HIGH YIELD PLUS FUND INC
DEF 14A, 1998-06-26
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                         THE HIGH YIELD PLUS FUND, INC.
                              GATEWAY CENTER THREE
                               100 MULBERRY STREET
                          NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 07102-4077

                                   ----------

                    NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

                                   ----------

                                 AUGUST 27, 1998


To our Stockholders:

       NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual Meeting of  Stockholders  ("Annual
Meeting") of The High Yield Plus Fund, Inc.  ("Fund") will be held on August 27,
1998 at 10:30 a.m., at the Plaza Building, 751 Broad Street, 21st Floor, Newark,
New Jersey 07102 for the following purposes:

     (1)  To elect one director to serve until 2001;

     (2)  To ratify the selection of Price Waterhouse LLP as independent  public
          accountants of the Fund for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1999; and

     (3)  To  consider  and act upon any other  business  as may  properly  come
          before the Annual Meeting or any adjournment thereof.

       Only  holders of common  stock of record at the close of business on June
12,  1998 are  entitled  to notice of and to vote at the  Annual  Meeting or any
adjournment thereof.

                                             By order of the Board of Directors,


                                             /s/Arthur Brown
                                             ---------------
                                             ARTHUR J. BROWN
                                             SECRETARY

Dated: June 26, 1998

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT--PLEASE RETURN YOUR PROXY CARD PROMPTLY

       STOCKHOLDERS  ARE  INVITED TO ATTEND THE  ANNUAL  MEETING IN PERSON.  ANY
STOCKHOLDER  WHO DOES NOT  EXPECT  TO  ATTEND  THE  ANNUAL  MEETING  IS URGED TO
INDICATE VOTING  INSTRUCTIONS  ON THE ENCLOSED FORM OF PROXY,  DATE AND SIGN IT,
AND RETURN IT IN THE ENVELOPE PROVIDED,  WHICH NEEDS NO POSTAGE IF MAILED IN THE
UNITED STATES.  IN ORDER TO AVOID THE ADDITIONAL  EXPENSE TO THE FUND OF FURTHER
SOLICITATION,  WE ASK YOUR COOPERATION IN MAILING YOUR PROXY PROMPTLY, NO MATTER
HOW LARGE OR SMALL YOUR HOLDINGS MAY BE.

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


<PAGE>

                         THE HIGH YIELD PLUS FUND, INC.
                              GATEWAY CENTER THREE
                               100 MULBERRY STREET
                          NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 07102-4077

                                 PROXY STATEMENT

                         ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
                                 AUGUST 27, 1998


                                  INTRODUCTION

       This Proxy  Statement is furnished to the  stockholders of The High Yield
Plus Fund,  Inc.  ("Fund") by the Board of Directors  of the Fund in  connection
with the solicitation of stockholder  votes by proxy  ("Proxies") to be voted at
the Annual Meeting of Stockholders  ("Meeting") to be held on August 27, 1998 at
10:30 a.m. at the Plaza Building,  751 Broad Street,  Newark,  New Jersey 07102.
The matters to be acted upon at the  Meeting  are set forth in the  accompanying
Notice of Annual Meeting.

       If the enclosed form of Proxy is executed  properly and returned,  shares
represented  by it  will  be  voted  at  the  Meeting  in  accordance  with  the
instructions on the Proxy. A Proxy may nevertheless be revoked at any time prior
to its use by written  notification  received by the Fund, by the execution of a
later dated Proxy or by attending the Meeting and voting in person.  However, if
no instructions are specified on a Proxy,  shares will be voted FOR the election
of the nominee for director and FOR the other proposals.

       The close of  business on June 12, 1998 has been fixed as the record date
for the  determination of stockholders  entitled to notice of and to vote at the
Meeting.  On  that  date,  the  Fund  had  11,348,544  shares  of  common  stock
outstanding and entitled to vote. Each share will be entitled to one vote at the
Meeting.  It is expected that the Notice of Annual Meeting,  Proxy Statement and
form of Proxy first will be mailed to stockholders on or about July 2, 1998.

