About – DUI

About Us

History

Diversified United Investment Limited (DUI) is a listed investment company which invests in Australian listed and international equities. DUI was founded in 1991 by The Ian Potter Foundation, Australian United Investment Company Limited and the Myer family.

Objectives

DUI’s investment objectives are:

To create and maintain a diversified portfolio of quality Australian companies, primarily through shares listed on the ASX and an investment in international markets;
The investment policy is based on a medium to long-term view of providing income and capital appreciation;
To review the portfolio to monitor and reduce risks and identify market opportunities as they arise; and
To provide dividend income to shareholders which is sustainable over the long-term, maintaining full franking when possible.

Process

DUI takes a disciplined approach to investing by utilising the wealth of experience of its Board of Directors. The investment portfolio is actively managed and maintained through regular meetings with investee companies, critical assessment of external research and by employing the extensive industry knowledge and expertise of its Board.

DUI is a long-term investor. When assessing whether an investment is appropriate for the Australian portfolio, factors which are considered include:

Industry outlook;
Position of the company in its industry;
Earnings Per Share (EPS) growth potential;
Yield and franking;
Management strength and alignment with shareholder returns;
Balance sheet strength; and
Environment, Social and Governance (ESG).

DUI’s international portfolio policy is as follows:

To make investments in managed international funds of 15% to 25% of the portfolio;
The base policy position is to have an unhedged currency exposure which is reviewed from time to time. Currency hedging could be undertaken in normal circumstances up to a maximum of 50% of the exposure. There could be higher hedging where very strong views are held;
The allocation at market value to be broadly:
a. Developed Countries – 50 to 60%
b. Developing Countries – up to 25%
c. Specific industries not easily available in Australia – 20 to 30%
The international investments are monitored at each Board meeting, but they are considered long-term strategic investments.

DUI is internally managed, allowing us to keep costs low and to maintain a low management expense ratio (MER). No performance fees are charged. Expenses are deducted before declaration of dividends.

Performance

The following graph shows the accumulation performance of the Company’s net asset backing (before provision for tax on unrealised gains) and the Company’s share price performance, assuming in both cases that all dividends were reinvested, and the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index, over the last ten years.

DUI Accumulated Investment Return vs S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index

(Excluding the Benefit of Franking Credits)

10 Years to 30 June 2023

Source: Evans and Partners

The following graph shows the Company’s historical share price.

The Company’s performance in recent years (assuming all dividends were reinvested) to 30 June 2023 is as follows:

	DUI Net Asset Backing Accumulation	DUI Share Price Accumulation	S&P/ASX200 Accumulation Index
	% p.a.	% p.a.	% p.a.
1 Year	12.3	10.5	14.8
3 Years	10.0	8.6	11.1
5 Years	7.2	7.3	7.2
10 Years	9.1	9.3	8.6

Board and Management

Charles Goode AC

B.Com (Hons) (Melb), MBA (Columbia), Hon LLD (Melb), Hon LLD (Mon)

Non‑executive Chairman, appointed September 1991

Mr Goode is the Chairman of the Board of Australian United Investment Company Limited (Director since 1990, Chairman since 1993) and is Chairman Emeritus of The Ian Potter Foundation Limited (having been Governor 1987 – 2024, Chairman 1994 – 2024) and Flagstaff Partners (having been Chairman 2010 – 2019).

Mr Goode was formerly a director of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (1991 – 2010, Chairman 1996 – 2010) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (1988 – 2007, Chairman 1999 – 2007).

Anthony Burgess

B.Com (Hons) (Melb), MBA (Dist’n) (Harvard), CPA, FFIN

Non-Executive Director, appointed September 2008

Mr Burgess has over 40 years’ experience in corporate finance in Melbourne, London and New York. He is co-founder and Chairman of Flagstaff Partners Pty Ltd, an independent corporate finance advisory firm, having been Chief Executive Officer 2010 to 2019. He was formerly Global Co-Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Deutsche Bank AG, based in London. He is a Governor of The Ian Potter Foundation Limited (since 2013), Chairman of the Foundation for Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne (since 2010), a Director of Melbourne Business School Limited (since 2013) and is a member of the Board of Management of the Melbourne Theatre Company (since 2015).

Stephen Hiscock

B.Com (Melb), M.App.Fin (Macq), FFIN

Non-Executive Director, appointed November 2011
Lead Independent Director, appointed November 2022

Mr Hiscock is Chairman and a founding shareholder of SG Hiscock & Company Ltd (SGH), a fund manager specialising in Australian Equities, REITs and Individually Managed Portfolios. Prior to setting up SGH, Mr Hiscock was Chief Investment Officer, National Asset Management Ltd (NAM), a subsidiary of National Australia Bank Ltd and he was also the Chairman of their Asset Allocation Committee. Prior to that he was the Head of NAM’s Australian Equities team (for 5 years) and the Head of NAM’s Property Team. He is the Chairman of the Company’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

Andrew Larke

LLB (Melb), B.Com (Melb), Grad Dip (Corporations & Securities Law) (Melb)

Non-Executive Director, appointed March 2015

Mr Larke is Chairman of L1 Long Short Fund Ltd (since 2018) and of IXOM (a leading Australasian chemicals business), and is a Non-Executive Director of DuluxGroup Ltd (since 2010). Formerly he held senior corporate strategy roles in Orica Ltd and North Ltd and has been involved in mergers, acquisitions and divestments as well as corporate advisory for approximately 30 years. He is Chairman of the Company’s Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Andrew Sisson AO

BSc (Melb), FAICD

Non-Executive Director, appointed April 2022

Mr Sisson has over 40 years investment management experience and in 1988 founded Balanced Equity Management to manage portfolios of Australian shares. He is a director of Opera Australia (since 2017), a trustee of the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust (since 2020), and a member of the Council of the University of Melbourne (since 2020) and of the Grattan Institute Investment Committee (since 2010). He has previously been a Trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria, a Director of Save the Children Australia and a member of the Takeovers Panel.

James Pollard

B.BusCom (Mon), Grad Cert FP (Kaplan), FGIA, CA

Company Secretary, appointed February 2020

Mr Pollard is also a Company Secretary of Australian United Investment Company Ltd (since 2020), and has over a decade of experience in accounting, taxation and private wealth advisory.