June Report & Dividend Announcement

• The Portfolio returned 3% for the month as global markets shrugged off economic uncertainty to record strong gains for the month
• The total Portfolio return for the financial year was 20.2%
• Biotech holding Abcam soared on the news that it had received multiple acquisition inquiries
• Positive corporate developments led the portfolio to initiate a new position in Estee Lauder
• PIA announces an 11th consecutive fully-franked quarterly dividend

Top Holdings (alphabetically)

Alphabet Inc

United States

Communication Services

Alphabet Inc. operates as a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, provides web-based search, advertisements, maps, software applications, mobile operating systems, consumer content, enterprise solutions, commerce, and hardware products.

Amazon

United States

Consumer Discretionary

Amazon.com, Inc. is an online retailer that offers a wide range of products. The Company products include books, music, computers, electronics and numerous other products. Amazon offers personalized shopping services, Web-based credit card payment, and direct shipping to customers. Amazon also operates a cloud platform offering services globally.

AMETEK Inc

United States

Industrials

AMETEK, Inc. is a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices. The Company manufactures advanced instruments for process, aerospace, power, and industrial markets and is a supplier of electrical interconnects, specialty metals, technical motors and systems, and floor care and specialty motors.

Bank Central Asia Tbk PT

Indonesia

Financials

PT Bank Central Asia Tbk provides banking and related services. The Bank also provides custodianship, trusteeship, and management of pension funds of financial institutions. Through its subsidiaries, the Bank also provides leasing and consumer financing services.

Danaher

United States

Health Care

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial and commercial products, and services in the sectors of test and measurement, environmental, life sciences, dental, and industrial technologies.

Deere & Co

United States

Industrials

Deere & Company manufactures and distributes a range of agricultural, construction, forestry, and commercial and consumer equipment. The Company supplies replacement parts for its own products and for those of other manufacturers. Deere also provides product and parts financing services. Deere and Company extends its services and products worldwide.

Meta Platforms Inc

United States

Communication Services

Meta Platforms, Inc. operates as a social technology company. The Company builds applications and technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. Meta Platform is also involved in advertisements, augmented, and virtual reality.

Microsoft

United States

Information Technology

Microsoft Corporation develops, manufactures, licenses, sells, and supports software products. The Company offers operating system software, server application software, business and consumer applications software, software development tools, and Internet and intranet software. Microsoft also develops video game consoles and digital music entertainment devices.

Schneider Electric SE

France

Industrials

Schneider Electric SE manufactures electrical power products. The Company offers car chargers, home security goods, light switches, access control, sensors, valves, circuit breakers, cables, accessories, signaling devices, fuse, motor starters, and voltage transformers. Schneider Electric serves customers worldwide.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc

United States

Health Care

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated discovers, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products. The Company develops drugs for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, cancer, inflammatory bowel, autoimmune disease, and neurological disorders. Vertex Pharmaceuticals serves healthcare sector worldwide.

Market Review

Global share markets rose this month, with all sectors and major regions recording positive performance. In the US, the Federal Reserve paused its rate-hiking campaign, while simultaneously suggesting that two more hikes of 0.25% later in the year may still be necessary. Monetary conditions in other parts of the world continued to tighten, however, with the European Central Bank increasing its main interest rate to address persistent regional inflation.

Meanwhile, China’s central bank—facing a stalled economic rebound—chose to loosen its key lending rates, and the Bank of Japan maintained its ultra-accommodative policy despite signs of nascent inflation. Commodities rebounded substantially in mid-June; however, this resurgence lost steam, primarily due to increasing apprehensions about the health of the Chinese economy.

Portfolio Comment

Our Health Care holdings continued to outperform, with UK-based biotechnology company Abcam up over 50% on the month as the company announced that it had received acquisition inquiries from multiple parties.

Following a very strong run this year, and boosted by investor optimism surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) in May, some of our Information Technology (IT) holdings including US chip design software company Synopsys and US tech giant Alphabet gave back some gains in June.

We initiated a new position in US-based cosmetics company Estée Lauder. The company has recently opened a state-of-the-art R&D centre in Shanghai and announced plans to open its first Asian manufacturing plant in Japan in 2023. These actions, coupled with Estée Lauder’s continued strength in product innovation and consumer brand appeal, should help it overcome its severe inventory glut in products sold at travel hubs in China and South Korea and sustain long-term growth. Previously, the company’s US-centric R&D and manufacturing footprint led to a long and inflexible supply chain for Asia that complicated its ability to address its excess inventory problems.

Dividend Announcement

A unique vehicle delivering stable, fully-franked quarterly dividends, from a diversified portfolio of global equity investments.

In today’s newsletter, we are once again pleased to announce PIA’s next dividend for shareholders, and the final dividend for the 2023 financial year.

The fully franked dividend of 1.35 cents per share will be paid on 15 September 2023 to shareholders on the register on 1 August 2023.

The June 2023 dividend will be the 11th dividend paid since the introduction of quarterly dividends in January 2021.

In January 2021, the PIA board announced the addition of a quarterly dividend target to the Company’s mandate. Since that time, 10 quarterly dividends have been paid, delivering fully franked dividends from a unique base of quality growth investments to Australian investors.

Over the last few months, PIA has published a number of pieces highlighting the underlying investment risks facing Australian dividend investors, who rely on a concentrated pool of Australian businesses to deliver franked dividends from their portfolios for their income.

PIA’s unique positioning as a dividend-focussed global and ethically screened listed investment company (LIC) delivers an ever-increasing tailwind for the Company to play an important role in the portfolios of Australian income investors over the coming periods.

PIA currently expects to announce its annual results to the ASX on 21 August 2023.