maple brown says it all, page-8

dgt26,

"They simply sold down their holdings to take up the share placement. Thats not manipulation just prudent investment management - especially if they did not want to increase their position."

I agree that its prudent investment management for MBA ( but I won't completely rule out manipulation by other instos)

Also it only makes sense for instos and traders, who pay a flat company tax rate, to offload old shares for new. IMHO Mums and dads who don't run their share trading as a business probably won't gain anything in doing the same.

For me the 50% discount on CGT (for having held the shares for 12 months) is worth my while holding through the volatility (cos I am quite confident the sp will reach my target somewhere in the next 6-12 months). In other words, it's not worth my while to swap out/in.