WAM Active’s operating profit down
WAM Active Limited has reported a lower operating profit for the half year period, ended in December, due to the change of the investment portfolio between the periods.
At the end of that period, the company's operating profit before tax stood at $1.78 million compared to $3.6 million a year ago, and its operating profit after tax dropped to $1.3 million from $2.6 million at the end of 2015.
Its investment portfolio increased 7.4 per cent against 14.4 per cent growth during the first six months of 2015.
WAM Active's chairman, Geoff Wilson said: "The 7.4 per cent increase in the investment portfolio was achieved with an average 29 per cent cash weighting".
The company also said it would pay a fully interim dividend of 2.75 cents per share and this represented an annualised fully franked dividend yield of 4.7 per cent.
WAM's investment team said it remained positive in terms of the equities market for 2017.
WAM chief investment officer, Chris Stott, said: "Even with a slightly more positive outlook it is worth noting we are in the mature stages of an eight-year bull market that is showing signs of fatigue".
"Traditionally the quality of new IPOs [initial public offerings] is generally highest at the start of the bull market cycle and, as we near the end of the current cycle, the quality of new company floats is generally diminishing," he said.
"Looking ahead, we expect the market will continue to be heavily influenced by global events and despite our generally positive new, we anticipate further volatility given the high degree of uncertainty surrounding the implementation of President Trump's election policies."
AUTHOR
Oksana Patron
Recommended for you
Janus Henderson is actively seeking to partner with private wealth firms in Australia as it looks to expand its number of strategic partnerships, as well as focus on retirement income product development.
Global investment manager First Sentier Investors has launched an umbrella brand to provide greater clarity around its shift to a multi-affiliate asset manager encompassing six investment teams.
Janus Henderson has seen intermediary outflows in the second quarter of US$1.2 billion, although its deal with insurer Guardian means overall net flows are US$46.7 billion.
Infrastructure assets are well-positioned to hedge against global uncertainty and can enhance the diversification of traditional portfolios with their evergreen characteristics, an investment chief believes.
