Plato Income Maximiser Limited

Plato Income Maximiser Limited (PL8) is an Australian Listed Investment Company (LIC) listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) with the ticker code PL8. Established in 2017, PL8 focuses on actively managing a diversified portfolio of Australian shares, primarily in the large-cap segment. The company's investment strategy places a strong emphasis on generating income for investors.

PL8 operates with an externally managed structure, with Plato Investment Management Limited overseeing the investment process and portfolio management.

Plato Income Maximiser Limited (PL8) has been operating for six years since its listing in 2017. While relatively young compared to some other LICs, PL8 has established itself as a notable participant in the LIC landscape.

Currently, Plato Income Maximiser Limited has a market capitalisation of approximately $700 million, demonstrating its presence as a substantial LIC in the Australian market, with a focus on generating income for investors.

When assessing Plato Income Maximiser Limited (PL8) as an investment option, it's essential to consider these key metrics:

• Long-term performance: Evaluate PL8's long-term performance and its ability to deliver strong, positive, risk-adjusted returns to investors over the long term (5+ years).
• Income focus: Understand PL8's primary objective of generating annual income (including franking credits) through its actively managed, diversified portfolio of Australian shares.
• Monthly dividends: Take into account PL8's commitment to providing monthly dividends, which can be attractive to investors seeking a dependable income stream.
• Fees: Consider the cost of investing in PL8. The Management Expense Ratio (MER) for PL8 is calculated at 0.94% in th emost recent financial year.

These metrics help provide a comprehensive picture of Plato Income Maximiser Limited's investment approach and its potential benefits for investors.

A Listed Investment Company (LIC) is one type of investment fund structure (i.e. shareholder funds pooled together and invested together, either actively by a manager, or passively). Other types of investment funds include Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) (which can be both actively managed or passive), Listed Investment Trusts, or Managed Funds.

The different structures have their own positives and negatives, which are dependent on the goals of the investor and their own individual investment structure.

Some of the benefits of the LIC structure (the structure of PL8) include:

• It's a closed-end investment vehicle: Meaning the manager has a fixed pool of capital to invest with a long-term mindset, and doesn't have the risk of fast redemptions by investors in a time of market panic.
• They can smoothen out income to the investors: Which can be beneficial for both tax efficiency and emotional mindset, due to being able to retain profits over time (as compared to the trust structure, which must distribute income and crystallized capital gains to the investor in that financial year).
• The income will most likely be in the form of fully franked dividends: Which is an attractive form for Australian retirees due to the franking system in Australia. Since LICs are companies themselves and pay tax in Australia on profits, they receive franking credits paid on the tax they pay, in addition to the franking credits they receive from their investment portfolio. Well-managed LICs ensure their franking credit reserves are sufficient to pay future fully franked dividends (see 'franking reserves' chart above).