In an investing world increasingly dominated by exchange-traded funds (ETFs), it can be easy to forget about good old listed investment companies (LICs) and listed investment trusts (LITs). Yet, unlike ETFs, LICs and LITs have been around in Australia for a long time — about 95 years in fact....
Here we outline some of the key things financial advisers and investors need to know about this unique sector. At their most fundamental level LICs and LITs are professionally-managed investment entities which provide investors with the potential to receive the income and capital growth from the underlying investments. As such they give investors...
The Listed Investment Company (LIC) and Listed Investment Trust (LIT) sector has been growing steadily in Australia and has performed well during COVID-19. Click to read more and see: Listed Investment Companies and Trusts (LICAT) Market Capitalisation Comparisons...
The Listed Investment Company (LIC) and Listed Investment Trust (LIT) sector closed out 2020 with a sector market capitalisation of $52.8 billion, a reduction of just 0.6% over the 12 months. This compares with the S&P/ASX200 benchmark which fell 1.5% over the same period. As the sector enters its 98th year of continuous operation in Australia, it continues to provide retail investors and SMSF trustees with access to some of the largest and most cost-efficient actively managed investment entities in Australia. ...
ASX listed investment company Whitefield [Whitefield Industrials Ltd ASX Code:WHF] is currently in its 100th year of operation. The company holds a diverse portfolio of ASX listed shares and is one of Australia’s longest operating investment funds. In the century since the company’s formation many investment funds have come and gone, yet Whitefield has survived and grown. Here Whitefield’s Managing Director and Chairman Angus Gluskie shares some insights into the company’s long history and provides some intriguing contrasts between the past and the modern investment world....
Amid tumultuous international sharemarket conditions, global infrastructure stocks have proved resilient with the asset class outperforming broader global equities by +18.8% (in Australian-dollar terms) last financial year. Surging inflation, rising interest rates and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, among other macro-economic factors, weighed heavily on market sentiment. This saw some investors pivot away from riskier investments, such as growth stocks, to those with established earnings and more defensive attributes....
Discussions about innovation in investment products usually focus on the latest unit trust or Exchange Traded Fund. Rarely are Listed Investment Companies (LICs) considered innovators in investment and social returns. That is no surprise. The LIC market is often perceived as a place for conservative investors seeking franked dividends. Some LICs have existed for almost 100 years, reinforcing the stereotype of an older sector run by mostly male fund managers....
For close to 100 years LICs have long been associated with actively managed portfolios, particularly of Australian shares, and while this holds true today there is a growing range of other assets being made available to investors through the tried-and-true listed investment company (LIC) or Listed Investment Trust (LIT) structure. “There has been strong growth in the number of LICs and LITs offering investors access to global equities, Asian and emerging markets, infrastructure, alternative assets and fixed income,” said Ian Irvine, CEO of the Listed Investment Companies and Trusts Association (LICAT)....
Angus Gluskie, Chairman of the Listed Investment Companies and Trusts Association (LICAT) and Managing Director of the longest running LIC Whitefield Limited noted that within the sector, Australian equities (up 35.3%) had kept pace with the broader All Ordinaries index, which advanced 35.8%....
The listed investment companies and listed investment trusts sector has regained $13 billion in market capitalisation, a year on from the commencement of the market recovery, representing 32% over a year ago....
Stockbrokers and fund managers have hit back at the federal ban on listed fund commissions, warning it could deter quality products from coming to market and create an uneven playing field for investors....
The market capitalisation of the Listed Investment Companies (LICs) and Listed Investment Trusts (LITs) sector was up 32% by June from a year ago. Ian Irvine, CEO of the Listed Investment Companies and Trusts Association (LICAT), said there had bee two IPO capital raisings in June (ASX: WAR) and (ASX: SB2), amounting to about $300m in new capital....
At the end of June, the Listed Investment Companies (LICs) and Listed Investment Trusts (LITs) sector had seen its market capitalisation rise 32% from a year ago. Commenting on the sector’s increase over the past year, Ian Irvine, CEO of the Listed Investment Companies and Trusts Association (LICAT) noted that the sector had benefited from two IPO capital raisings in June (ASX: WAR) and (ASX: SB2), amounting to some $300 million in new capital....
The LIC sector has enjoyed a healthy increase this past financial year that has been attributed to more and more investors understanding its benefits. LICAT confirmed on Tuesday that the LIC and LIT sector had seen its market capitalisation rise 32 per cent from last year on the back of two IPO capital raisings in June – ASX:WAR and ASX:SB2 – which amounted to $300 million in new capital....
Ian Irvine from LICAT joins ausbiz to discuss what the regulatory change in stamping exemptions means for the asset classes going forward....
The Listed Investment Company and Trust Association (LICAT) has acknowledged the significant difference the federal government’s recent ban on stamping fees relating to listed investment companies (LIC) and listed investment trusts (LIT) will make and called on the industry to adapt effectively to the change. Read more from LICAT Chairman, Angus Gluskie...
Bell Potter Securities LIC specialist Hayden Nicholson sees a unique opportunity for fund managers as many LICs/LITs begin to rebalance their portfolios and acquire financially strong securities at a lower investment cost ...
For close to 100 years Listed Investment Companies (LICs) have been a part of the investment fabric of Australia. Their closed-end structure has provided a very stable, constructive and efficient investment platform for hundreds of thousands of Australian investors over those years. As closed-end investment vehicles, LICs and LITs can avoid many of the administration inefficiencies faced by open-end funds....
