Plato’s retiree income funds get new ratings
Plato Investment Management’s income solutions, the Plato Income Maximiser (PL8) and the Plato Global Shares Income Fund have received three new ratings from IIR, Lonsec and Zenith.
PL8 earned a “recommended plus” rating from IIR while the Global Shares Income Fund received an “investment grade” and “approved” ratings from Lonsec and Zenith, respectively.
Plato stressed that both funds offered to pay monthly income, with PL8 being the first Australian listed investment company (LIC) that offered the potential of monthly dividends.
In its review, IIR praised Plato for meeting its objective of “providing retirees with a high, stable (in real terms), relatively predictable, and frequent level of income over the longer term”.
Plato’s managing director, Don Hamson said his firm prioritised regular and sustainable dividend payments, as it understood the challenges faced by self-funded retirees.
“With the big four banks facing headwinds and Telstra cutting its dividend 30 per cent, retirees are increasingly looking further afield for income,” he said.
“There are over 650 overseas companies currently paying dividend yields over four per cent a year in developed markets. You just need to know where to look.”
According to a 2017 Plato survey, which confirmed that generating income was the number one priority for pension phase investors and their advisers, found that 29 per cent of respondents expected income greater than seven per cent from their portfolios, followed by 21 per cent of respondents expecting between six to seven per cent and 29 per cent expecting between five and six per cent.
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