STATE Opposition leader Ted Baillieu has offloaded some of his major shareholdings, including his stake in a company at the heart of his family's business empire, in an apparent bid to avert a Labor smear campaign ahead of this year's election.
An examination of corporate records by The Age shows that Mr Baillieu has transferred his long-standing stake in the family company Mutual Trust Pty Ltd to his brother and company director Ian Baillieu.
Mutual Trust has also been deleted from the parliamentary register of interests, along with potentially sensitive holdings in companies including Woolworths, a major owner of poker machines in Victoria.
But as he did during the 2006 campaign, Mr Baillieu continues to resist pressure, including from within the Liberal Party, to fully distance himself from his personal financial affairs by establishing a blind trust.
Instead, Mr Baillieu insists, as he did in 2006, that a third party manager now looks after his affairs. He has again refused to identify the manager or detail how this arrangement works.
Questioned last night, Mr Baillieu's office would only offer that his shareholdings were "externally managed" and that "investment decisions are not made by Mr Baillieu".
However, for the first time Mr Baillieu confirmed that Mutual Trust did not provide the third-party management role.
Mutual Trust was set up by members of Mr Baillieu's grandfather's generation to provide financial services to the clan. It now provides services to a wider group of wealthy Melburnians.
Last night Mr Baillieu did not respond to repeated questions about his reasons for selling out of Mutual Trust.
The company was a political headache for him during the 2006 campaign and is again in Labor's sights. The Age understands Labor has hired corporate sleuths to probe Mr Baillieu's business arrangements, especially in Mutual Trust.
In 2006 Labor dubbed Mr Baillieu the "Toff from Toorak" and made much of his family fortune and extensive personal shareholdings, then valued at $3.8 million.
Labor has recently started an undeclared "class war" claiming it looks after working classes while the Liberals represent the rich and is again intent on making the Baillieu family finances a target.
Legislation now before Parliament nicknamed the Baillieu Bill proposes a string of changes to financial disclosure requirements for MPs that appear aimed at the Opposition Leader. The changes include requiring MPs to detail not only shares but the number held in each company to ensure conflicts of interest are avoided, and that MPs "devote their time and talents to carrying out their public duties".
Labor is also planning a campaign claiming that Mr Baillieu would be a "part-time premier" because his many business interests would divert him from government duties and leave him with constant conflict-of-interest dilemmas in cabinet.
At one point in 2006 Mr Baillieu held shares in 44 companies. Since then his portfolio has shrunk to 31 companies, as of April this year.
The current value of Mr Baillieu's share portfolio is unclear. But the extended Baillieu family routinely makes the annual BRW Rich List, and for 2010 was valued at $453 million, up from $280 million five years ago. The list takes in the wider Baillieu fortune, to which Ted Baillieu has only limited claim.
He has often been reported as having an interest in the lucrative Eynesbury housing development West of Melbourne. But Mr Baillieu has neither a direct nor indirect stake in the project and last night a spokesman insisted that he had never, and would never, earn a cent from it.
Mr Baillieu owns properties in Hawthorn and Richmond and is a part owner of properties in Red Hill and Sorrento.
He refused to comment on Labor's class war campaign. But National Party leader Peter Ryan issued a statement in his defence. "Ted Baillieu is a man of great integrity and decency. He cares about Victorians and wants to improves their lives," Mr Ryan said.
"John Brumby lives in the past with endless excuses, bitter 1950s class war division, corruption, incompetence and muckraking all around him.
"With his new class war campaign, John Brumby is trying to divide and destroy the harmonious social fabric of our community."