       The solicitation is made primarily by the mailing of this Proxy Statement
and the accompanying  Proxy.  Supplementary  solicitations may be made,  without
cost to the  Fund,  by  mail,  telephone,  telegraph  or in  person  by  regular
employees  of   Prudential   Investments   Fund   Management   LLC,  the  Fund's
Administrator  ("Administrator")  or the Administrator's  affiliate,  Prudential
Securities Incorporated  ("Prudential  Securities").  All expenses in connection
with  preparing  this  Proxy  Statement  and  its  enclosures,   and  additional
solicitation expenses including  reimbursement of brokerage firms and others for
their  expenses in  forwarding  proxy  solicitation  material to the  beneficial
owners of shares,  will be borne by the Fund.  The presence at the  Meeting,  in
person or by proxy,  of  stockholders  entitled to cast a majority of the shares
outstanding  is required for a quorum.  In the event that a quorum is present at
the Meeting but  sufficient  votes to approve one or more of the proposed  items
are  not  received,  the  persons  named  as  proxies  may  propose  one or more
adjournments  of such  Meeting to permit  further  solicitation  of Proxies with
respect to those items. Any such  adjournments will require the affirmative vote
of a majority of those shares present at the Meeting or represented by proxy. In
such case,  the persons  named as proxies will vote those Proxies which they are
entitled  to vote for any such  item in favor of such an  adjournment,  and will
vote those  Proxies  required to be voted against any such item against any such
adjournment. A stockholder vote may be taken on one or more of the items in this
Proxy  Statement  prior to any such  adjournment  if sufficient  votes have been
received and it is otherwise appropriate.

                                       1
                                       
<PAGE>

       Broker  non-votes  are  shares  held in street  name for which the broker
indicates that instructions have not been received from the beneficial owners or
other  persons  entitled  to vote and with  respect to which the broker does not
have  discretionary  voting authority.  Abstentions and broker non-votes will be
counted  as shares  present  for  purposes  of  determining  whether a quorum is
present  but will not be voted  for or  against  any  adjournment.  Accordingly,
abstentions and broker non-votes  effectively will be a vote against adjournment
or against any proposal  where the required  vote is a percentage  of the shares
present. Abstentions and broker non-votes will not be counted, however, as votes
cast for purposes of determining  whether sufficient votes have been received to
approve a proposal.

       Management does not know of any person or group who owned beneficially 5%
or more of the Fund's outstanding common stock on the record date.


                              ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

                                 PROPOSAL NO. 1

       The Board of  Directors  is divided  into three  classes  with each class
serving  for a term of three years and until  their  successors  are elected and
qualified.  The Class I director,  Mr. Dorsey,  has a term expiring in 1998. The
classification  of the Fund's  directors  helps to promote  the  continuity  and
stability  of the Fund's  management  and  policies  because the majority of the
directors at any given time will have prior experience as directors of the Fund.
At least two  stockholder  meetings,  instead of one,  are  required to effect a
change  in a  majority  of the  directors,  except  in the  event  of  vacancies
resulting from removal for cause or other  reasons,  in which case the remaining
directors may fill the vacancies so created.

       Accordingly,  at the Meeting, one director will be elected to serve until
the Fund's  2001  annual  meeting of  stockholders  and until his  successor  is
elected and qualified.  It is the intention of the persons named in the enclosed
form of Proxy to vote in favor of the  election  of Mr.  Dorsey as  nominee  for
director.  The nominee is currently a member of the Board of Directors,  and has
consented  to serve as a director,  if elected.  The Board of  Directors  has no
reason to believe  that the nominee  will become  unavailable  for election as a
director, but if that should occur before the Meeting, the Proxies will be voted
for such other nominee as the Board of Directors may recommend.

       None of the directors is related to one another. The following tables set
forth certain  information  regarding each of the directors of the Fund.  Unless
otherwise noted,  each of the directors has engaged in the principal  occupation
listed in the following table for five years or more.



