The Perpetual Equity Investment Company (PIC), launched by the fund manager in October 2014, has continued its strong growth with $31.8 million profit for 2016-17.
The LIC also announced it will pay shareholders a final dividend of 2.5 cents per share fully franked, bring the total dividend for the year to 4.7 cents – up 68 per cent on the previous year.
PIC portfolio manager Vince Pezzullo said the portfolio produced returns of 17.4 per cent for shareholders, after management fees and operating expenses, outperforming the fund's benchmark (the S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index) by 3.6 per cent.
Mr Pezzullo said, "The portfolio has delivered strong investment returns against a backdrop of market uncertainty. PIC’s key differentiator in the market – capacity to invest up to 25 per cent of the portfolio in global equities – has the ability to enhance returns and better manage market risk.
"The Australian equity market provides a concentrated exposure to the financials and materials sectors. We believe it’s important to provide investors with genuine diversification outside of this and the opportunity to benefit in global growth sectors such as healthcare and IT, which we have done throughout the year."
The net tangible assets per share of PIC was $1.105 after tax as at 17 August 2017.
