Changes in Dividend Distributions
J. & W. Seligman & Co. Incorporated
New York, May 19, 2005 – The Board of Directors of Seligman Select Municipal Fund, Inc. (NYSE: SEL), today approved a change in the monthly dividend payment to the Fund’s common stock, effective June 2005. The new monthly dividend for Seligman Select Municipal Fund will be $0.0475 per share, which represents a 9.5% decrease in the amount of the monthly dividend previously paid to shareholders.
Additionally, at its Annual Meeting held at The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota, in Sarasota, Florida, the Board announced that shareholders re-elected three Directors: Betsy S. Michel and James N. Whitson, each of whose current term expired at the 2005 Annual Meeting and Brian T. Zino, whose current term was to expire at the 2007 Annual Meeting. All new terms expire in 2008. Additionally, the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as auditors for Seligman Select Municipal Fund was ratified by a majority of votes cast. Deloitte & Touche LLP and its predecessor firms have been auditors for the Fund since its inception in 1990.
Brian T. Zino, President of the Fund, said that the dividend change was required as a result of a continued narrowing of the spread between the Fund’s net earnings on its investment portfolio and the dividend rate paid on its preferred shares. “Preferred rates have increased as the Federal Reserve Board has raised the federal funds target rate and could continue to rise as a result of further increases in the federal funds rate,” he explained. Additionally, Mr. Zino said that Seligman Select Fund’s portfolio income has been, and likely will continue to be, negatively impacted by bond call activity during 2005. “Interest income earned on higher-coupon bonds cannot fully be replaced due to today’s lower long-term yields,” he said.
Seligman Select Municipal Fund is managed by J. & W. Seligman & Co. Incorporated, a New York based investment manager and advisor, which was founded in 1864.
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