Listed investment company (LIC) Platinum Capital Limited (ASX: PMC) has released its results for the financial year (FY) ending 30 June 2015.
Platinum Capital is managed by leading fund manager Platinum Asset Management Limited (ASX: PTM) and has outperformed its benchmark since inception although it underperformed a strong benchmark in the past 12 months.
Over the past year the pre-tax net asset value (NAV) of the company increased by 17.6% versus a 23.7% gain in the MSCI World Index. Since inception however, Platinum Capital has returned 13.1% versus 6.6%.
The gains take the NAV to $1.70 per share which means the stock is trading at quite a significant premium, when you consider the share price is currently $1.95.
Pleasingly for shareholders the total dividends paid for the year have increased from 8 cents per share (cps) in the prior year to 11 cps in FY 2015 putting the stock on a fully franked dividend yield of 5.6%.
A clever way to gain international exposure to equities
For most investors it is hard enough to outperform the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO), so the challenge of successfully outperforming global markets is rightly off-putting. Having a diversified portfolio with exposure to global stocks is a prudent strategy for many portfolios however.
One simple and clever way to achieve this is via LICs that invest in global equities.
Thankfully the depth of offerings in this space is growing. Alongside Platinum Capital is the soon to be listed Platinum Asia Investment Limited, which will offer investors a specific Asia-focused LIC.
Highly regarded fund manager Geoff Wilson is also putting the finishing touches on a global version of the Future Generation Investment Company Ltd (ASX: FGX) which not only provides shareholders with a low cost entry into a portfolio managed by a selection of top tier fund managers, but the LIC also directs 1% of net assets each year to charities in lieu of management fees.