                                       2
<PAGE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>


                          INFORMATION REGARDING NOMINEE
                       FOR ELECTION AT 1998 ANNUAL MEETING
                                                                                                                      SHARES OF
                                                                                                                     COMMON STOCK
                          NAME, AGE, BUSINESS EXPERIENCE                                         POSITION              OWNED ON
                DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS AND OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS                             WITH THE FUND        JUNE 12, 1998(a)
                --------------------------------------------------                            ---------------       ----------------
                                                                     
CLASS I (TERM EXPIRING IN 2001, IF ELECTED)

                                                                                
<S>                                                                                               <C>                    <C>
Eugene C. Dorsey (71), Retired  President,  Chief Executive Officer and Trustee,                  Director                 0
    Gannett  Foundation  (now Freedom  Forum);  former  Publisher,  four Gannett
    newspapers  and  Vice   President  of  Gannett  Co.  Inc.;   past  Chairman,
    Independent  Sector,   Washington,   D.C.  (largest  national  coalition  of
    philanthropic  organizations);  Former  Director,  Advisory  Board  of Chase
    Manhattan  Bank of Rochester;  Director,  Global Utility Fund,  Inc.,  First
    Financial Fund, Inc.,  Prudential  Diversified  Bond Fund, Inc.,  Prudential
    Government Income Fund, Inc.,  Prudential High Yield Fund, Inc.,  Prudential
    High Yield Total Return Fund, Inc.,  Prudential  Mortgage Income Fund, Inc.,
    Prudential Municipal Series Fund, Inc., Prudential National Municipals Fund,
    Inc.,  Prudential  Structured  Maturity  Fund,  Inc.;  Trustee,  The  Target
    Portfolio  Trust,  Prudential  Municipal  Bond Fund,  Prudential  Government
    Securities Trust, Prudential California Municipal Fund.


                         INFORMATION REGARDING DIRECTORS
                          WHOSE CURRENT TERMS CONTINUE


                                                                                                                      SHARES OF
                                                                                                                     COMMON STOCK
                          NAME, AGE, BUSINESS EXPERIENCE                                         POSITION              OWNED ON
                DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS AND OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS                             WITH THE FUND        JUNE 12, 1998(a)
                --------------------------------------------------                            ---------------       ----------------

CLASS III (TERM EXPIRING IN 2000)

*Thomas T. Mooney (56), President,  Greater Rochester Metro Chamber of Commerce;           President, Treasurer                 
    former Rochester City Manager;  Trustee,  Center for Governmental  Research,               and Director               2,797 
    Inc., The Target  Portfolio  Trust,  Prudential  Balanced  Fund,  Prudential
    California  Municipal  Fund,   Prudential  Equity  Income  Fund,  Prudential
    Government  Securities  Trust,  Prudential  Index  Series  Fund,  Prudential
    Mid-Cap Value Fund,  Prudential Municipal Bond Fund,  Prudential Real Estate
    Fund,  Prudential  20/20  Focus  Fund;  Director,  Blue Cross of  Rochester,
    Executive Service Corps of Rochester,  Monroe County Industrial  Development
    Corporation,  Monroe County Water Authority,  Northeast  Midwest  Institute,
    Rochester Jobs, Inc., The Business Council of New York State, Global Utility
    Fund,  Inc.,   Prudential   Distressed  Securities  Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential
    Diversified  Bond  Fund,  Inc.,   Prudential  Emerging  Growth  Fund,  Inc.,
    Prudential Equity Fund, Inc., Prudential Global Limited Maturity Fund, Inc.,
    Prudential  Government Income Fund, Inc.,  Prudential High Yield Fund, Inc.,
    Prudential  High Yield Total  Return  Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential  Intermediate
    Global  Income  Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential   International  Bond  Fund,  Inc.,
    Prudential  Jennison  Series Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential  Mortgage Income Fund,
    Inc., Prudential  Multi-Sector Fund, Inc., Prudential Municipal Series Fund,
    Inc., Prudential National Municipals


