Media Release

16-Jun-2008

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Tom Collins
Chairman, Premium Investors Limited

Investors recognise the value of income
Shareholders in Premium Investors Limited have shown a keen interest in the company’s mandate to deliver income in these volatile markets, with a solid turnout to the first of its shareholder briefings held in Sydney and Brisbane this week.

Premium is a listed investment company whose aim is to deliver tax effective income from a global share portfolio. Premium’s Chairman Tom Collins believes recent market volatility has left Shareholders hungry for information and is not surprised that the briefings have attracted a lot of interest.

Premium’s story is topical. With global sharemarkets in the full grip of a bear market, experts are advising investors to return to fundamentals. To many this means focussing on assets with quality income streams, “a strategy employed by Premium, regardless of the state of the market” says Collins.

The income theme has dominated investment research over recent months. Some of the most simple but powerful messages have come out of research completed by members of the Australian Institute of Actuaries.

“The research supports two key principles of investing. First, that income from a share portfolio is significantly more stable than income from a portfolio invested in cash or near cash securities, and second, that the growth in share prices ultimately reflects the growth in the dividends from those shares” says Collins.

“This sort of stuff is the basics of investing, but they are facts that tend to be overlooked by investors in a bull market” he said.

Premium has approximately half its share portfolio invested in Australian listed securities and the balance invested across a range of developed and emerging international markets. The Company adopts a “manage the manager” approach, using a small number of specialist boutique managers to invest the portfolio.

Collins says Premium’s 7000 plus shareholders have benefited from the Company’s diversified portfolio that focuses on investing in companies with a quality income stream.

“It can be a tough story to sell in bull markets, but the Company suddenly becomes attractive when its portfolio value is clearly less volatile than the broader market”says Collins.

Contact: Tom Collins on 0419 240 829