No dud stock choices for family with eyes on the Lodge ::

Author: JAMES KIRBY
Date: 10/12/2006
Words: 531
Source: SAG
Publication: The Sunday Age
Section: Business
Page: 16

IF KEVIN Rudd's bid for the prime minister's job comes to nothing, the new Labor Party leader can always become a financial planner. This suggestion comes from Scott Francis, a Brisbane-based financial planner who was good enough to partake in a bit of fun with the Rudd family share portfolio.

The latest update on the Rudd family register of interests, lodged with the Parliament on September 21, shows the family has 20 shares. The update appears to indicate the Rudds sold some potentially troublesome shareholdings in the past year, clearing the decks ahead of his rise to party leadership.

In an earlier update last March, the family held shareholdings in Macquarie Media and Macquarie Airports, while in the previous year they registered ASX, APN News and Media and ConnectEast. These stocks have apparently gone.

I asked Mr Francis and two other experts, Michael Heffernan of stockbroker Austock and Roger Montgomery of investment manager Clime Capital, to "blind taste" the latest list of Rudd family share investments (mostly held by Rudd's wife, Therese Rein, although son Nicholas and daughter Jessica have holdings).

I gave the names of their stocks to all three investment specialists but I didn't tell them who owned them. A family share portfolio is a bit like the family bookshelf - it's a useful window into their world. The Rudds' portfolio includes two banks, ANZ and NAB, property stocks FKP and Westfield, health stocks CSL and Ramsay, as well as Wesfarmers and Woolworths.

Mr Francis likes their choices. "It's a smart portfolio - if the owner of these shares had come through my door, I'd have to do a fair bit of work to improve it," he says.

Mr Montgomery is also broadly supportive, though a little more circumspect. "There are some very good investments here, but I'd question some of the holdings where there are very high prices being paid now."

Mr Heffernan gives it a pass too, although he puts a black mark against a couple of the shares, notably Wesfarmers and Ramsay.

Unlike the portfolios declared by several other leading politicians, the Rudd interests lack exotic bets - the portfolio is focused on Australia and dominated by big stocks that pay regular dividends. But the most interesting thing is the absence of dud choices. Some stocks are not blue-chip but they've got interesting prospects; Foster's for example, and AMP. Net accommodation stock Wotif might appear to be a gamble but a closer look shows it is full of top-notch Brisbane business figures. Of course, the Rudds would be used to rubbing shoulders with Brisbane's top brass. Therese Rein is a leading business figure in Brisbane with a multinational recruitment company, Ingeus.

It's a smart set of stocks. As for conflict of interest, that's another subject. With interests in everything from companies that probably have employees in Rudd's electorate to uranium miners such as BHP, the Rudd share portfolio may make interesting reading for his enemies.

James Kirby is editor of Eureka Report at eurekareport.com.au

jk@eurekareport.com.au

Kevin Rudd's family's investments

? AMP

? ANZ

? BHP

? CSL

? Campbell

? Div. Utilities

? Foster's

? FKP Property

? NAB

? Origin Energy

? PBL

? Ramsey Health

? Toll

? Transurban

? Transpacific

? Ventracor

? Wesfarmers

? Westfield

? Woolworths

? Wotif

As at September 21, 2006

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