Leanne Pan, a portfolio manager at Melbourne-based Prime Value Asset Management, has proven that a “slow and steady” investment approach can yield significant results, particularly during volatile market periods. Prime Value Asset Management, which manages approximately $1.2 billion in assets, provides various investment solutions including equity income funds. While many investors seek “hot” tech stocks, Ms. Pan’s strategy, often favouring established companies like BHP, has paid off amidst a challenging economic landscape marked by geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and rising interest rates from the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Her equity income fund has delivered an impressive 19.9 per cent return over the past year, significantly outperforming the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index’s 10.1 per cent. This success occurred despite brutal share price falls for companies like CSL and Cochlear, and the “SaaSpocalypse” impacting software stocks. Ms. Pan describes her method as “steady as she goes,” prioritising consistent performance over speculative gains, a strategy that has seen her fund outperform its benchmark by 1.9 percentage points annually since its 2001 inception.
Ms. Pan focuses on companies offering a high dividend yield alongside growth prospects. The Albanese government’s capital gains tax reforms, which ended the 50 per cent CGT discount, have, according to UBS equities strategist Richard Schellbach, redirected focus back to dividend-paying Australian stocks. Her largest holding, miner BHP, offers a 3 per cent annual dividend yield and has seen its share price rise nearly 40 per cent this year. BHP’s pivot towards copper and potash also aligns with future electrification and food security themes.
Beyond BHP, her fund has benefited from energy giants Woodside and Santos, APA Group, and Newmont. Looking ahead, Ms. Pan is now eyeing residential developer Stockland. Despite headwinds from higher interest rates and construction costs, she believes the structural housing supply crunch, combined with Stockland’s dividend yield and strong land bank, positions it for future recovery. She consistently favours “hard assets,” viewing them as solid long-term investments.
