UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC  20549

FORM N-Q

QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF REGISTERED

MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY

Registrant's telephone number, including area code:  (312) 827-0100

Date of reporting period: December 1, 2017 – February 28, 2018

Attached hereto.

 

 

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Note 1 – Organization and Significant Accounting Policies Organization

 

Organization

Fiduciary/Claymore MLP Opportunity Fund (the “Fund”) was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on October 4, 2004. The Fund is registered as a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”).

 

For information on the Fund's other significant accounting policies, please refer to the Fund's most recent semi-annual or annual shareholder report.

 

The Fund’s investment objective is to provide a high level of after-tax total return with an emphasis on current distributions paid to shareholders. The Fund has been structured to seek to provide an efficient vehicle through which its shareholders may invest in a portfolio of publicly traded securities of master limited partnerships (“MLPs”) and MLP affiliates. MLPs combine the tax benefits of limited partnerships with the liquidity of publicly traded securities. The Fund anticipates that a significant portion of the distributions received by the Fund from the MLPs in which it invests will be return of capital. While the Fund will generally seek to maximize the portion of the Fund’s distributions to Common Shareholders that will consist of return of capital, no assurance can be given in this regard. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

   

Significant Accounting Policies

The Fund operates as an investment company and, accordingly, follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies. 

 

The following significant accounting policies are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP") and are consistently followed by the Fund. This requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities, contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from these estimates. All time references are based on Eastern Time.

  

(a) Valuation of Investments 

The Board of Trustees of the Fund (the “Board”) has adopted policies and procedures for the valuation of the Fund's investments (the “Valuation Procedures”). Pursuant to the Valuation Procedures, the Board has delegated to a valuation committee, consisting of representatives from Guggenheim’s investment management, fund administration, legal and compliance departments (the “Valuation Committee”), the day-to-day responsibility for implementing the Valuation Procedures, including, under most circumstances, the responsibility for determining the fair value of the Fund’s securities and/or other assets.

 

Valuations of the Fund's securities are supplied primarily by pricing services appointed pursuant to the processes set forth in the Valuation Procedures. The Valuation Committee convenes monthly, or more frequently as needed, to review the valuation of all assets which have been fair valued for reasonableness. The Fund's officers, through the Valuation Committee and consistent with the monitoring and review responsibilities set forth in the Valuation Procedures, regularly review procedures used and valuations provided by the pricing services.

 

Equity securities listed on an exchange (New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") or American Stock Exchange) are valued at the last quoted sales price as of the close of business on the NYSE, usually 4:00 p.m. on the valuation date. Equity securities listed on the NASDAQ market system are valued at the NASDAQ Official Closing Price on the valuation date, which may not necessarily represent the last sale price. If there has been no sale on such exchange or NASDAQ on such day, the security is valued at the mean of the most recent bid and ask prices on such day.

 

 

 

Investments for which market quotations are not readily available are fair-valued as determined in good faith by Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC ("GFIA") or (the “Adviser”), subject to review by the Valuation Committee, pursuant to methods established or ratified by the Board. Valuations in accordance with these methods are intended to reflect each security’s (or asset’s) “fair value". Each such determination is based on a consideration of all relevant factors, which are likely to vary from one pricing context to another. Examples of such factors may include, but are not limited to market prices; sale prices; broker quotes; and models which derive prices based on inputs such as prices of securities with comparable maturities and characteristics, or based on inputs such as anticipated cash flows or collateral, spread over Treasuries, and other information analysis.

Investment professionals from Advisory Research, Inc. ("ARI" or the "Sub-Adviser") prepare preliminary valuations based on their evaluation of financial data, company specific developments, market valuations of comparable companies, market information and other factors. These preliminary valuations are reviewed by the Valuation Committee with subsequent deliberations until an appropriate price is determined for the Level 3 security.

  

Note 2 – Fair Value Measurement  

In accordance with U.S. GAAP, fair value is defined as the price that the Fund would receive to sell an investment or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction with an independent buyer in the principal market, or in the absence of a principal market, the most advantageous market for the investment or liability. U.S. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy based on the types of inputs used to value assets and liabilities and requires corresponding disclosure. The hierarchy and the corresponding inputs are summarized below:

 

Level 1 — quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

 

Level 2 — significant other observable inputs (for example quoted prices for securities that are similar based on characteristics such as interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.).

 

Level 3 — significant unobservable inputs based on the best information available under the circumstances, to the extent observable inputs are not available, which may include assumptions.

 

The types of inputs available depend on a variety of factors, such as the type of security and the characteristics of the markets in which it trades, if any. Fair valuation determinations that rely on fewer or no observable inputs require greater judgment. Accordingly, fair value determinations for Level 3 securities require the greatest amount of judgment.

Independent pricing services are used to value a majority of the Fund’s investments. When values are not available from a pricing service, they may be computed by the Fund’s investment adviser or an affiliate. In any event, values may be determined using a variety of sources and techniques, including: market prices; broker quotes; and models which derive prices based on inputs such as prices of securities with comparable maturities and characteristics or based on inputs such as anticipated cash flows or collateral, spread over Treasuries, and other information and analysis.

 

The inputs or methodologies used for valuing securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities. The suitability of the techniques and sources employed to determine fair valuation are regularly monitored and subject to change. 

 

Note 3 – Federal Income Tax Information

The Fund is treated as a regular corporation, or “C” corporation, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, the Fund generally is subject to U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income at the 21% rate applicable to corporations. In addition, as a regular corporation, the Fund is subject to various state income taxes by reason of its investments in MLPs. As a limited partner in the MLPs, the Fund includes its allocable share of the MLP’s taxable income in computing its own taxable income. Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. The amount which the Fund is required to pay for U.S. corporate income tax could materially reduce the Fund’s cash available to make distributions on Common Shares. 

At February 28, 2018, the cost of securities for federal income tax purposes, the aggregate gross unrealized gain for all securities for which there was an excess of value over tax cost, and the aggregate gross unrealized loss for all securities for which there was an excess of tax cost over value were as follows:

 

	Tax Cost	Tax Unrealized Gain	Tax Unrealized Loss	Net Unrealized Gain
	$444,035,665	$266,387,750	$(26,460,820)	$239,926,930

 

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.

By:       /s/ Brian E. Binder            

Date:    4/30/18

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:       /s/ Brian E. Binder              

Date:    4/30/18

By:       /s/ John L. Sullivan               

Date:    4/30/18