ECF - Ellsworth Growth & Income Fund Ltd.
Printed from CEF Radar (cefradar.com). Source: public filings at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Last checked: Nov 2, 2026, 12:34 a.m. New York time.
A closed-end fund run by Gabelli. Invests in convertible bonds. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Is anyone targeting this fund?
Yes - 2 large investors hold stakes in this fund, and 1 of them is pushing for changes.
- Saba owns 12.3% and has said it may push for changes. Since Jan 29, 2024.
- Sit Investment owns 5.6% as a passive investor, for now. On file since July 7, 2025.
Is the fund doing anything you need to act on?
Nothing right now.
What this means for you
Saba has told the regulator it may push for changes at this fund. That usually means asking the fund to buy back shares at close to the full value of its holdings, to change who runs it, or to close down and pay holders out.
Nothing is required of you now. If the fund itself announces a buy-back or a vote, it appears in the box above with the date by which you would need to act.
Large investors can also sell down and walk away. We show every notice they file, the day it is filed.
What happened, and when
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Oct 29, 2026
Wells Fargo & Company sold down below 5% and stopped reporting.
Original document → -
July 28, 2026
Wells Fargo & Company cut its stake to 6.8% (from 6.9%), as a passive investor.
Original document → -
May 12, 2026
Wells Fargo & Company cut its stake to 6.9% (from 7%), as a passive investor.
Original document → -
Jan 29, 2026
Wells Fargo & Company raised its stake to 7% (from 6.7%), as a passive investor.
Original document → -
Nov 10, 2025
Saba raised its stake to 12.3% (from 11.3%). It has said it may push for changes.
Original document →
Show all 19 events
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Oct 22, 2025
Wells Fargo & Company cut its stake to 6.7% (from 6.8%), as a passive investor.
Original document → -
Aug 6, 2025
Wells Fargo & Company cut its stake to 6.8% (from 7.5%), as a passive investor.
Original document → -
July 7, 2025
Sit Investment now owns 5.6%, as a passive investor.
Original document → -
July 1, 2025
GAMCO Investors, Inc. Et Al now owns 9.1% of the fund's preferred shares, not the common shares most holders own.
Original document → -
April 25, 2025
Wells Fargo & Company cut its stake to 7.5% (from 7.6%), as a passive investor.
Original document → -
April 8, 2025
Saba raised its stake to 11.3% (from 10.2%). It has said it may push for changes.
Original document → -
Jan 23, 2025
Wells Fargo & Company filed an updated notice; it still owns 7.6%, as a passive investor.
Original document → -
Oct 25, 2024
Wells Fargo & Company now owns 7.6%, as a passive investor.
Original document → -
Aug 6, 2024
Saba raised its stake to 10.2% (from 9%). It has said it may push for changes.
Original document → -
July 19, 2024
Saba raised its stake to 9% (from 7.6%). It has said it may push for changes.
Original document → -
June 21, 2024
Saba raised its stake to 7.6% (from 6.4%). It has said it may push for changes.
Original document → -
June 10, 2024
Saba raised its stake to 6.4% (from 5.3%). It has said it may push for changes.
Original document → -
May 13, 2024
Saba changed its mind: it now says it may push for changes. It owns 5.3%.
Original document → -
Jan 29, 2024
Saba sold down below 5% and stopped reporting.
Original document →
About this fund
- Run by Gabelli Funds, LLC. Part of the Gabelli Fund Complex fund family. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
- Size: about $203 million of holdings, as of June 30, 2026. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
- Borrowing: the fund borrows about 13% on top of its own money, as of June 30, 2026. Borrowed money makes gains and losses bigger. About 96% of that is money the fund has borrowed by selling preferred shares. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
- The fund's own example of what borrowing does: in a year in which the holdings returned -10%, a share would return about -12.6%; at +10%, about +10.8%. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- Costs: 0.8% a year in management fees; 1.2% a year in total, including interest on borrowed money. Fiscal year ended Sept 30, 2025.
