The company invests in a diversified portfolio of global infrastructure securities, consisting of an actively managed, diversified set of global listed infrastructure securities and global infrastructure fixed-income securities, diversified by country and sub-sector.
http://www.argoinfrastructure.com.au/
Transportation – Toll Roads, Airports, Marine Ports, Railroads
Energy – Transport, Storage, Gathering & Processing, Renewables
Utilities – Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities, Water
Communications – Wireless Towers, Satellites
It’s an Aussie LIC; Argo (ARG) in Australia manages the back office, receives a fee but the portfolio is run by Cohen & Steers, a NYSE listed company specialising in global real assets management.
Infrastructure assets were named as a contributing factor to the performance differentials between some super funds. There are barriers to investing in unlisted infrastructure assets, such as illiquidity, but other strategies are seen to deliver similar outcomes over the long term which are readily accessible to investors at both the institutional and individual level.
Global listed infrastructure is one example. With the benefit of diversification and high liquidity, this asset class has experienced a large take-up by investors globally. Recent Morningstar data shows that allocations to infrastructure within multi-asset funds has grown by around 400 per cent over the past five years.
Jason Beddow, managing director of Argo Global Listed Infrastructure, says fiscal constraints in Western countries are creating opportunity. “Governments worldwide need to invest heavily in infrastructure to keep up with population growth but most do not have the balance sheet, so are encouraging private capital. The long-term outlook for global infrastructure has never been stronger.”
Beddow says global infrastructure suits investors who are overexposed to Australian shares and property. “You’re getting diversified exposure to ports, water, utilities, telecommunication towers, electricity generators and other assets, across developed and emerging countries. Chosen well, global infrastructure should provide a mix of yield and growth, with lower volatility.”
So….
For the half-year to 31 December 2019, the portfolio delivered a total return of +6.5%, more than double the +3.1% delivered by the Australian equity market.
A 3c ff dividend announced
Argo Infrastructure’s share price has also performed very strongly, returning +32.5% over the 2019 calendar year, which significantly improved the share price discount to NTA from -15.7% to -7.8%. The discount has narrowed further since then and the share price recently achieved a record high of $2.68
And a pro-rata entilement issue, 1:6 at $2.25 with top up, and book close 20 Feb (still open)
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