www.delawareinvestments.com/. Lincoln Financial Group is the
marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) and its
affiliates. For more information on Lincoln Financial Group, visit
http://www.lfg.com/. DATASOURCE: Delaware Investments CONTACT:
Ayele Ajavon, Corporate Communications, +1-215-255-1632, , or
Laurel O'Brien, Corporate Communications, +1-215-255-1520, , both
of Delaware Investments Web site:
http://www.delawareinvestments.com/ http://www.lfg.com/
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