Frequently Asked Questions

As an independent fund manager, co-owned by members of the staff, we manage your money (and ours) to create wealth. We attempt to achieve systematic absolute returns; in the past our long-term returns have been better than most world-wide, but the future will tell...

Platinum has an independent and different style of investment management, which is driven by a thematic stock picking approach. The disposition of a fund’s assets is determined largely by the availability of companies regarded as undervalued by Platinum, rather than by macro-economic modelling (so-called “top down” asset allocation) or by reference to recognised share index weightings (so-called “benchmarking”).

Platinum’s products can be used as stand-alone investment options for international exposure or may be used to complement the investment styles of other managers. Find out more about Platinum’s approach to investing here.

Like starting a business, there is "always a better time". The real questions are how you identify it and when you get started.

Platinum Investment Management Limited (ABN 25 063 565 006 AFSL 221935) (Platinum) is the responsible entity and the investment manager for the Platinum Trust Funds, the Platinum Global Fund, the Platinum International Fund (Quoted Managed Fund) (ASX code: PIXX) and the Platinum Asia Fund (Quoted Managed Fund) (ASX code: PAXX). Platinum is also the investment manager to Platinum Capital Limited (ASX code: PMC), Platinum Asia Investments Limited (ASX code: PAI), MLC Platinum Global Fund and Platinum World Portfolios PLC.

Platinum is wholly owned by Platinum Asset Management Limited, a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ticker code: PTM). Platinum staff have relevant interests in the majority of PTM’s issued shares.

Platinum was founded in 1994 and launched its first funds in June 1994. Three of the four founding members of the investment team continue to serve clients by investing. Members of the investment team have on average been with the firm for more than six years while the ten portfolio managers’ average tenure with the firm is 14 years (current as of 30 June 2017). Find out more about the team here.

Many Platinum employees, including key members of the investment team, have co-invested their personal money in Platinum’s investment products alongside our clients. There has been a clear alignment of management and employee interests with those of our investors since the firm’s inception.

Platinum seeks a broad range of companies with prices that are well below what we perceive to be their intrinsic value. However, shares selling below their intrinsic value are not confined to those with low price-to-earnings (P/E) or low price-to-book (P/B) ratios. A company's growth prospects are an important element of a company's intrinsic value.

We have a methodology for identifying such companies, which has been tested and refined over decades. That is why at Platinum we simply regard ourselves as stock pickers, and do not allow ourselves to be restricted by conventional labels such as “value investing” or “growth strategy”.

Platinum does not regard itself as a hedge fund manager. While some of our products permit short-selling, we tend to only partially hedge our portfolio holdings with short positions and will generally have net long exposure of 50% or more.

No. Platinum does not engage in active selling (such as cold calling) to market its products or services. Should you receive any suspicious marketing call, we recommend that you contact the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on 1300 300 630.

Fund	ARSN	APIR Code
Platinum International Fund – C Class	089 528 307	PLA0002AU
Platinum International Fund – P Class		PLA8968AU
Platinum Unhedged Fund – C Class	123 939 471	PLA0006AU
Platinum Unhedged Fund – P Class		PLA0779AU
Platinum Asia Fund – C Class	104 043 110	PLA0004AU
Platinum Asia Fund – P Class		PLA9999AU
Platinum European Fund – C Class	089 528 594	PLA0001AU
Platinum European Fund – P Class		PLA5576AU
Platinum Japan Fund – C Class	089 528 825	PLA0003AU
Platinum Japan Fund – P Class		PLA2445AU
Platinum International Brands Fund – C Class	092 429 813	PLA0100AU
Platinum International Brands Fund – P Class		PLA2056AU
Platinum International Health Care Fund – C Class	107 023 530	PLA0005AU
Platinum International Health Care Fund – P Class		PLA6965AU
Platinum International Technology Fund – C Class	092 429 555	PLA0101AU
Platinum International Technology Fund – P Class		PLA6044AU
Platinum Global Fund (mFund code: PLM01)	600 630 537	PLA0017AU
Platinum International Fund (Quoted Managed Hedge Fund) (ASX code: PIXX)	620 895 301
Platinum Asia Fund (Quoted Managed Hedge Fund) (ASX code: PAXX)	620 895 427

The Platinum Trust Funds are open for investment to persons receiving the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) in Australia or New Zealand. The PDS has not been registered as an investment offer in any other country.

Applications can be made by:

• individuals (non-superannuation monies), including minors,
• companies,
• trustees (of, for example, superannuation funds, charities, family trusts),
• government bodies,
• incorporated bodies (for example, companies, strata bodies corporate, associations, unions),
• others (for example, partnerships, unincorporated associations, registered co-operatives), and
• Investor Directed Portfolio Services (IDPS), IDPS-like schemes or nominee or custody services (for example, wrap, master trust) where Platinum has entered into an agreement for the Platinum Trust Funds to be offered through the service.

Persons seeking to invest who reside outside of Australia and New Zealand must warrant (on the Application Form) that they have the authorisation to invest under the laws of their country without the offer contained in the PDS being registered with, or otherwise regulated by the regulator of that jurisdiction.

Yes, the Platinum Trust Funds can be accessed via select platforms (wrap accounts or master trusts). If you wish to invest via a platform instead of directly through Platinum, please speak to your financial adviser or contact us for further details.

No, you may not. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued a QFS on this matter, which is reproduced below:

QFS 127
Published 11 November 2003

If a retail client chooses to acquire a financial product, such as an interest in a managed investment scheme, and needs to fill out an application form to do so, what address should the client provide on that application form?
Section 1016A of the Corporations Act 2001 requires that application forms are attached to, accompany or are derived from a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). This is to maximise the likelihood that the PDS has been received and read by the applicant before applying for the product.
Regulation 7.9.74(1) of the Corporations Regulations 2001 provides that the application form must contain the following information:

(a) the applicant's name;

(b) the applicant's date of birth;

(c) the applicant's address.

