Covered call funds help combat heightened volatility

Daniel Ashcraft, portfolio manager for Gateway Investment Advisers -- part of the firm’s team responsible for running the Nuveen S&P 500 Buy-Write Income Fund -- says that with volatility on the rise and likely to stay that way, covered-call strategies are headed for a period that should be ideal, where they can deliver their 'bread-and-butter' of lower-volatility exposure to the markets with attractive risk-adjusted returns.