Why WAM Global (ASX:WGB) lifted its franked dividend in a year its portfolio lost ground

Sonal Goyal

04 November 2026 10:09 PM AEDT

Why WAM Global (ASX:WGB) lifted its franked dividend in a year its portfolio lost ground

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Key Highlights

• WAM Global raised its fully franked full-year Dividend despite portfolio losses.

• The dividend is paid from a profits reserve built in earlier years.

• The company owns a portfolio of global shares.

• Dates and risks ahead are set out in the article.

WAM Global (ASX:WGB) raised its fully Franked Dividend for FY26 even though the portfolio lost money, because the company pays out of a profits reserve built in earlier years. The full-year dividend rose to 13.2 cents per share, while the company reported a loss after tax of A$35.2m for the year to 30 June 2026.

A listed vehicle for global shares

WAM Global (ASX:WGB) is a listed Investment company, which means it is an ordinary ASX-quoted company that owns a portfolio of shares rather than operating a business. Wilson Asset Management is the investment manager, with Catriona Burns as lead portfolio manager and Geoff Wilson AO as chairman and chief investment officer.

Its stated aim is to hold a diversified portfolio of high-quality, undervalued international growth companies, with objectives of Capital growth, a stream of franked dividends and capital preservation. At 30 June 2026 about 65.3 per cent of the portfolio was in the United States and Amazon was the largest holding at 5.8 per cent.

The FY26 result

The results announced on 18 August 2026 showed an operating loss before tax of A$50.3m, compared with a profit of A$147.6m a year earlier. After an income tax benefit of A$15.1m, the loss after tax was A$35.2m, against a profit of A$103.3m in FY25.

The portfolio returned negative 4.2 per cent before expenses, fees and taxes, while the MSCI World index in Australian dollars gained 14.8 per cent. The company said the rise in the Australian dollar cost portfolio returns 4.3 per cent, but that still leaves most of the 19.0 percentage point gap to the index unexplained by currency.

How the dividend is funded

A company can pay dividends from retained profits as well as current-year earnings. WAM Global (ASX:WGB) said its profits reserve had helped the board keep paying fully franked dividends, and the September 2026 investment update put the reserve at 68.3 cents per share.

That is roughly five times the FY26 dividend, but it is a finite pool. Dividends are also subject to the company having sufficient franking credits and to board discretion, so the payout is not a fixed entitlement.

The final dividend is 6.6 cents per share, fully franked. The ex-dividend date was 3 November 2026, the Record Date is 4 November and payment is due on 16 November 2026. Dividends paid since listing in June 2018 total 77.1 cents per share, fully franked.

Where the portfolio stands

The September update reported pre-tax NTA of 212.14 cents per share, down from 215.13 cents in August, and that figure is before the final dividend.

Since inception in June 2018 the portfolio has returned 7.4 per cent a year, compared with 13.2 per cent for the MSCI World Index in Australian dollars. Those returns are before expenses, fees, taxes and capital management initiatives.

At the end of September the United States made up 65.7 per cent of the portfolio, industrials 28.0 per cent and information technology 21.4 per cent. Cash was 4.5 per cent. Top 20 holdings in September included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Amazon, ASML, Visa and Meta Platforms, alongside Eaton and Siemens Energy.

Risks and dates ahead

Concentration in a small number of US sectors exposes the portfolio to swings in those markets and to the Australian dollar.

The Annual General Meeting is on 18 November 2026 at 1:15pm AEDT at the Museum of Sydney. Shareholders will vote on the remuneration report, the re-election of Gabrielle Trainor AO and the election of Graham Mirabito, appointed an independent director in October 2026.

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