Geoff Wilson. Staunchest campaigner for the wealth lobby

No one has contributed more to the media campaign against Labour’s proposed capital gains tax reform than Rich Lister fund manager Geoff Wilson. Michael Pascoe wonders why.

Fund manager Geoff Wilson was as responsible as anyone for Labor losing the 2019 election and led the hugely successful campaign against Bill Shorten’s attempt to reform dividends. The campaign and the outcome were certainly in Wilson’s interest; honest dividends helped him rise to the top. AFRHe is on the 2026 Rich List with an estimated worth of $891 million.

But it may not be immediately obvious why Wilson is back on the political campaign horse to fight Labor’s capital gains tax changes. Beyond the tendency for rich people to want to pay as little tax as possible.

On the face of it, Labour’s CGT and negative gearing reforms benefit Wilson’s fund management business and the 130,000 people who pay him to keep the dividends coming in, but AFR reported ($)The key to Wilson’s success is marketing.

Wilson’s high net worth; appears to be collecting racehorses and competing with Gina Rinehart to own the most oceanfront property in Sunshine Beach; It stems from his ownership of Wilson Asset Management; He manages $6 billion, with that money mostly locked up in nine listed investment companies (LICs) that pay the manager 1 to 1.25% a year, and sometimes a little more.

The appeal of LICs

Apart from Wilson’s incessant marketing, the selling point of these LICs is the gross dividends of the LICs; Adding extra pre-tax value disclosure to company dividends is especially valuable in situations where the shareholder pays little or no tax.

For example, April reports from Wilson’s two largest LICs, WAM Leaders (WLE) and WAM Capital (WAM), both valued at $1.8 billion, claimed annual interim dividend yields of 7.2% and 9% respectively. Beautiful.

Add up these dividends with franking credits and the pre-tax returns are 10.3% and 11.3% for Aussies. Also very nice.

The returns for shares held in a tax-free “retirement stage” super fund are very, very nice indeed; They are tax exempt.

Franking credits were supposed to be intended to eliminate “double taxation”; shareholders received credit for taxes paid by the company. The real misconception here is that the shareholders are the company. They are not. The limited liability companies that populate the stock market are completely separate legal entities, and shareholders are delighted when a company is sued or goes bankrupt with millions in debt.

However, the industry that has grown to benefit from franking has resulted in little or no tax being paid on the company’s profits, where the shareholder pays little or no tax, as is the case with super funds. Instead, the tax office pays shareholders the tax paid by the company. SMSF Army is commanded according to General Wilson rules.

The Wilson LIC model focuses on maintaining these regular dividends, smoothing payouts through retained earnings and capital management.

And not all of them are affected by Labour’s changes. Investing in shares, LICs or anything else has been made more attractive compared to Australia’s other beloved established residential real estate. You can even continue to negatively impact your equity investments if you want.

CGT changes

When it comes to the new CGT rules, in theory the tax people who buy Wilson LICs would pay might be slightly higher if they later sell them at a profit for a capital gain beyond inflation.

But that’s not really Wilson’s issue. Using 10 years (and five years for that long) as a fair measure of performance, shares of only two of the eight Wilson LICs are worth more today than they were a decade ago, and that’s only a small fraction of the overall market gain. The ninth LIC is just one year old and has increased by 5 percent.

So in retrospect Wilson investors have little to fear from the proposed CGT change.

But it’s a great marketing opportunity for Wilson Asset Management to run another “look out for investors” political campaign.

When you click on their Wilson website, you will be invited to “protect Australia’s will and sign the petition against the government’s changes to capital gains tax.” There is an obligation AFR opinion piece ($) and ready-made quotes for the usual media suspects, plus Geoff Wilson’s enthusiasm for Twitter (formerly known as Twitter).

Marketing the Wilson brand is important because the way funds under management grow – and fixed fees with them – is by launching new LICs, issuing extra shares and offering dividend reinvestment options when share prices aren’t rising. Geoff Wilson can get even richer this way.

Aspect AFR reported ($)In the 2026 Rich List edition:

“When he founded Wealth Management, Wilson targeted wealthy individuals rather than pension funds and other institutions, putting them in closed-end listed investment companies (rather than pooled managed funds). He then marketed the listed vehicles badly. Twenty years ago, Wilson began major investor roadshows, booking hotel rooms. Initially, only seven or eight investors would show up.”

“These days he attracts crowds of 500 people to his events in Brisbane and Sydney. He even takes his investment team and stock tips on regional sightseeing trips to Newcastle, Gold Coast, Toowoomba and Noosa.

“It also engages media relentlessly, sending stock pickers to Toastmasters to hone their pitching and interviewing skills. The corporate relations team closely monitors media mentions, social media posts, website traffic and click-through rates on its own email campaigns.”

After his 2019 success on reforming franking loans, the CGT campaign is now a marketing gift for Wilson, publicity he doesn’t have to buy. There is no end to longings – he said AFR He wants to work until his 80s.

Distortions. Negative gearing changes a gift for investors