As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
Among the 11 funds we follow that invest in convertible bonds, none charges a lower management fee and one charges less in total, at their last yearly reports. Both numbers are measured against the fund's own money, not the money it borrows on top, so a fund that borrows more shows higher costs on both counts. - The fund's own cost example: $1,000 invested costs about $20 in the first year and about $233 over 10 years, assuming the holdings return 5% a year. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- Payouts: last fiscal year (ended Sept 30, 2025) the fund paid $0.59 a share. $0.36 of that was income; $0.23 came from gains. Most funds announce their monthly or quarterly payout on their own website, not in a filing with the regulator, so a cut or a raise there does not show up here until the next yearly report. A few funds do file a notice about a fixed payout; those appear under What happened, and when. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- Value of holdings per share at the last fiscal year end (Sept 30, 2025): $13.08. The shares traded at $11.60, about 11.3% below that.
As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
Over the last two years the gap (a "discount" when the price is below the value) ranged from 16.3% below to 10.5% below. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document → - How the holdings did: up 20.2% over the last three months we have (April-June 2026), before the share price is taken into account. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
- First reported to the regulator in 1995.
How this has changed
- Payouts per share: $0.59 in the fiscal year ended Sept 30, 2025; $0.52 in the year ended Sept 30, 2024; $0.52 in the year ended Sept 30, 2023.As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- Of that, your own money back rather than income: none in the year ended Sept 30, 2025; none in the year ended Sept 30, 2024; $0.06 in the year ended Sept 30, 2023.As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- Costs, including interest on borrowed money: 1.22% a year in the fiscal year ended Sept 30, 2025; 1.46% a year in the year ended Sept 30, 2024; 1.41% a year in the year ended Sept 30, 2023.As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- Size of the holdings: about $178 million at Sept 30, 2025; $139 million at Sept 30, 2024; $124 million at Sept 29, 2023. From the fund's quarterly holdings reports. Original documents: Sept 30, 2025 →, Sept 30, 2024 →, Sept 29, 2023 →.
- Borrowing: about 15% on top of its own money at Sept 30, 2025; 24% at Sept 30, 2024; 25% at Sept 29, 2023. From the fund's quarterly holdings reports. Original documents: Sept 30, 2025 →, Sept 30, 2024 →, Sept 29, 2023 →.
- The fund had about 13.6 million shares at Sept 30, 2025, down 1% from Sept 30, 2023.As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
What these lines mean: a payout that is your own money back, what a fund costs, borrowing.
What a holder made
- The year ended Sept 30, 2025: the shares returned +36.6%, counting payouts; the holdings +34.7%. The holdings figure is what the fund's investments earned, before the share price is taken into account. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- The year ended Sept 30, 2024: the shares returned +18.8%, counting payouts; the holdings +19.8%. As of Sept 30, 2024, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- The year ended Sept 30, 2023: the shares returned +7%, counting payouts; the holdings +2.7%. As of Sept 30, 2023, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- The year ended Sept 30, 2022: the shares returned -31.7%, counting payouts; the holdings -28.7%. As of Sept 30, 2022, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- The year ended Sept 30, 2021: the shares returned +27.1%, counting payouts; the holdings +21.8%. As of Sept 30, 2021, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- Those five years together: the shares returned +50.7%. $10,000 of shares bought at the start (Oct 1, 2020) would have become about $15,100 by Sept 30, 2025, with every payout counted, before tax. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- The holdings over the last twelve months we have, to June 30, 2026: +39.4%. The quarterly reports carry no share price, so this is the holdings alone. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
- Of the 10 funds that invest in convertible bonds with a fiscal year ending within six months of this one, 1 reported a higher share return for that year and 8 a lower one. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
- A past year says nothing about the next one. All figures are the fund's own, from its reports to the regulator.
Why the shares and the holdings can differ: the gap between price and value. Why payouts count: a payout that is your own money back.
