Mark Smith speaks to Platinum Asset Management co-founder Kerr Neilson on his views about philanthropy, his contrarian approach to investing and opportunities in the SMSF sector.

The Neilson family certainly isn't afraid to go against conventional wisdom.

Kerr Neilson's funds management business, Platinum Asset Management, is a firm favourite of Australian investors because it does precisely that.

Neilson, along with business partner and Platinum co-founder Andrew Clifford, go searching for companies that are out-of-favour with the rest of the investment community, snapping up businesses with compelling long-term growth prospects at bargain prices.

It's an approach that has led to exceptional performance over the long-term. The $9.6 billion Platinum International Fund has returned 13.1% per annum since it was conceived 19 years ago. That compares to 5.5% per annum from the MSCI AC World Net Index in Australian dollar terms.

"You have to respect the crowds, but you have to veer away from them from time to time and that takes a lot of discipline," Neilson says.

Hunting rare game

While the approach has brought a huge amount of success - Neilson's net worth was estimated at US$3 billion in Forbes' latest rebalancing of its World's Billionaires list - it seems that a love and a passion for investing, rather than money, is what drives him on.

"Investing is like passive hunting. It's great fun! So the key here is that you're always trying to outrun the competition, you're always trying to find a new angle on something," he says. "The more you see, the more you think you can see. You build on your past experiences. It's a cumulative effect. You always want to learn more."

Reflecting on more than three decades in the game, Neilson says one of the changes in the industry has the been the erosion of the information advantage enjoyed by investment professionals and the sheer level of competition that has arisen as a result.

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