MYOB Shares To Float Again

MYOB lodged its IPO Prospectus with ASIC today. The Accounting Software company is seeking to raise over $800 million in the share offer and at the planned offer price of $3 - $4, would have a market capitalization of around $2.5 billion.

According to the company's announcement to the ASX today, the proceeds will go to paying down debt and meeting the costs of the initial public offering. The current owners - Bain Capital - will hold onto their stake in the company and will hold 57% of MYOB shares after a successful listing.

MYOB was originally listed on the ASX back in 2000 before being taken private by private equity firm Archer Capital back in 2009. Since then the business has been sold onto Bain Capital who are now looking to float the shares once again.

The MYOB share offer will be open to both retail and institutional investors.
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Which Australian Bank Pays The Best Dividends?

Australian Banks have long been popular investments among Aussie investors. One of the reasons has been the fact they have been among the best paying dividend shares.

Below is a table of the 6 largest banks listed on the ASX. They are ordered according to which bank pays the best dividends. All of the distributions paid by  shares listed in the table below are fully franked.

ASX Code	Company Name	Current Price	Dividend Yield	Annual Growth Rate	Payout Ratio
NAB	National Australia Bank	$33.49	5.9%	6.8%	80%
BEN	Bendigo and Adelaide Bank	$11.73	5.3%	9.5%	76%
ANZ	ANZ Banking Group	$33.49	5.2%	12.6%	70%
BOQ	Bank of Queensland	$12.00	5.2%	3.6%	90%
WBC	Westpac	$34.42	5.2%	13.7%	78%
CBA	Commanwealth Bank	$81.59	4.7%	12.4%	75%

As you can see the National Australia Bank is a clear leader in terms of yield, but there are a number of other factors to consider.

What Are Exchange Traded Funds And How Do They Work?

In his 2013 annual letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett put forward some ideas on ETFs. He discussed how in his will he's left instructions for 90% of the money which is to be held in trust for his wife to be invested in (low cost) ETFs. If one of the most successful investors in history is recommending exchange traded funds, maybe the rest of us should have a closer look as well.

What Is An ETF?

It's a product which provides investors with relatively low cost exposure to a broad range of companies or other invest-able assets. They are traded on the stock market just like the shares of listed companies.

An ETF tracks an index like the ASX300 or the price of a commodity like gold.  This means that investors should receive the same return as they would if the held all of the shares which make up the index, or in the cast of something like gold, it would be similar to buying gold.

Cheap Shares - 3 Companies Worthy Of Further Research

I am drawn to cheap shares as a result of my having both feet planted firmly in the value investing camp. Of course cheap can be a somewhat subjective term with different meanings for different investors.  However, a good starting place for me is normally to begin with stocks trading at or close to their lowest price over the past 12 months.

Here is a list if 3 companies whose shares are trading close to their lowest price over the past year and in which I intend to conduct further research.

National Storage REIT Float

Another participant in the feeding frenzy that is the IPO market right now is National Storage REIT.

An investment in this float is probably more for those interested in income via distributions rather than the excitement of stag profits on the opening day of trading. This business looks like the more boring but stable kind.

According to the prospectus, the REIT "will be the first independent, internally managed and fully-integrated owner and operator of self-storage centres listed on the ASX".

The group currently owns or operates 62 self-storage centers across Australia.

The offer is for 126.3 million stapled securities at a price of 98 cents each.

How To Buy Shares Without A Broker

A particularly frugal friend approached me recently wanting to know if there was any way to buy shares without the need to pay brokerage fees.

Well the short answer is you can't.  According to the Australian Stock Exchange website:

"All shares listed on ASX can only be bought or sold through a broker. A stockbroker acts as your agent to buy or sell shares on your behalf, for which a fee is charged."

This statement is clear and unambiguous.  However, it got me thinking.  There are actually a few exceptions to this rule.  The exceptions are all share purchase transactions in which the ASX is not directly involved.

Why I Don't Like Dividend Reinvestment Plans

In my last post I discussed dividend reinvestment plans.  I know they are popular with some investors - in fact a quick search on Google yielded a number a websites devoted entirely to dividend reinvestment.  And while I can understand the attraction for some investors, DRPs are not for me.

So in this post I will discuss some of the disadvantages that I see with these plans.

To recap, a DRP allows existing shareholders to increase their holding by forgoing their cash dividend payments in exchange for new shares in the company.  There is no brokerage payable and to top it off, the shares are sometimes issued at a discount to the current market price.

So what's not to like?