I've always assumed there are too many moving parts for majority of investors to really value this business appropriately and the dividend yield is too low for income investors, plus it's not franked. Infratil has always been as you suggested, the quiet compounder. Since IPO Infratil has made money hand over fist in most investments (look at the SP chart). Paul Newfield discussed this track record at the recent investor day and how people always said, first was Z Energy, then Tilt carried Infratil, then CDC, then Vodafone Towers, now Longroad etc. But Paul is right in saying it's not a one off, its a consistent approach to what Infratil does and the board do it well. Look at the IRR p.a on the past few larger transactions; Tilt 35.2%, Vodafone 26.7%, Longroad 59% - that's some of the best performance globally in this sector.
I've considered Infratil as the Wesfarmers of NZ in the sense that it's essentially this growing monopolised conglomerate of well managed and defensive assets. Obviously WES doesn't focus on infra but you get the point.
I was similar to you, IFT popped up when I was searching for renewable investments back many many years ago and I realised this company is more then just renewables. They're so far in front of the curve on a larger number of megatrends; renewables, aging population, data and IT it's crazy they're not one of the most discussed investments on the ASX. It's probably because it's not the most exciting when comparing it to the IT companies but hey, at least we're profitable!
Regarding the management fees, I found on page 139 of the 2022 annual report a good explanation of each as there are a few "types" of fees. They're large, but justified.
Infratil is the backbone of my portfolio, offering both capital and income growth. The fact that it's dual listed also generally tends to offer less liquidity on the ASX, again turning away investors. Lastly, regarding your AusSuper statement, I found it interesting that in all annual & interim reports the company publishes both book and fair value for each investment and then the applicable share price. One can use this figure, add and subtract cash & borrowings, expected management fees and can get a good guestimate for a fair share price. I'm not one that gets into forward earnings and all those ratios, I prefer to buy $1 of cash generating assets for 80c and Infratil is one of those businesses.
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