We drag the microscope over 3 investment fund options listed on the ASX.
Should every well-rounded portfolio have at least one of these guys within it?
If you're looking for instant diversification, it's more than likely a listed investment company will provide you with just that.
Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX: PNI)
Shares in emerging financial services company Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd are up 8.2% to $5.14 at the time of writing after a successful 12 months of share price rises in the can from just $2.30 at this time last year – a rise of 129%.
Pinnacle is attracting plenty of attention for its booming growth profile with its first-half results reporting an increase of funds under management (FUM) of 21.9% from $26.5 billion at June 30, 2017 to $32.3 billion at December 31, 2017.
Shareholders have been kept happy with a fully-franked interim dividend of 4.6c per share paid out on March 9, with $7.7 million in total being paid out to shareholders by Pinnacle.
Pinnacle was formerly Wilsons Group Limited with its three core businesses remaining intact after its name changing, specialising in capital markets, wealth management and business investments.
One to consider if you're after a lesser-known investment company for your stock list.
Argo Investments Limited (ASX: ARG)
At the larger end of the scale is Australian market investment company Argo Investments Limited – a $5.6 billion market cap company with zero debt, but some volatility in its share price in the last year at least.
Argo's shares were up slightly to $7.92 at the time of writing, after a period of decline from late January highs of $8.40.
Argo's Top 20 investments as at April 30 2018 include Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP).
The internal management structure of Argo means operating costs are kept low, with costs for the year ended June 30 2017 totalling 0.16% of average assets at market value.
Its 2018 interim dividend was 15.5c per share, fully-franked.
After being in the game since 1946 Argo surely knows what it's doing by now and is one to consider for investors seeking an investment company within Australia's top 100 listed companies.
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)
Investment house stalwart Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd give their investors exposure to a diverse portfolio of assets across a range of industries with share price graphs showing its share price on a steady incline over the past 6 months to reach today's price of $19.45.
Soul Patts share reached 52-week highs earlier this month when its price zoomed to $19.60 on May 3 as investors responded to March reports of a first-half profit lift of 19.4% to $139.3 million due in part to great results from its investment in burgeoning telco TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM).
Soul Patts also saw an increase of 97.4% in its investment in New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) with New Hope shares up 0.4% at the time of writing to $2.29 as favourable coal prices gave the coal, oil and gas company a boost.
One to watch as TPG asserts itself in the telco market with the advent of 5G in coming months, with Soul Patts more speculative stocks in companies such as Bingo Industries Ltd (ASX: BIN) also providing potential for decent earnings growth in the medium-term.
