This Wednesday, the ASX welcomed a new stock to its ranks. This ASX stock is a listed investment company (LIC), the latest from popular LIC provider Wilson Asset Management (WAM). It has debuted with the name of WAM Income Maximiser Ltd (ASX: WMX).
WAM is probably most well-known for its flagship WAM Capital Ltd (ASX: WAM) LIC, which has been on the ASX boards for more than two decades. Over this time, WAM Capital has provided investors with a hefty stream of dividends, which, until recently, usually came with full franking credits attached.
Despite the WAM Capital share price rising just 53.5% since August of 1999 (which works out to be a compounded growth rate of roughly 1.7% per annum), it has remained a common staple of retirees' portfolios ever since.
WAM Capital was Wilson Asset Management's first LIC, but today, the provider offers no fewer than nine LICs. WAM Income Maximiser is the lucky ninth.
Now, WAM initially announced its latest company earlier this year. When the prospectus for WAM Income Maximiser was released, Wilson Asset Management initially sought an initial public offering (IPO) of $510 million through share offers to existing WAM LIC investors. However, Wilson was only able to raise just over $150 million at an initial share price of $1.50.
Today, those shares have made their debut on the public markets. At the time of writing, it has been a successful debut, with the WAM Income Maximiser share price currently up 2.67% at $1.54.
What is WAM Income Maximiser?
So, what exactly does this new LIC from WAM offer investors? Well, as its name implies, this company is an income-focused one. Like most LICs, WAM Income Maximiser will hold a portfolio of underlying assets, which it will manage on behalf of shareholders.
It aims to provide monthly, fully franked dividends to investors by investing in both ASX dividend shares and corporate debt instruments.
We don't have any further details regarding this LIC's portfolio. That's with the exception of a statement from WAM that it is "initially expected to be 60-70% equity and 30-40% debt".
The shares that WAM Income Maximiser will own will reportedly be "selected for their strong capital management and ability to sustain or grow distributions over time, primarily in the form of franked dividends and share buybacks".
Meanwhile, the corporate debt "will focus primarily on investment grade corporate debt, aiming to provide stable income and capital protection to the investment portfolio".
WAM also stated that investors can expect their first dividend in August of this year. Overall, WAM is targeting an income return of 2.5% above the RBA cash rate for the new LIC, including franking.
WAM Income Maximiser will be benchmarked to both the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index (60% of the benchmark) and 1% above the Bloomberg AudBond Bank Bill Index (40%). The company will charge a performance fee of 20% (plus GST) on any returns above that benchmark. That's in addition to the management fee of 0.88% per annum.
No doubt investors will be hoping that WAM Income Maximiser fares better than WAM's last company launch. That was WAM Strategic Value Ltd (ASX: WAR), which, as of today, remains down by 11.2% from its 2021 initial price of $1.25.