                                       3
<PAGE>
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                          NAME, AGE, BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
                DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS AND OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS
                --------------------------------------------------
CLASS III (TERM EXPIRING IN 2000) (CONTINUED)

    Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential  Small-Cap  Quantum Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential  Small
    Company  Value  Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential  Structured  Maturity  Fund,  Inc.,
    Prudential  Utility Fund, Inc., The Global Total Return Fund, Inc., The High
    Yield Income Fund, Inc.; President,  Treasurer and Director, First Financial
    Fund, Inc.

                                                                                                                      SHARES OF
                                                                                                                     COMMON STOCK
                          NAME, AGE, BUSINESS EXPERIENCE                                         POSITION              OWNED ON
                DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS AND OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS                             WITH THE FUND        JUNE 12, 1998(a)
                --------------------------------------------------                            ---------------       ----------------

CLASS II (TERM EXPIRING IN 1999)

                                                                                

<S>                                                                                              <C>                     <C>   
Douglas H.  McCorkindale  (59),  Vice Chairman  (since March 1984) and President                 Director                  0
    (since September 1997), Gannett Co. Inc.  (publishing and media);  Director,
    Continental Airlines,  Inc., Frontier Corporation,  Gannett Co. Inc., Global
    Utility Fund,  Inc.,  First  Financial  Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential  Distressed
    Securities Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential  Emerging Growth Fund, Inc.,  Prudential
    Equity Fund, Inc., Prudential Global Limited Maturity Fund, Inc., Prudential
    Intermediate Global Income Fund, Inc.,  Prudential  International Bond Fund,
    Inc., Prudential Jennison Series Fund, Inc.,  Prudential  Multi-Sector Fund,
    Inc.,  Prudential  Small-Cap  Quantum Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential Small Company
    Value Fund,  Inc.,  Prudential  Utility Fund,  Inc., The Global Total Return
    Fund, Inc.; Trustee,  The Target Portfolio Trust,  Prudential Balanced Fund,
    Prudential  Equity  Income Fund,  Prudential  Index Series Fund,  Prudential
    Mid-Cap  Value Fund,  Prudential  Real Estate Fund,  Prudential  20/20 Focus
    Fund.
</TABLE>
- -------------

*    Indicates  "interested  person" of the Fund as  defined  in the  Investment
     Company Act of 1940, as amended ("1940 Act"). Mr. Mooney is deemed to be an
     "interested person" by reason of his service as an officer of the Fund.

(a)  For this  purpose,  "beneficial  ownership"  is defined in the  regulations
     under  Section  13(d) of the  Securities  Exchange Act of 1934,  as amended
     ("1934  Act").  The  information  is based on  statements  furnished by the
     Administrator and the nominee.

       The  directors and officers of the Fund as a group (five  persons)  owned
beneficially  less than 1% of the outstanding  shares of the Fund as of June 12,
1998.  This  includes  shares shown with respect to the  directors in the tables
above.

       Under  Section  16(a) of the 1934 Act,  Section 30(h) of the 1940 Act and
Securities and Exchange  Commission ("SEC") regulations  thereunder,  the Fund's
officers and directors,  persons owning more than 10% of the Fund's common stock
and certain  officers and partners of Wellington  Management  Company,  LLP, the
Fund's investment adviser ("Investment  Adviser"),  are required to report their
transactions  in the Fund's common stock to the SEC, New York Stock Exchange and
the Fund.  Based  solely on the  Fund's  review  of the  copies of such  reports
received by it, the Fund believes  that,  during its fiscal year ended March 31,
1998, all filing requirements applicable to such persons were complied with.

                                       4
<PAGE>

BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS.

