NEWS
Performance Report: Cyan C3G Fund
23 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Cyan C3G Fund returned -5.28% in April. This comes after a sustained period of outperformance, with the Fund having risen +19.5% after fees over the past 12 months.
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23 May 2018 - Performance Report: Cyan C3G Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Cyan C3G Fund is based on the investment philosophy which can be defined as a comprehensive, clear and considered process focused on delivering growth. These are identified through stringent filter criteria and a rigorous research process. The Manager uses a proprietary stock filter in order to eliminate a large proportion of investments due to both internal characteristics (such as gearing levels or cash flow) and external characteristics (such as exposure to commodity prices or customer concentration). Typically, the Fund looks for businesses that are one or more of: a) under researched, b) fundamentally undervalued, c) have a catalyst for re-rating. The Manager seeks to achieve this investment outcome by actively managing a portfolio of Australian listed securities. When the opportunity to invest in suitable securities cannot be found, the manager may reduce the level of equities exposure and accumulate a defensive cash position. Whilst it is the company's intention, there is no guarantee that any distributions or returns will be declared, or that if declared, the amount of any returns will remain constant or increase over time. The Fund does not invest in derivatives and does not use debt to leverage the Fund's performance. However, companies in which the Fund invests may be leveraged. |
| Manager Comments | Cyan noted that the Fund struggled to find a position that rose in April, despite the positive underlying market. Two key detractors included BlueSky (BLA), which impacted performance at the start of the month, and Experience Co (EXP), which downgraded earnings on the 30th of April and thus impacted performance at the end of the month. Other detractors included AMA Group (-11%), Motorcycle Holdings (-20%) and Moelis (-10%). In light of recent price movements, Cyan's near-term outlook is positive. They feel there is some value creeping into their end of the market, and noted that they'll likely add to many of the Fund's existing holdings in the coming months in addition to searching for new core Fund positions. |
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Performance Report: Qato Capital Market Neutral Fund
22 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Qato Capital Market Neutral Strategy rose +1.12% in April. Qato attribute this to machine learning model enhancements the Fund began using this year.
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22 May 2018 - Performance Report: Qato Capital Market Neutral Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund seeks to preserve capital and maximise absolute returns through active and constant risk management, targeting monthly a net market exposure of 0% to hedge broader market risks by generally holding up to 50 S&P/ASX-100 positions (up to 25 long positions & 25 short positions). Historically, the strategy has been uncorrelated to traditional asset classes with a negative beta to equity markets. Qato Capital's process is entirely systematic - stock selection and risk management are all employed in a rules based approach. Positions in Qato's long-portfolio and short-portfolio are rotated monthly dependent upon their Q-Score ranking. The strategy employs no financial leverage/gearing to purchase securities, no derivatives and no financial products to imitate leverage. |
| Manager Comments | Qato's long portfolio had a mining bias for April, most of which benefited from bounding commodity prices. Positive contributors from the sector included South32 (+15.88%), Bluescope Steel (+9.47%) and Rio Tinto (+10.27%). In Healthcare, CSL (+9.69%) contributed positively, whilst accounting software provider Xero also added value. Qato noted that, given the broad-based rally in the ASX100, the short book found generating positive performance difficult by comparison with the long portfolio. One laggard of the broader market highlighted by Qato was packaging company Amcor, retracing -2.79% in April and -11.67% over the past 6 months. |
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Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund April 2018
18 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The latest Fund Review on Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund is now available. The Fund invests in ASX listed stocks, combining an indexed position in the Top 20 stocks with an actively managed portfolio of ex-20 stocks.
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18 May 2018 - Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund April 2018
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - April 2018 (pdf format)
BENNELONG TWENTY20 AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund.
- The Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund invests in ASX listed stocks, combining an indexed position in the Top 20 stocks with an actively managed portfolio of stocks outside the Top 20. Construction of the ex-top 20 portfolio is fundamental, bottom-up, core investment style, biased to quality stocks, with a structured risk management approach.
- Mark East, the Fund's Chief Investment Officer, and Keith Kwang, Director of Quantitative Research have over 50 years combined market experience. Bennelong Funds Management (BFM) provides the investment manager, Bennelong Australian Equity Partners (BAEP) with infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution services.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - April 2018 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund April 2018
17 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The latest Fund Review for the Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund is now available. The Fund is a long-biased, research driven, active equity long/short strategy which invests in listed ASX companies with track records greater than 10 years.
