In pursuing its investment objective, the Corporation invests primarily in equity securities that it believes are undervalued at the time of purchase and have the potential for growth. It is Central’s goal to own companies that it believes will generate superior returns when compared with the broad market and preserve the Corporation’s capital in an inflationary environment. A guiding principle is the consideration of equity securities as units of ownership of a business and the purchase of them when the price appears to be low in relation to the value of the total enterprise. The Corporation’s objective may be changed without a vote of a majority of the Corporation’s voting securities.

Central owns a limited number of companies, and it invests for the long-term. Honest management working in the interests of all shareholders is of the utmost importance in the appraisal of investments. The Corporation may sell securities for a variety of reasons, including excessive valuation, deteriorating results or to redeploy assets into more promising opportunities.

The Corporation is not restricted as to the types of securities (e.g., equity, fixed income) in which it invests. The Corporation may invest in securities of issuers with any market capitalization. The Corporation is not required to be fully invested in securities and generally maintains a portion of its total assets in cash and securities considered to be cash equivalents.

The Corporation has not adopted the practice of concentrating its investments in any particular industry or group of industries and does not contemplate changing its policy or restricting its field of investment. The Corporation is permitted to borrow money, subject to the limits of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. These are fundamental policies and may not be changed without a vote of a majority of the Corporation’s voting securities.

The Corporation also has fundamental policies relating to the issuance of senior securities, the underwriting of securities of other issuers, the purchase or sale of real estate, the purchase or sale of commodities or commodity contracts, and the making of loans. These policies may not be changed without a vote of a majority of the Corporation’s voting securities. The Corporation has a non-fundamental policy permitting it to engage in the writing, sale and purchase of options and may make short sales. The Corporation has not utilized these policies in recent years and does not contemplate using any one of them in an amount greater than 5% of the Corporation’s assets unless stockholders are notified of such intention at least 60 days in advance.

Risk Factors [Table Text Block]

Principal Risks

As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Corporation, and the Corporation’s investment performance could trail that of other investments. Investment in the Corporation is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Corporation’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective.

An investment in the Corporation is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

The Corporation has a substantial portion of its assets invested in the common stock of The Plymouth Rock Company, a privately issued, illiquid security. The investment in Plymouth Rock is subject to many of the risks described further below.

Market Risk. The market values of the Corporation’s investments may decline, perhaps sharply and unpredictably, or fail to rise, for various reasons including changes or potential or perceived changes in U.S. or foreign economies, financial markets, interest rates, the liquidity of investments and other factors including terrorism, war, natural disasters and public health events and crises.

Active Management Risk. Performance of individual securities can vary widely. The investment decisions of management of the Corporation may cause the Corporation to underperform other investments or benchmark indices. The Corporation may also underperform other investment companies with similar investment objectives or strategies. Management may be incorrect in assessing a particular industry or company. An issuer in which the Corporation invests may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Corporation’s performance. The Corporation may not buy securities at the lowest possible prices or sell securities at the highest possible prices.

Non-Diversification Risk. The Corporation is a “non-diversified” investment company, meaning that it invests its assets in a smaller number of companies than many other funds. As a result, your investment in the Corporation has the risk that changes in the value of a single security may have a significant effect, either negative or positive, on the Corporation’s NAV.

Sector Risk. At times, the Corporation may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more broad economic sectors. Companies in the same economic sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Corporation more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that economic sector than funds that invest more broadly. In addition, at times, an economic sector that the Corporation is invested in may be out of favor and underperform other sectors or the market as a whole.

Illiquid Investments Risk. The Corporation may invest a significant portion of its net assets in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment is any investment that the Corporation reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without significantly changing the market value of the investment. To the extent the Corporation holds illiquid investments, the illiquid investments may reduce the returns of the Corporation because the Corporation may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices. An inability to sell securities, at the Corporation’s desired price or at all, can adversely affect the Corporation’s value or prevent the Corporation from being able to take advantage of other investment opportunities.

