Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited is an investment company, which is focused on investing in Australian and New Zealand equities. Its investment objective is to pay a stable and growing dividend over time and to provide attractive total returns over the medium to long term. It has two portfolios of securities: the investment portfolio and the trading portfolio. The investment portfolio holds securities which the Company intends to retain on a long-term basis and includes a small subcomponent over which options may be written and an additional small subcomponent of international (non-Australian/New Zealand listed) stocks. The trading portfolio consists of securities that are held for short-term trading only, including call option contracts written over securities that are held in the specific subcomponent of the investment portfolio and on occasion put options, and is relatively small. Australian Investment Company Services Limited (AICS) is a subsidiary of the Company.