The company, also known as Soul Patts allocated the funds to private equity and structured yield portfolio investments unrelated to equity markets, underscoring the weak investor interest in low-yielding stocks.

The 118-year old investment house also reallocated A$900 million to "alternative investments," ending the last fiscal year with a private equity portfolio of A$1.2 billion.

Shares of Washington H Soul fell as much as 8.2% to A$31.2 and were set for their worst day since March 2020 amid investor concerns over the conglomerate's prospects.

Meanwhile the slump in Soul Patts triggered a sharp sell off in local property developer and building materials maker Brickworks, in which the investment house holds an over 40% stake

"The sell-off today was mainly due to concerns about Brickworks' profitability, given the lagging effects of interest rates and consumers depleting their savings as construction activity fell," said Jessica Amir, a market strategist at Moomoo.

($1 = 1.5701 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)

By Rishav Chatterjee