Privately Issued Securities Risk. The Corporation may invest in privately issued securities. Privately issued securities are securities that have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and as a result may be subject to legal restrictions on resale. Privately issued securities are generally not traded on established markets. As a result of the absence of a public trading market, privately issued securities may be deemed to be illiquid investments, may be more difficult to value than publicly traded securities and may be subject to wide fluctuations in value. Delay or difficulty in selling such securities may result in a loss to the Corporation.

Valuation Risk. The price the Corporation could receive upon the sale of a security or other asset may differ from the Corporation’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets for which there is no public market, that trade in low volume or volatile markets, or that are valued using an estimated fair value methodology. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Corporation’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when stockholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Corporation’s shares.

Market Price of Shares Risk. Shares of common stock of closed-end investment companies like the Corporation often trade in the market at prices lower than (discount to) or higher than (premium to) their NAV.

The Corporation cannot predict whether its listed stock will trade at, below or above NAV. Market price risk is a risk separate and distinct from the risk that the Corporation’s NAV will decrease. The Corporation’s shares have generally traded at a discount to the Corporation’s NAV.

In addition to NAV, the market price of shares may be affected by such factors as the Corporation’s dividend and distribution levels and stability, market liquidity, market supply and demand, unrealized gains, general market and economic conditions, and other factors.

Leverage Risk. The Corporation may borrow money from banks or financial institutions. The Corporation may borrow money to make additional investments or as a temporary measure for extraordinary or emergency purposes, including the payment of dividends or other distributions and the settlement of securities transactions that otherwise might require untimely dispositions of the Corporation’s holdings. The use of borrowed money is known as “leverage.”

The use of leverage creates certain risks for the Corporation’s stockholders, including the greater likelihood of higher volatility of the Corporation’s return, its NAV and the market price of its Common Stock. To the extent the income or capital appreciation derived from securities purchased with funds received from leverage exceeds the cost of leverage, the Corporation’s return will be greater than if leverage had not been used. Conversely, if the income or capital appreciation from the securities purchased with such funds is not sufficient to cover the cost of leverage or if the Corporation incurs capital losses, the return of the Corporation will be less than if leverage had not been used, and therefore the amount available for distribution to shareholders could be reduced or potentially eliminated. The Corporation also may be required to sell investments in order to make interest or principal payments on borrowings used for leverage when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

Stockholder Concentration Risk. A significant portion of the Corporation’s shares are held by a private foundation. This may result in a decreased market for the Corporation’s shares or in downward pressure on the market price of the Corporation’s shares if the foundation decided to sell all or a significant portion of its holding. Either of these factors may lead to the Corporation’s shares trading at a lower price or at a larger discount to net asset value.

Dependence on Key Personnel Risk. The Corporation is internally-managed and has a small number of employees. The loss of the services of certain key employees without suitable replacement may adversely affect the operation of the Corporation.

Cybersecurity Risk. Investment companies, such as the Corporation, and their service providers are exposed to operational and information security risks resulting from cyberattacks, which may result in financial losses to the Corporation and its shareholders. Cyber-attacks include, among other behaviors, stealing or corrupting data maintained online or digitally, denial of service attacks on websites, “ransomware” that renders systems inoperable until ransom is paid, the unauthorized release of confidential information, or various other forms of cybersecurity breaches. Cyber-attacks affecting the Corporation or the custodian, transfer agent, trading counterparties, and other third-party service providers may adversely impact the Corporation or the companies in which the Corporation invests, causing investments to lose value.

Status as a Regulated Investment Company. The Corporation has qualified, and intends to remain qualified, for federal income tax purposes as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. Qualification requires, among other things, compliance by the Corporation with certain distribution and investment requirements. Failure by the Corporation to qualify as a regulated investment company could result in the Corporation paying corporate income taxes which would reduce the Corporation’s investment performance.