Duff & Phelps Utility And Corporate Bond Trust Inc. Announces Dividends

CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Duff & Phelps Utility and Corporate Bond Trust Inc. (NYSE: DUC) (the "DUC Fund"), at its regular meeting today, authorized the payment of dividends on the DUC Fund's common stock as follows:

The $0.035 per share dividend represents a decrease of $0.015 per share from the DUC Fund's previous $0.05 per share monthly distribution.

An extended environment of historically low interest rates has added a significant element of reinvestment risk to bond funds, including the DUC Fund.  When bonds held in a portfolio mature or are called for redemption during a period of low interest rates, the proceeds often need to be reinvested in lower yielding securities.  Due to the DUC Fund's investment policies, which allow it to purchase only investment grade bonds, a prolonged period of relatively low interest rates and modest reinvestment opportunities has reduced the availability of earnings to the DUC Fund.  The decrease in the dividend is intended to better align the DUC Fund's monthly distribution with its current and projected earnings and is subject to re-evaluation as the interest rate and credit environment changes.

About the Fund

Duff & Phelps Utility and Corporate Bond Trust Inc. is a closed-end diversified investment management company whose primary investment objective is high current income consistent with investing in securities of investment grade quality. The fund seeks to achieve its objectives by investing substantially all of its assets in a diversified portfolio of utility income securities, corporate income securities, mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities.  The DUC Fund's investment adviser is Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.  For more information, visit www.ducfund.com or call (800) 338-8214.

About the Investment Adviser

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. has more than 38 years of experience managing investment portfolios, including institutional separate accounts and open- and closed-end funds investing in utilities, infrastructure and real estate investment trusts (REITs).  For more information, visit www.dpimc.com.

Duff & Phelps is a subsidiary of Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ: VRTS), a multi-boutique asset manager with $90.6 billion under management as of September 30, 2017.  Virtus provides investment management products and services to individuals and institutions through a multi-manager asset management business, comprising a number of individual affiliated managers, each with a distinct investment style, autonomous investment process and individual brand.  Additional information can be found at www.virtus.com.

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SOURCE Duff & Phelps Utility and Corporate Bond Trust Inc.