       The Board of Directors met four times during the Fund's fiscal year ended
March 31, 1998,  and each director  during the time he served  attended at least
75% of the total  number of meetings of the Board and of any  committee of which
he was a  member.  The  Board  of  Directors  has an Audit  Committee  currently
composed of Messrs. Dorsey, McCorkindale, and Mooney. Mr. Mooney is deemed to be
an  "interested  person" of the Fund  because he is an officer of the Fund.  The
Audit  Committee  reviews with the independent  public  accountants the plan and
results of the audit  engagement and matters  having a material  effect upon the
Fund's  financial  operations.  The Audit  Committee met twice during the fiscal
year  ended  March 31,  1998.  The Board of  Directors  does not have a standing
nominating or compensation committee.


OFFICERS OF THE FUND.

       The  officers  of the Fund,  other than as shown  above who also serve as
directors, are:

       Arthur J. Brown (age 49)--Secretary;  Partner, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP
(law  firm).  Kirkpatrick  &  Lockhart  LLP serves as counsel to the Fund and to
Wellington Management Company, LLP on certain matters.

       Stephanie A. Djinis (age 34)--Assistant Secretary; Partner, Kirkpatrick &
Lockhart LLP.

       Mr. Brown has held office  since  February 3, 1988.  Ms.  Djinis has held
office since February 14, 1990. The officers of the Fund are elected annually by
the Board of  Directors  at its next  meeting  following  the annual  meeting of
stockholders.


COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS.

        The  table  below   includes   certain   information   relating  to  the
compensation of the Fund's  directors paid by the Fund for the fiscal year ended
March 31,  1998 as well as  information  regarding  compensation  from the "Fund
Complex," as defined  below,  for the calendar year ended  December 31, 1997. No
additional  compensation  is paid to Board  members for serving on committees or
for attending  meetings.  Board members are reimbursed for any expenses incurred
in attending meetings and for other incidental  expenses.  Annual Board fees may
be reviewed periodically and changed by each Fund's Board.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         COMPENSATION TABLE
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                    PENSION OR                                      TOTAL
                                                                    RETIREMENT                                  COMPENSATION
                                                                     BENEFITS                ESTIMATED            FROM THE
                                                                    ACCRUED AS                ANNUAL              FUND AND
                                        AGGREGATE                   PART OF THE              BENEFITS             THE FUND
                                      COMPENSATION                    FUND'S                   UPON             COMPLEX PAID
  NAME OF DIRECTOR                    FROM THE FUND                  EXPENSES               RETIREMENT          TO DIRECTORS
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                                      <C>                            <C>                     <C>              <C>
  Eugene C. Dorsey+                      $4,250                         N/A                     N/A              $21,000(4)*
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Douglas H. McCorkindale                $4,250                         N/A                     N/A              $21,000(4)*
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Thomas T. Mooney                       $4,250                         N/A                     N/A              $21,000(4)*
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>

*    Parenthetical  indicates  number of Funds  (including the Fund) in the Fund
     Complex,  comprised  of  four  investment  companies,  to  which  aggregate
     compensation relates.

+    All compensation from the Fund and Fund Complex for the calendar year ended
     December 31, 1997  represents  deferred  compensation.  Mr. Dorsey received
     aggregate  compensation for that period from the Fund and the Fund Complex,
     including  accrued  interest,  in the amounts of  approximately  $4,389 and
     $24,287, respectively.


                                       5
<PAGE>

       Directors  must be elected by a vote of the holders of a plurality of the
shares  present  at the  Meeting  in  person or by proxy  and  entitled  to vote
thereon.

      THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS THAT YOU VOTE "FOR" PROPOSAL NO. 1.
                      SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
                                 PROPOSAL NO. 2

       The Board of Directors,  including a majority of those  directors who are
not interested  persons (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund or
the Investment Adviser ("Independent Directors"),  selected Price Waterhouse LLP
to continue to serve as the independent accountants for the Fund for the current
fiscal year, ending March 31, 1999. As of July 1, 1998 Price Waterhouse LLP will
be renamed  Price  Waterhouse  Coopers LLP. Such  appointment  is now subject to
ratification or rejection by stockholders of the Fund. In addition,  as required
by the 1940 Act,  the vote of the Board of  Directors is subject to the right of
the Fund, by the vote of a majority of its outstanding  voting  securities,  (as
such term is  defined  in the 1940 Act) to  terminate  such  engagement  without
penalty at any meeting called for the purposes of voting thereon.