With the Listed Investment Company (LIC) and Listed Investment Trust (LIT) sector containing some of the largest, most cost-efficient and longest-standing actively managed investment entities that can be accessed by retail investors in Australia, it might be of interest to see how they have continued to adapt and fare over the year and what may lie ahead in 2021. ...
There has been much recent debate about Listed Investment Companies (LICs). The LIC and Listed Investment Trusts (LIT) sector contains some of the largest, lowest-cost, reliable, trusted, long-lasting investment vehicles that can be accessed by retail and sophisticated investors. However, LIC myths need to be dispelled, and facts highlighted to illustrate why the sector continues to present opportunities for long-term investors. ...
The size of the listed investment company (LIC) and listed investment trust (LIT) sector has increased by more than 30 per cent in the past year, driven by a rise in the value of investment portfolios and interest in listed investment vehicles....
Ian Irvine from the Listed Investment Companies and Trusts Association says the sector has regained $13 billion since the lows of last year as investors seek a consistent and stable income....
As the number of investors seeking income in today’s record low interest rate world rises, an increasing number are considering Listed Investment Trusts (LITs).These closed-ended trusts (similar to listed investment companies or LICs) enable investors to invest in assets that require longer investment time horizons. LITs accounted for around 20% of the $52.8 billion LIC/LIT sector at the end of December 2020, according to the Listed Investment Companies and Trusts Association (LICAT)....
Recent equity market volatility has presented investors with opportunities to buy listed investment companies (LICs) at a discount to their underlying net tangible asset (NTA) backing. To help make an informed investment decision, it is important not only to look at the NTA of a LIC, but also to assess the company’s investment strategy, long-term investment portfolio performance, quality of the investment manager, history of paying fully franked dividends and how the company communicates and engages with its shareholder base. ...
Two listed investment companies with a combined 170-year history were among the top buys last year on Millennial-focused investing platform Pearler, as they try to loosen the grip of rival exchange-traded funds on the next generation of investors. The 94-year-old Australian Foundation Investment Company (AFIC) was the 12th most popular holding among Pearler’s 35,000 mostly Millennial and Gen Z customers last year, while 76-year-old Argo Investments came in at 15th on the 2021 ranking, according to data supplied by the online broker....
The end of the stamping fee exemption form the new financial year has presented a set of new challenges and opportunities for both listed investment companies (LICs) and listed investment trusts (LITs) as the sector wants to see a “defined, transparent and efficient method” to provide sound advice and for advisers to be fairly renumerated. LICAT’s chair, Angus Gluskie, said the LIC/LIT, stockbroking and advisory industry would be making adjustments to their processes and systems to accommodate the requirements of the new legislation. “Our industry would hope that as market conditions themselves stabilise, that a further range of LICs and LITs can be brought to market, in turn providing investors with a continued albeit gradual expansion of investment choice as well as the benefits provided by closed-ended investment vehicles” ...
Although the overall market capitalisation for the listed investment company (LIC) and listed investment trust (LIT) sector dropped 2% to $44 million over 2019/20, against a 10.9% drop in the market capitalisation of the S&P/ASX200, the sector’s market cap went up 9.1% during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the Listed Investment Company and Trust Association (LICAT). So why do closed-ended funds provided unique advantages to investors?...
In late May the Federal Treasurer announced that the Government would remove listed invested investment entities from the stamping fee exemption provided to all other ASX listed companies. This move seeks to align the treatment of listed investment entities with unlisted investment funds and ETFs, yet in so doing it creates a differential treatment between listed investment companies and trusts and all other ASX listed companies, including AREITS. ...
It is clearly important for investors, advisers and researchers to understand how an investment has performed. It is also useful to be able to accurately compare and contrast the performance of differing investments. As an investor, I have always considered the two most important performance reporting measures to be the underlying investment return of the entity (before tax and expenses) and the total expense ratio....
For many investors, Listed Investment Companies (LIC) on ASX are a convenient way to gain exposure to a diversified portfolio of Australian shares and fully franked dividends. Up to the late 1990s, most LICs invested in large-cap Australian shares on ASX. Today, there are LICs over global equities, Asian equities, infrastructure, property, fixed income and alternative assets, such as private equity. Even within Australian shares, investors can gain access to LICs that specialise in large- or small-cap shares. ...
The listed investment companies (LIC) and listed investment trust (LIT) sector contains some of the largest and most cost efficient actively managed investment entities that can be accessed by retail investors in Australia. Ian Irvine, CEO of Listed Investment Companies and Trusts Association (LICAT) recently participated in a webinar along with Ben Rundle, Portfolio Manager at NAOS Asset Management and moderated by Nina Dunn from Fidare. This panel session covered: The investment universe available via LICs and LITs, the benefits of close-end investment vehicles, why LICs can trade at premiums and discounts to NTA and shareholder activism in the LIC space. Watch Now!...
The new financial year, July 1 marked the end of the stamping fee exemption for LICs and LITs, presenting the industry with both opportunities and challenges. The LIC and LIT sector had been popular with investors for over 95 years in Australia, providing easy access to asset classes including Australian shares, global equities, fixed income, infrastructure, and property across a range of investment strategies....
Australia’s longest-established listed investment company, Whitefield Industrials Ltd (ASX: WHF) completes its 100th year of continuous operation in March 2023. Australian Foundation Investment Company (95 years of operation) (ASX: AFI) and Argo Investments (77 years of operation) (ASX: ARG) have similar extensive histories. The benefits to investors of durable, long-lasting investment funds can potentially be significant, in Whitefield’s opinion....