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17 May 2018 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund April 2018
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - April 2018 (pdf format)
BENNELONG KARDINIA ABSOLUTE RETURN FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review. You are also able to view the Fund's Profile.
- The Fund is long biased, research driven, active equity long/short strategy investing in listed ASX companies with over ten-year track record.
- The Fund has significantly outperformed the ASX200 Accumulation Index since its inception in May 2006 and also has significantly lower risk KPIs. The Fund has an annualised return of 10.58% p.a. with a volatility of 6.93%, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 5.63% p.a. with a volatility of 13.48%.
- The Fund also has a strong focus on capital protection in negative markets. Portfolio Managers Mark Burgess and Kristiaan Rehder have significant market experience, while Bennelong Funds Management provide infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution capabilities.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - April 2018 (pdf format)
Performance Report: ARCO Absolute Trust (formerly Optimal)
16 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The ARCO Absolute Trust returned -0.54% in April. Since inception in September 2008, the Fund has returned +8.29% per annum with a volatility of 3.75%.
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16 May 2018 - Performance Report: ARCO Absolute Trust (formerly Optimal)
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund's bias is likely to be net long under normal market conditions, with the core strategy being to construct a portfolio of listed equity securities priced at levels that do not adequately reflect their underlying value. The Fund will seek to boost returns and limit potential market downside by selective short selling of individual stocks which are priced at levels that are viewed as materially above their underlying value. The Fund will also use certain trading strategies both within its core portfolio (through rebalancing stock weights and overall market exposure in response to price movements) and in certain other situations (typically of a shorter-duration and/or opportunistic nature) with the objective of further increasing returns. *Formerly the Optimal Australia Absolute Trust |
| Manager Comments | Over 70% of the long positions in the portfolio were positive contributors to performance during April, most notably BHP, Alumina Ltd, Nufarm, Westfield and Lynas. ARCO increased the Fund's exposure to BHP and Nufarm over the month as their analysis continues to highlight further upside potential from their respective capital and asset management strategies. Negative contributors in the long portfolio included Boral, Link and AHG. The short portfolio also broadly detracted from performance, with the exception of select short positions in the banking sector which ARCO continue to view as a short-side trade. |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
15 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund returned +1.96% in April. Since inception in February 2002, the Fund has returned +16.34% per annum versus the ASX200 Accumulation Index's +8.02%.
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15 May 2018 - Performance Report: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | In a typical environment the Fund will hold around 70 stocks comprising 35 pairs. Each pair contains one long and one short position each of which will have been thoroughly researched and are selected from the same market sector. Whilst in an ideal environment each stock's position will make a positive return, it is the relative performance of the pair that is important. As a result the Fund can make positive returns when each stock moves in the same direction provided the long position outperforms the short one in relative terms. However, if neither side of the trade is profitable, strict controls are required to ensure losses are limited. The Fund uses no derivatives and has no currency exposure. The Fund has no hard stop loss limits, instead relying on the small average position size per stock (1.5%) and per pair (3%) to limit exposure. Where practical pairs are always held within the same sector to limit cross sector risk, and positions can be held for months or years. The Bennelong Market Neutral Fund, with same strategy and liquidity is available for retail investors as a Listed Investment Company (LIC) on the ASX. |
| Manager Comments | Positive performance was driven by a wide range of pairs from all sectors. A number of the Fund's best pairs benefited from a positive contribution from the short, as well as the long. With the backdrop of a very strong equity market the overall performance of the short portfolio was a feature of the fund's positive return. On the negative side, the weakest pairs were long Woolworths (WOW) / short Metcash (MTS) and long Ramsay (RHC) / short Healthscope (HSO) / short Primary (PRY). |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
14 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Australian Equities Fund rose +4.56% in April, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +0.65%. Since inception in January 2009, the Fund has returned +13.99% per annum.
