Business Description:
Platinum Asset Management Limited (PTM) is a non-operating holding company of Platinum Investment Management Limited, which is an Australian based fund manager specializing in investing in international equities and trading as Platinum Asset Management (Platinum). Currently, 11% of Platinum’s investors are in New Zealand, Europe, America and Asia.

Strategy Analysis:
PTM focuses on managing clients´ money with the objective of achieving good returns over the long-term while managing risk through hedging. It emphasises out of favour stocks and sectors from around the world, searching for deep value. Prudent management of funds sees steady growth while avoiding the full brunt of market crashes, leading to outperformance of benchmarks over the long-term. PTM seeks a broad range of companies whose businesses and growth prospects are inappropriately valued by the market. Analysts are expected to take a global perspective with PTM stressing its aim is absolute performance. PTM actively manages its portfolio and takes positions in currencies, as well as specific equities. Existing mandates in most funds allow for shorting and the use of derivatives in order to get the best value from any given investment idea. As a boutique fund manager, PTM has a focus on product differentiation. Platinum Asset Management reported NPAT up 9.65% to $150.06m for the year ended 30 June 2011. This increase is primarily attributed to an increase in management fees of 9%. The increase in profits was largely driven by the average daily FUM of the Platinum Trust Funds, which were up 10%. Revenue from ordinary activities was $264.62m, up 6.55% from last year. Diluted EPS was 26.32 cents compared to 23.33 cents last year. Net operating cash flow was $152.48m compared to $156.34m last year. The final dividend declared was 15 cents, taking the full year dividend to 25 cents compared with 20 cents last year. The company advised that current volatility in global investment markets and the competitive landscape makes it difficult to forecast what will happen to investment fees and profits in the next year.