Managed High Yield Plus Fund Inc.—Dividend Declaration, Fund Commentary and Statistics

Managed High Yield Plus Fund Inc. (the "Fund") (NYSE: HYF), a closed-end management investment company, today announced that the Fund’s Board of Directors has declared a dividend from net investment income of $0.0195 per share. The amount of this dividend more closely reflects the current earnings of the Fund. Previously, the Fund had been paying a monthly dividend of $0.0180 per share. The dividend is payable on January 29, 2010 to shareholders of record as of January 21, 2010. The ex-dividend date is January 19, 2010. Managed High Yield Plus Fund Inc. seeks high income and, secondarily, capital appreciation, primarily through investments in lower-rated, income producing debt and related equity securities.

Fund Commentary for the month of December 2009 from UBS Global Asset Management (Americas) Inc. (“UBS Global AM”), the Fund’s investment advisor:

The US high yield market ended the year on a positive note, with a return of 3.0% for the month of December, as measured by the Merrill Lynch High Yield Cash Pay Constrained Index (the “Index”). Like past months, the distressed and CCC sectors outperformed the rest of the market. Spreads tightened a further 122 basis points (or 1.22%; a basis point is equal to 1/100th of a percentage point), to end the year at a high yield debt spread-to-Treasuries of 629 basis points on an options-adjusted basis (in other words, 6.29%). (Spread is the difference in yield between a fixed-income security and a Treasury security of similar maturity.)

Spread-sensitive sectors like broadcasting, publishing and banks outperformed. According to the Index, all industry sectors recorded a positive return. Sectors that trade with tight spreads based on their better fundamentals underperformed, however.

New issuance was also strong, as dealers rushed to price bonds prior to the holiday period. Over $15.5 billion of new issues were priced, continuing the pace of new issuance from the third quarter.

In December, the Fund outperformed the Index on a net asset value basis, assuming dividend reinvestment. Performance benefited from an overweight to the gaming, technology and financial sectors. In addition, security selection in the electric and gaming sectors also added to relative performance.

Disclaimers Regarding Fund Commentary - The Fund Commentary is intended to assist shareholders in understanding how the Fund performed during the month noted. Views and opinions were current as of the date of this press release. They are not guarantees of performance or investment results and should not be taken as investment advice. Investment decisions reflect a variety of factors, and the Fund and UBS Global AM reserve the right to change views about individual securities, sectors and markets at any time. As a result, the views expressed should not be relied upon as a forecast of the Fund’s future investment intent.

Portfolio statistics as of December 31, 2009

1
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
           
        
      
      
        
          Top ten holdings, including coupon and maturity
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
          Percentage of total portfolio assets
        
      
      
        
          Coleman Cable, Inc., 9.875% 10/01/12
        
        
        
        
        
        
          3.1%
        
      
      
        
          Jacobs Entertainment, Inc., 9.750% 06/15/14
        
        
        
        
        
        
          2.6%
        
      
      
        
          Exopack Holding Corp., 11.250% 02/01/14
        
        
        
        
        
        
          2.3%
        
      
      
        
          Frontier Communications, 9.000% 08/15/31
        
        
        
        
        
        
          2.2%
        
      
      
        
          Cellu Tissue Holdings, Inc., 11.500% 06/01/14
        
        
        
        
        
        
          2.2%
        
      
      
        
          Sheridan Acquisition Corp., 10.250% 08/15/11
        
        
        
        
        
        
          2.1%
        
      
      
        
          Mirant Americas Generation LLC, 9.125% 05/01/31
        
        
        
        
        
        
          2.1%
        
      
      
        
          Mobile Services/Storage Group, 9.750% 08/01/14
        
        
        
        
        
        
          2.0%
        
      
      
        
          Pokagon Gaming Authority, 10.375% 06/15/14
        
        
        
        
        
        
          2.0%
        
      
      
        
          Southern States Cooperative, Inc., 10.500% 11/01/11
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
          2.0%
        
      
      
        
          Total
        
        
        
        
        
        
          22.6%
        
      
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
           
        
      
      
        
          Top five industries2
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
      
      
        
          Gaming
        
        
        
        
        
        
          11.1%
        
      
      
        
          Electric-generation
        
        
        
        
        
        
          6.7%
        
      
      
        
          Support-services
        
        
        
        
        
        
          6.4%
        
      
      
        
          Diversified capital goods
        
        
        
        
        
        
          6.2%
        
      
      
        
          Health services
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
          5.4%
        
      
      
        
          Total
        
        
        
        
        
        
          35.8%
        
      
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
           
        
      
      
        
          Credit quality3
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
      
      
        
          Ba/BB and higher
        
        
        
        
        
        
          19.4%
        
      
      
        
          B/B
        
        
        
        
        
        
          55.3%
        
      
      
        
          Caa/CCC and lower
        
        
        
        
        
        
          23.3%
        
      
      
        
          Equity/preferred
        
        
        
        
        
        
          0.6%
        
      
      
        
          Cash equivalents
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
          1.4%
        
      
      
        
          Total
        
        
        
        
        
        
          100.0%
        
      
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
           
        
      
      
        
          Other characteristics
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
      
      
        
          Net asset value per share4
        
        
        
        
        
        
          $2.11
        
      
      
        
          Market price per share4
        
        
        
        
        
        
          $1.99
        
      
      
        
          Weighted average maturity
        
        
        
        
        
        
          6.5 Yrs
        
      
      
        
          Weighted average modified duration5
        
        
        
        
        
        
          3.4 Yrs
        
      
      
        
          Weighted average coupon6
        
        
        
        
        
        
          8.2%
        
      
      
        
          Leverage7
        
        
        
        
        
        
          17.76%
        
      
      
        
          Yields4
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
      
      
        
          NAV yield
        
        
        
        
        
        
          11.09%
        
      
      
        
          Market yield
        
        
        
        
        
        
          11.76%
        
      
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
           
        
      
    
    

1 The Fund is actively managed, and its portfolio composition will vary over time.

2 Effective November 30, 2009, the Fund’s industry categorizations for portfolio holdings have been changed. The Fund’s advisor views the changes as relatively minor; however, prior portfolio statistics information may not be as comparable to current or future portfolio statistics as might have otherwise been the case.

3 Credit quality ratings are from Moody’s, unless that rating is unavailable. If so, the default credit quality rating will be from Standard & Poor's; if that is unavailable, an internal rating from UBS Global AM will be used. Standard & Poor's ("S&P") is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

4 Net asset value (NAV), market price and yields will fluctuate. NAV yield is calculated by multiplying the current month’s dividend by 12 and dividing by the month-end net asset value. Market yield is calculated by multiplying the current month’s dividend by 12 and dividing by the month-end market price.

5 Modified duration is the change in the price of a security, expressed in years, expected in response to each 1% change in the yield to maturity of the portfolio's holdings.

6 Weighted by par.

7 As a percentage of total assets minus total liabilities, excluding liabilities for borrowed money. Leverage may vary.