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 investments in international markets;
To maintain an investment policy which 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;
To have a base policy position of 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;
To have the allocation at market values of broadly:
a. Developed Countries – 50 to 65%
b. Developing Countries – up to 25%
c. Specific industries not easily available in Australia – 20 to 35%
To monitor the international investments at each Board meeting although 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 2024

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 2024 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	11.1	7.8	12.1
3 Years	6.0	2.8	6.4
5 Years	7.1	6.7	7.3
10 Years	8.3	7.7	8.1

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), Chairman Emeritus of The Ian Potter Foundation Limited (having been Governor 1987 – 2024, Chairman 1994 – 2024) and Chairman Emeritus of Flagstaff Partners (having been Chairman 2010 – 2019).

Mr Goode was formerly Chairman of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (Director 1991 – 2010, Chairman 1996 – 2010) and Chairman of Woodside Petroleum Limited (Director 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 from 2009 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) and Chairman of the Foundation for Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne (since 2010).

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 Executive 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 Tokyo Stock Exchange listed Nippon Paint Holdings Co Ltd (since 2025). He was previously CEO and Managing Director of IXOM, was a Non-Executive Director of ASX listed DuluxGroup Ltd and has held senior corporate strategy roles in Orica Ltd and North Ltd. He has been involved in mergers, acquisitions and divestments as well as corporate advisory for over 30 years. He is Chairman of the Company’s Audit and Risk Management Committee.

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.