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14 May 2018 - Performance Report: Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Bennelong Australian Equities Fund seeks quality investment opportunities which are under-appreciated and have the potential to deliver positive earnings. The investment process combines bottom-up fundamental analysis with proprietary investment tools that are used to build and maintain high quality portfolios that are risk aware. The investment team manages an extensive company/industry contact program which helps identify and verify various investment opportunities. The companies within the portfolio are primarily selected from, but not limited to, the S&P/ASX 300 Index. The Fund may invest in securities listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to the ASX-listed securities. The Fund typically holds between 25-60 stocks with a maximum net targeted position of an individual stock of 6%. |
| Manager Comments | As at the end of April, the portfolio's weightings were increased in the Health Care, Consumer Staples, IT, Industrials and Materials sectors, and decreased in the Discretionary and Financials sectors. |
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Fund Review: ARCO Absolute Trust April 2018
11 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on ARCO Absolute Trust. ARCO Investment Management is a specialist Australian equity investment manager and the Fund has a long/short equity strategy typically with a low but variable net market exposure...
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11 May 2018 - Fund Review: ARCO Absolute Trust April 2018
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - April 2018 (pdf format)
ARCO ABSOLUTE TRUST (formerly Optimal Australia Absolute Trust)
AFM have released the most recently updated Fund Review on the ARCO Absolute Trust.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
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ARCO Investment Management is a specialist Australian equity investment manager and the Fund has a long/short equity strategy typically with a low but variable net market exposure comprising 40 to 65 stocks broadly selected from within the ASX200.
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The investment team comprising George Colman, Peter Whiting, and Stephen Nicholls bring 100 years combined experience in equity markets.
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The Fund has an annualised return since inception of +8.29%. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.38 (Index 0.30), Sortino ratio of 2.88 (Index 0.32), both of which are well above the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and has recorded over 78% positive months.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - April 2018 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund April 2018
10 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review for the Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund is now available. The Fund is a research driven, market and sector neutral, "pairs" trading strategy investing primarily in large-caps from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with over...
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10 May 2018 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund April 2018
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - April 2018 (pdf format)
BENNELONG LONG SHORT EQUITY FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund.
- The Fund is a research driven, market and sector neutral, "pairs" trading strategy investing primarily in large-caps from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with over 15-years' track record and an annualised returns of over 16%.
- The consistent returns across the investment history indicate the Fund's ability to provide positive returns in volatile and negative markets and significantly outperform the broader market. The Fund's Sharpe Ratio and Sortino Ratio are 1.00 and 1.65 respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - April 2018 (pdf format)
Performance Report: Insync Global Titans Fund
9 May 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Insync Global Titans Fund returned -0.69% in March. Since inception in October 2009, the Fund has returned +9.88% per annum after fees and the cost of protection.
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9 May 2018 - Performance Report: Insync Global Titans Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Insync employs four simple screens to narrow the universe of over 40,000 listed companies globally to a focus group of high quality companies that it believes have the potential to consistently grow their profits and dividends. These screens are size of the company, balance sheet performance, valuation and dividend quality. Companies that pass this due diligence process are then valued using dividend discount models, free cash flow yield and proprietary implied growth and expected return models. The end result is a high conviction portfolio of typically 15-30 stocks. The principal investments will be in shares of companies listed on international stock exchanges (including the US, Europe and Asia). The Fund may also hold cash, derivatives (for example futures, options and swaps), currency contracts, American Depository Receipts and Global Depository Receipts. The Fund may also invest in various types of international pooled investment vehicles. At times, Insync may consider holding higher levels of cash if valuations are full and it is difficult to find attractive investment opportunities. When Insync believes markets to be overvalued, it may hold part of its resources in cash, or use derivatives as a way of reducing its equity exposure. Insync may use options, futures and other derivatives to reduce risk or gain exposure to underlying physical investments. The Fund may purchase put options on market indices or specific stocks to hedge against losses caused by declines in the prices of stocks in its portfolio. |
| Manager Comments | Performance in March was driven by positive contributions from Heineken, Zoetis, Booking Holdings, Estee Lauder and London Stock Exchange. The main negative contributors were eBay, Accenture, Google and Facebook. The Fund continues to have no foreign currency hedging in place as Insync considers the main risks to the Australian dollar to be on the downside. Insync continues to utilise index put options to buffer sharp falls in equity markets (catastrophes) not yet having cause to exercise them. |
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