       Price  Waterhouse  LLP  currently   serves  as  the  Fund's   independent
accountants,  and has audited  the Fund's  financial  statements  for the fiscal
years ended March 31, 1997 and 1998. Prior thereto, Deloitte & Touche LLP served
as the Fund's independent accountants. On February 18, 1997, the Fund's Board of
Directors,  acting upon the  recommendation  of its Audit  Committee,  appointed
Price Waterhouse LLP to serve as independent accountants to the Fund, to succeed
Deloitte & Touche LLP. These actions were not taken because of any  disagreement
between the Fund and Deloitte & Touche LLP. The reports of Deloitte & Touche LLP
on the Fund's financial statements for the fiscal years ended March 31, 1995 and
1996  did  not  contain  adverse   opinions,   disclaimers,   qualifications  or
modifications  of opinion.  Deloitte & Touche LLP did not  disagree  during such
fiscal years or the subsequent  interim period prior to its resignation,  on any
matter of accounting  principles or practices,  financial statement  disclosure,
auditing  scope  or  procedure,  which  disagreements,  if not  resolved  to its
satisfaction,  would have caused it to make  reference to the subject  matter of
the disagreements in connection with its reports on those financial  statements.
The Fund is not aware of any  "reportable  events,"  as that term is used in the
federal  securities laws,  during its fiscal years ended March 31, 1995 and 1996
or the subsequent interim period.

       Price Waterhouse LLP has informed the Fund that it has no material direct
or  indirect  financial  interest  in  the  Fund.  No  representative  of  Price
Waterhouse  LLP is expected to be present at the  Meeting.  The Audit  Committee
will review and approve services  provided by the independent  accountants prior
to their being  rendered,  and will report to the Board of Directors  concerning
all such services after they have been performed.

       An affirmative vote of a majority of the shares present,  in person or by
proxy, at the Meeting is required for ratification.

      THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS THAT YOU VOTE "FOR" PROPOSAL NO. 2.
                                  OTHER MATTERS
       No business,  other than as set forth  above,  is expected to come before
the Meeting.  Should any other matters requiring a vote of stockholders properly
come before the  Meeting,  the  persons  named in the  enclosed  Proxy will vote
thereon in accordance with their best judgment in the interests of the Fund.

                       WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LLP
       Wellington   Management   Company,   LLP,   75  State   Street,   Boston,
Massachusetts 02109, is the Fund's Investment Adviser. The Investment Adviser is
a Massachusetts limited liability partnership of which the following persons are
managing  partners:  Robert M. Doran,  Duncan M. McFarland and John R. Ryan. The
Investment Adviser is a professional  investment  counseling firm which provides
investment services to investment companies,  employee benefit plans,  endowment
funds, foundations and other institutions and individuals. As of March 31, 1998,
the   Investment   Adviser  held   discretionary   investment   authority   over
approximately $194 billion of

                                       6
<PAGE>

assets. The Investment  Adviser and its predecessor  organizations have provided
investment  advisory  services  to  investment   companies  since  1933  and  to
investment  counseling  clients  since  1960.  The  Investment  Adviser  is  not
affiliated with the Administrator.  Prudential  Investments Fund Management LLC,
the Fund's  Administrator,  is located at Gateway  Center  Three,  100  Mulberry
Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102.