What the fund holds
Mostly bonds (80%), the rest shares and preferred shares. About 88% issued in the U.S.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company 7.625% Series C Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock - 3.3%
- Broadcom - 3.2%
- Advanced Micro Devices - 2.9%
- Brightspring Health Services, Btsg 6.75 02/01/27 - 2.8%
- Cyberark Software, Cybr 0 06/15/30 - 2.5%
- Nebius Group NV, Nbis 2.75 09/15/32 - 2.4%
- United States of America - Bureau of the Public Debt, B 0 09/24/26 - 2.2%
- Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Lgnd 0.75 10/01/30 - 2.2%
- Firstenergy, Fe 3.875 01/15/31 - 2.2%
- Fluor, Flr 1.125 08/15/29 - 2.2%
Show all 25
- Halozyme Therapeutics, Halo 0.875 11/15/32 - 2.2%
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Ions 0 12/01/30 - 2.1%
- Bridgebio Pharma, Bbio 1.75 03/01/31 - 2.1%
- Equinix - 2.1%
- Bitfarms, Keel 1.375 01/15/31 - 2%
- Microchip Technology Inc 7.50 % Dep Shs Repstg 1/20TH Pfd Conv preferred shares - 1.9%
- Alphabet Inc Series A Depositary Shares Each Representing A 1/20TH Interest in A Share of 6.25% Series B Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock - 1.8%
- Mp Materials, Mpus 3 03/01/30 - 1.7%
- Ppl Capital Funding, Ppl 2.875 03/15/28 - 1.7%
- Cohu 1.5 01/15/31 - 1.7%
- Sarepta Therapeutics, Srpt 4.875 09/01/30 144A - 1.6%
- Solaris Energy Infrastructure, Sei 0.25 10/01/31 - 1.6%
- Pagaya US Holding Company LLC, Pgy 6.125 10/01/29 - 1.6%
- Digital Realty Trust L.P., Dlr 1.875 11/15/29 - 1.6%
- Cleanspark, Clsk 0 02/15/32 - 1.6%
As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
Details: all notices, events and fund facts
| Date | Investor | Stake | Type of notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 29, 2026 | Wells Fargo & Company | 1.9% | Sold down below 5% |
| July 28, 2026 | Wells Fargo & Company | 6.8% | Updated notice |
| May 12, 2026 | Wells Fargo & Company | 6.9% | Updated notice |
| Jan 29, 2026 | Wells Fargo & Company | 7% | Updated notice |
| Nov 10, 2025 | Saba | 12.3% | Updated notice |
| Oct 22, 2025 | Wells Fargo & Company | 6.7% | Updated notice |
| Aug 6, 2025 | Wells Fargo & Company | 6.8% | Updated notice |
| July 7, 2025 | Sit Investment | 5.6% | Passive investor |
| July 1, 2025 | GAMCO Investors, Inc. Et Al | 9.1% of the preferred shares | About the preferred shares |
| April 25, 2025 | Wells Fargo & Company | 7.5% | Updated notice |
| April 8, 2025 | Saba | 11.3% | Updated notice |
| Jan 23, 2025 | Wells Fargo & Company | 7.6% | Updated notice |
| Oct 25, 2024 | Wells Fargo & Company | 7.6% | Updated notice |
| Aug 6, 2024 | Saba | 10.2% | Updated notice |
| July 19, 2024 | Saba | 9% | Updated notice |
| June 21, 2024 | Saba | 7.6% | Updated notice |
| June 10, 2024 | Saba | 6.4% | Updated notice |
| May 13, 2024 | Saba | 5.3% | May push for changes |
| Jan 29, 2024 | Saba | 4.6% | Sold down below 5% |
No announcements from the fund on file. Most funds announce their payout on their own website, not in a filing with the regulator, so a cut or a raise there does not show up here.
- Run by
- Gabelli Funds, LLC
- Fund family
- Gabelli Fund Complex
- Exchange
- New York Stock Exchange
- Regulator's file number
- 811-04656
- Auditor
- Tait, Weller & Baker LLP
- Fiscal year end
- Sept 30, 2025
- Number of holdings
- 99
- Preferred share classes
- 2
See this fund's page at the SEC →
Email me when something new is filed for ECF
Free. One email when a large investor files a notice, or when the fund announces a buy-back, a vote or a closing - usually within a day. No password. Most funds announce payout changes on their own website, where we do not look.