BAILLIEUS SHRINKING SHAREHOLDINGS
DECLARED SHAREHOLDINGS 2009
Aconex
Alumina
Allianz Little
Dragons Fund
ANZ
ASX
Bank of
Queesnland
BHP Billiton
Bluescope Steel
Camberwell
- Surrey Hill
Community
Finance Ltd
Bendigo Bank
CBA
Computershare
CSL
CSR
DBF Holdings
DUI
Envestra
Fosters Brewing
Group
Hawthorn Glen
IOOF
NAB
Newcrest Mining
Newscorp
Onesteel
Osmiridium
Perpetual Trustees
RIO Tinto
Telstra
Transfield Services
Wesfarmers
Westfield
Westpac
DELETED FROM
REGISTER 2007
DCA Group
Denehurst
Stadium Aust Trust
Rimfire Films
ADDED TO
REGISTER 2007
Australian Wealth
Management
AMP
Computershare
Coates Hire
Oxiana
Envestra
Paperlinx
Plantinum Asset
Management
Transfield Services
DELETED FROM
REGISTER 2008
AMP
AXA
Challenger Financial
Coates Hire
Coles Myer
Futuris Corporation
Paperlinx
Mayne Pharma
Rinker
Plantinum Asset
Management
St George Bank
Symbion Health
Telstra
The Australian Gas Light Co
Woolworths
ADDED TO
REGISTER 2008
Oz Minerals
DELETED FROM
REGISTER 2009
Aust Wealth Management
Envestra
Global Mining Investments
Magmen Holdings
Mutual Trust Pty
Oxiana
Oz Minerals
ADDED TO
REGISTER 2009
Allianz Little Dragons Fund
Bank of Queesnland
CSL
IOOF
Telstra
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
What happened to Ted Baillieu’s stake in Mutual Trust and why does it matter to investors?
According to reporting in The Age, Ted Baillieu transferred his long-standing stake in the family company Mutual Trust Pty Ltd to his brother Ian Baillieu and Mutual Trust was removed from the parliamentary register of interests. For investors, transfers like this are noteworthy because they can change reported ownership, affect perceived conflicts of interest, and prompt scrutiny of how holdings are managed or disclosed.
Does Ted Baillieu use a blind trust to manage his shareholdings?
No — the article says Mr Baillieu has resisted setting up a blind trust. He states his shareholdings are 'externally managed' and that a third-party manager now looks after his affairs, but he has refused to identify that manager or detail how the arrangement operates. He also confirmed that Mutual Trust did not provide that third-party management role.
How can changes to the parliamentary register of interests affect everyday investors?
Changes to a politician’s parliamentary register — such as companies being added or deleted — affect transparency around conflicts of interest. For everyday investors, clearer registers and disclosure rules can help you understand potential policy biases, assess political risk for companies, and make more informed investment decisions when politicians have business links to listed firms.
What is the so‑called 'Baillieu Bill' and why should investors care about it?
The article describes proposed legislation nicknamed the 'Baillieu Bill' that would tighten financial disclosure requirements for MPs. It proposes requiring MPs to list not only which companies they hold shares in but the number of shares, and to ensure MPs devote their time to public duties. Investors should watch such rules because stronger disclosure can change public scrutiny of business ties and influence political risk for companies tied to prominent figures.
Could political scrutiny of a politician’s business interests affect listed companies like Woolworths or others mentioned?
Yes. The article notes potentially sensitive holdings — including Woolworths, a major owner of poker machines in Victoria — were deleted from the register. When politicians’ ties to particular companies attract attention, it can increase media and regulatory scrutiny on those firms and raise short-term reputational or policy risk that investors may want to monitor.
How has Ted Baillieu’s personal share portfolio changed and what does that signal to investors?
The piece reports that Baillieu once held shares in 44 companies in 2006 and that his portfolio had shrunk to 31 companies as of April in the reported year. For investors, a shrinking or changing portfolio for a public figure can reflect divestment, consolidation, or attempts to reduce conflicts — and such moves may prompt questions about why assets were sold or restructured.
What is Mutual Trust and who does it serve?
Mutual Trust was set up by members of Baillieu’s grandfather’s generation to provide financial services to the family clan. The article says it now provides services to a wider group of wealthy Melburnians. It is described as a family company at the heart of the Baillieu business empire before the reported transfer of Ted Baillieu’s stake.
How should everyday investors interpret media reports about politicians and their portfolios?
Treat media reports as a signal to do further due diligence rather than immediate trading advice. The article shows politicians’ reported shareholdings, transfers, and external management arrangements can raise issues of transparency and political risk. Investors should verify facts from primary disclosures, consider whether any policy changes could affect companies involved, and avoid making investment moves based solely on political headlines.
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