                              STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS
       If a  stockholder  intends  to present a  proposal  at the Fund's  annual
meeting of stockholders in 1999 and desires to have the proposal included in the
Fund's proxy statement and form of proxy for that meeting,  the stockholder must
deliver the  proposal to the offices of the Fund at Gateway  Center  Three,  100
Mulberry  Street,  Newark,  New  Jersey  07102  by March  4,  1999.  Stockholder
proposals that are submitted in a timely manner will not necessarily be included
in the  Fund's  proxy  materials.  Inclusion  of such  proposal  is  subject  to
limitation under the federal securities laws.


     NOTICE TO BANKS, BROKER-DEALERS AND VOTING TRUSTEES AND THEIR NOMINEES
       Please advise the Fund, at Gateway  Center  Three,  100 Mulberry  Street,
Newark, New Jersey 07102,  whether other persons are beneficial owners of shares
for which  Proxies  are being  solicited  and if so, the number of copies of the
Proxy  Statement you wish to receive in order to supply copies to the beneficial
owners of shares.

                                           By Order of the Board of Directors,


                                           /s/Arthur Brown
                                           ARTHUR J. BROWN
                                           SECRETARY

Dated: June 26, 1998


                                       7


<PAGE>


============================================
THE HIGH YIELD PLUS FUND, INC.



                                                             THE HIGH
                                                           YIELD PLUS
                                                         FUND, INC.
                                                  ==============================
Proxy
Statement

                                                          NOTICE OF
                                                          ANNUAL MEETING
                                                          TO BE HELD ON
                                                          AUGUST 27, 1998
                                                          AND
                                                          PROXY STATEMENT



                                       
<PAGE>


                                     PROXY

                         THE HIGH YIELD PLUS FUND, INC.
                              Gateway Center Three
                              100 Mulberry Street
                         Newark, New Jersey 07102-4077


          This proxy is Solicited on Behalf of the Board of Directors

The  undersigned  hereby  appoints  Thomas T. Mooney and  Stephanie A. Djinis as
Proxies, each with the power of substitution, and hereby authorizes each of them
to represent and to vote,  as  designated on the reverse side of this card,  all
the shares of common stock of The High Yield Plus Fund,  Inc.  (the "Fund") held
of record on June 12, 1998 at the Annual Meeting of  Stockholders  to be held on
August 27, 1998, or any adjournment thereof.


- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    PLEASE VOTE, DATE AND SIGN ON REVERSE AND RETURN PROMPTLY IN THE ENCLOSED
                                   ENVELOPE.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


HAS YOUR ADDRESS CHANGED?               DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS?

- ------------------------------------       -------------------------------------

- ------------------------------------       -------------------------------------

- ------------------------------------       -------------------------------------

<PAGE>



- ---  PLEASE MARK VOTES
 X   AS IN THIS EXAMPLE
- ---                                  The Board of Directors recommends a vote
- -------------------------------       "FOR" the nominee and "FOR" each of the
THE HIGH YIELD PLUS FUND., INC.                following Proposals:
- -------------------------------
                                     1. ELECTION OF DIRECTOR      FOR   WITHHELD
                                        Nominee:                  ---     ---
This Proxy, when properly executed,           Eugene C. Dorsey    ---     ---
will be voted in the manner directed
by the undersigned shareholder.  If
no direction is made, this proxy will
be voted FOR Proposals 1, 2 and 3.

                                                            FOR  AGAINST ABSTAIN
                                     2. To ratify the       ---    ---     ---
                                        selection of Price  ---    ---     ---
                                        Waterhouse LLP as
                                        independent public
                                        accountants for the
                                        fiscal year ending
                                        March 31, 1999.



                                                           FOR  AGAINST ABSTAIN
                                     2. To consider and     ---    ---     ---
                                        act upon such       ---    ---     ---
                                        other business as
                                        may properly come
                                        before the meeting
                                        and any adjournments
                                        thereof.




Please be sure to sign  ------------
and date this Proxy.     Date           Mark box at right if an address    ---
- ------------------------------------    change or comment has been noted
                                        on the reverse side of this card.  ---
- ---Stockholder sign here------------

- ---Co-owner sign here---------------    RECORD DATE SHARES:




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