as I've mentioned in another post, the investor experience can be considerably improved if one buys during times of DISCOUNT to NTA rather than when trading at NTA or at premium. As shown in the monthly reports, AFI's share price relative to NTA swings up and down, and not long ago was trading at 10%+ premium to NTA. It is currently at an unheard of 9% discount to NTA, arguably a great time to buy.
LICs are able to smoothen their dividend payments by retaining some profits, thus during the GFC for example AFI did not lower it's dividend unlike the majority of other companies trading on the ASX, which appeals to some income investors. They are also very simple at income tax time, with only dividends and franking credits unlike the complex AMIT forms put out by managed funds and some ETFs which can contain a plethora of data such as unfranked distributions, realised capital gains for the past 12 months ( which the investor is liable for at tax time, even if they bought the fund only a few days or weeks before June 30......such a pain ! ), foreign income etc.
Each to their own, but I think that LICs, ETFs, unlisted managed funds, and direct shares all have a valid role in a diversified portfolio.
I can guarantee you that many of us holders are a lot younger than 80.
Index ETFs are not new, they have been around for many years yet AFI continues to trade in some years at a premium, other years at a discount.
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