In ASIC's view, reg 7.9.74(1) is a stand-alone requirement. This means it does not contemplate that the address can be other than the address of the actual applicant. This allows the product issuer to have a means of identifying the applicant. However, the application may also contain room for a separate address for correspondence purposes.
We note it is common practice for some licensees or their representatives to provide their own business address as their client's address. In our view this is not permissible under the regulation.
Our view is consistent with s1015C of the Corporations Act 2001, which stipulates how a PDS is to be 'given' to a client. It provides that a PDS may be given to a person, or the person's agent, but cannot be given to a person's agent if the agent is acting in the capacity of a financial services licensee.
The provision of the licensee's address for correspondence purposes is not prohibited. We note, however, that to comply with good disclosure principles and the law it may be appropriate in some circumstances for disclosure documents and or periodic statements to be sent directly to the purchaser of the product. We therefore suggest that it is preferable for the correspondence address to also be the client's own address, and not the licensee's address.

An mFund product is an unlisted managed fund admitted for settlement through the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and available to investors through the ASX mFund Settlement Service. This service enables investors to buy and sell units in the Platinum Global Fund (mFund code: PLM01) via the same broking services that they ordinarily use to trade shares in ASX-listed companies (via the ASX CHESS platform). This means less paperwork and a more streamlined transaction settlement process than the typical application process associated with investing in an unlisted managed fund.

Please visit the ASX website for further information about the ASX mFund Settlement Service.

Note, however, units in the Platinum Global Fund are bought and sold at the fund’s per-unit net asset value (subject only to the addition of a 0.25% buy/sell spread), not at a market price driven by supply and demand. In addition to transacting through a licensed broker, investors have the alternative option of investing in the Platinum Global Fund directly with Platinum.

The ASX provides a list of the mFund-participating brokers here.

Platinum offers two quoted, actively-managed funds:

• Platinum International Fund (Quoted Managed Fund) (ASX code: PIXX) is an ASX-quoted version of our unlisted flagship fund, the Platinum International Fund (PIF). PIXX will feed into PIF, giving investors access to PIF's portfolio composition, portfolio managers and investment strategies. The returns of PIXX may vary slightly from the returns of PIF due to different cash holdings as well as gains and losses arising as a result of PIXX's market making activities.

• Platinum Asia Fund (Quoted Managed Fund) (ASX code: PAXX) is an ASX-quoted version of our unlisted managed fund, the Platinum Asia Fund (PAF). PAXX will feed into PAF, giving investors access to PAF's portfolio composition, portfolio managers and investment strategies. The returns of PAXX may vary slightly from the returns of PAF due to different cash holdings as well as gains and losses arising as a result of PAXX's market making activities.

PIXX and PAXX are Australian registered managed investment schemes. Their units are quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the AQUA Rules.

PIXX and PAXX offer investors:

• ease of access through licensed brokers without the need to complete the forms and associated paperwork that are typically required for unlisted managed funds, and
• the ability to buy and sell units at any time during ASX trading hours with the knowledge of real-time indicative NAV unit price before placing a trade.

Units in ASX-quoted managed funds trade, clear and settle in the same way as do shares in ASX-listed companies, and therefore can be bought and sold through any licensed stockbroker.

Investors do not need to complete an application form or withdrawal form. There is no requirement of minimum number of units or dollar amount for a trade.

Prices are live and reflect investor demand and supply. However, the market maker will add liquidity during the ASX trading day such that the price at which Platinum may buy and sell units reflects Platinum's view of the net asset value per unit (as referenced by the indicative net asset value (iNAV) per unit), market conditions and supply and demand for the units during the ASX trading day. The iNAV is calculated and updated throughout the ASX trading day, having regard to the underlying fund’s portfolio holdings and foreign exchange movements.

The actual net asset values (NAV) per unit of PIXX are calculated and published each under normal market conditions.

The iNAV and NAV per unit of PIXX are published on Platinum's website (see top of this page).

The actual price at which units in PIXX are traded on the ASX AQUA market may not reflect either the NAV per unit or the iNAV per unit of the fund.

Actively managed quoted funds such as PIXX and PAXX have a unit trust structure and are open-ended, which means that new units are issued and existing units are cancelled based on investor demand and capital flows.

A typical exchange traded fund (ETF) likewise has a trust structure and is open-ended, but is not actively managed. Instead, an ETF tracks a market index.

Listed investment companies (LICs) closed-ended investment vehicles that are established in the form of a company. They do not regularly issue new shares or cancel existing shares, and so their cash flows and hence investment decisions are not impacted by daily fund inflows and outflows (as is the case for managed funds). However, the share price of a LIC can (and often does) differ from the underlying value of the LIC’s portfolio of investments.

Market makers do exactly as their name suggests, i.e. they make markets by matching buy and sell orders for investors that want to trade units in the fund. The market maker provides liquidity to the market by providing quotes throughout the trading day and updating their prices to reflect changes in the underlying securities. Platinum has engaged Deutsche Securities Australia Limited as its market making agent for PIXX and PAXX.

For all fund related enquiries, please contact Platinum.

For enquiries about your holdings in PIXX, please contact the Unit Registry, Link Market Services on +61 1300 554 474 or via registrars@linkmarketservices.com.au.

Link Market Services can provide assistance with the following:

• Update the name or address on the holding


• Provide bank details, DRP, email address or TFN instructions


• Request for forms to be emailed or posted


• Transaction history (as at settlement date)


• Off market transfer & holding merge queries


• Guidance and assistance with the online Link Investor Centre


• Guidance and assistance completing & submitting Link forms


• Statement replacements


• Payment replacements