Packer and Co return $70m
WA's biggest locally managed investment fund has parlayed winning bets on offshore equities into a record return of nearly $70 million to unitholders.
Financial results filed with the corporate regulator by Willy Packer's Packer & Co Investigator Trust show its dividend for 2013-14 was more than triple that of the previous year, despite a reduced annual profit.
The $68.5 million payout, up from $17.3 million earlier, was shared among Investigator's growing investor base in Perth's western suburbs in late July.
It was supported by a $150.2 million profit for the year to June 30, down from $173.2 million for 2012-13 on Investigator's lower investment return of 18.6 per cent, though the fund still beat the all ordinaries accumulation index.
A rush of inflows over the past two years has contributed to a near-doubling of funds under management, which breached $1 billion for the first time in the December half. More than $200 million of new applications were accepted in 2013-14.
At June 30 and before the latest distribution, Investigator had $1.07 billion under management, up from $753 million previously.
The fund is almost fully invested offshore, predominantly in global brands, including FedEx, Colgate, Nestle, Goldman Sachs, Facebook, Google and Heineken, with North America accounting for nearly 67 per cent of the portfolio.
The group finished the financial year by topping up with shares in Russian energy companies Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil. It now has nearly 20 per cent of its portfolio invested in oil and gas, including Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Chesapeake Energy.
Investigator counts just two Australian companies, Tap Oil and cancer therapy company Circadian Technologies, in the 44-stock portfolio.
The overseas weighting reflects Packer & Co's concerns about the still-high Australian dollar, the legacy of wages growth during the mining boom and China's faltering growth
