James A. Dinsmore
About James A. Dinsmore
James A. Dinsmore is President of Bancroft Fund Ltd. (BCV) and a Portfolio Manager at Gabelli Funds, LLC. He has served as President since February 2023; year of birth is 1982, and he holds the CFA charter, a BA from Cornell University, and an MBA from Rutgers University . Under his tenure, the Fund discloses NAV and market total return performance in shareholder reports (shown below) rather than revenue/EBITDA metrics given BCV’s structure as a closed-end fund .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bancroft Fund Ltd. | Executive Vice President | 2013–2015 | Senior leadership in fund operations/investing |
| Ellsworth Growth and Income Fund Ltd. | Executive Vice President | Jan 2013–Feb 2014 | Senior role at affiliated closed-end fund |
| Bancroft Fund Ltd. | Vice President | 2009–2012 | Investment/operational support within Fund |
| Ellsworth Growth and Income Fund Ltd. | Vice President | 2009–2012 | Investment/operational support within affiliate |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabelli Funds, LLC | Portfolio Manager | Not disclosed–present | Leads portfolio management for BCV and related mandates |
Fixed Compensation
BCV’s proxy reports compensation paid by the Fund to Trustees and “officers, if any, who were compensated by the Fund rather than the Adviser.” The tables list Trustees; officer pay is not disclosed, indicating officers (including Dinsmore) are compensated by the Adviser (Gabelli Funds), not the Fund .
| Component | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Not disclosed by BCV (officers compensated by Adviser) | Not disclosed by BCV (officers compensated by Adviser) | Not disclosed by BCV (officers compensated by Adviser) |
| Target bonus % | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Actual bonus | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Perquisites | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
Performance Compensation
No equity/option grants, performance metrics, weightings, or payouts for officers are disclosed by BCV; officers are compensated by the Adviser, and the Fund’s proxy provides no officer incentive-plan detail .
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not disclosed | — | — | — | — | — |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Holder | 2023 Beneficial Ownership | % of Shares Outstanding | 2024 Beneficial Ownership | % of Shares Outstanding | 2025 Beneficial Ownership | % of Shares Outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James A. Dinsmore | 0 shares | * (<1%) | 378 shares | * (<1%) | 733 shares | * (<1%) |
- No pledging, hedging, options, or unvested equity are disclosed for officers in BCV’s proxy materials .
- Officer/Trustee ownership tables reflect direct beneficial ownership; there is no separate breakdown of vested vs. unvested awards or option holdings for officers .
Employment Terms
- Title and start: President since February 2023 .
- Officer term: “Each officer will hold office for an indefinite term until the date he or she resigns or retires or until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified.”
- Employment agreements, severance, change-in-control, non-compete, non-solicit, garden leave, and clawback provisions are not disclosed by the Fund for officers (officers are compensated/employed by the Adviser; the Fund’s proxy contains no such officer contract terms) .
Performance & Track Record
BCV reports investment performance; below are the periods spanning Dinsmore’s presidency.
| Period (ended) | NAV Total Return | Market Total Return |
|---|---|---|
| Five months (Mar 31, 2023) | 0.33% | -2.45% |
| Six months (Mar 31, 2024) | 4.92% | 5.55% |
| Six months (Mar 31, 2025) | 3.69% | 7.58% |
| One year (Mar 31, 2025) | -2.88% | -1.43% |
- Manager commentary credited the 2023–2024 period with a resilient market and increased convertible issuance; positioning and refinancing dynamics influenced relative results .
- For the six months ended March 31, 2025, BCV’s NAV TR (3.7%) exceeded the ICE BofA U.S. Convertibles Index (1.2%); the market return was 7.6% per the shareholder letter .
Governance/Officer Status
- Role: Officer (President), not a Trustee; therefore, Board committee memberships, director compensation, and independence status are not applicable to Dinsmore .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance visibility: Officer compensation is at the Adviser level and not disclosed by BCV, meaning investors cannot directly assess cash/equity incentive alignment, vesting schedules, or change-in-control economics for Dinsmore from Fund documents—typical for CEFs with external managers .
- Skin-in-the-game: Beneficial ownership increased from 0 shares (2023) to 378 (2024) and 733 (2025), a modest but rising stake; ownership remains well below 1% of shares outstanding, limiting direct alignment via stock exposure .
- Performance lens: Since assuming the presidency (Feb 2023), short-interval outcomes show mixed relative returns—lagging benchmarks in parts of FY2024 but exceeding the ICE BofA U.S. Convertibles Index over the six months ended Mar 31, 2025; one-year results to Mar 31, 2025 were negative, consistent with the asset class’s period dynamics .
- Trading signals: With no disclosed option/RSU overhang and small personal holdings, insider selling pressure appears limited; however, absence of Form 4 activity and lack of officer equity plan data reduce signal strength (ownership changes are only observed via annual proxy updates) .
- Retention and transition risk: No Fund-level employment terms or severance protections are disclosed for officers; officers serve for an indefinite term, and employment economics likely reside with the Adviser, which can mute Fund-level governance levers over officer pay structures .