Ausbil expands into active ETF territory

Ausbil Investment Management has expanded access to its Active Dividend Income strategy with a new actively-managed exchange traded fund (ETF) offering made available on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

The $967 million fund, Ausbil Active Dividend Income Fund – Active ETF (DIVI), leverages the fund manager’s stock selection expertise to offer exposure to 25 to 50 listed companies that deliver consistent dividends and franking credits for investors that grow with inflation over time.

“We are excited to officially launch the Ausbil Active Dividend Income Fund as an Active ETF on the ASX,” Mark Knight, Chief Executive Officer of Ausbil, said.

“This milestone marks a significant step in making our income-focused strategies more accessible to more investors.

“By offering an Active ETF, we’re meeting the requests of brokers, financial advisers, SMSFs and mum and dad investors for a more convenient and efficient way to generate regular monthly income from equities, with the potential for additional capital growth.”

The fund provides consistent monthly income by tapping into dividends of Australian companies at the same time as guarding investors’ funds against inflation-driven volatility.

Michael Price, Portfolio Manager of DIVI, said the fund will harness Ausbil’s successful history taking an active approach to stock selection.

“Ausbil’s active management, a rigorous top-down macro and bottom-up fundamental process, and dynamic portfolio positioning provides investors with a solution focused on delivering sustainable monthly income with the benefit of franking credits,” he said.

“With a handful of large banks and resource companies paying the majority of dividends each year, relying solely on these sectors can expose investors to risk if dividends are cut.

“DIVI’s active management approach allows us to diversify beyond the biggest payers, targeting high-quality companies with sustainable dividend growth and offers the resilience to maintain income through changing market conditions.

“This ensures our investors are well-placed to be exposed to quality income opportunities in any market environment.”

Since the underlying fund first launched in 2018, DIVI has returned 9.18 per cent per annum (net of fees) to investors, outperforming the benchmark – the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index – by 0.2 per cent per annum.