NEWS
Allard Investment Fund
8 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Allard Investment Fund (AIF) increased 1.87% during the month of May 2017 and is up 19.71% for the latest 12 months.
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8 Jun 2017 - Allard Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Allard's investment approach has remained consistent throughout their history: That is to invest prudently but proactively in well-managed businesses that achieve superior returns on capital in industries with long-term growth potential. The Manager uses both broad top-down guidance and detailed bottom-up analysis to identify suitable markets, industries and companies. Although long only investors, a critical factor in their strategy and performance is the ability to hold cash when they cannot find companies that meet their criteria or are at a sufficient discount to their valuations. |
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Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
7 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund rose 2.86% for the month of May, outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index, which returned -2.75%, by +5.61%.
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7 Jun 2017 - 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. |
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Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
31 May 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund outperformed the market (S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index) posting a positive return of 2.91% for the month of April 2017.
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31 May 2017 - Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The overriding objective of the Concentrated Australian Equities Fund is to seek investment opportunities which are under-appreciated and have the potential to deliver positive earnings, while satisfying our stringent quality criteria. Bennelong's investment process combines bottom-up fundamental analysis together with proprietary investment tools which are used to build and maintain high quality portfolios that are risk aware. The portfolio typically consists of 20-35 high-conviction stocks from the S&P/ASX 300 Index. The Fund may invest in securities listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to ASX-listed securities. Derivative instruments are mainly used to replicate underlying positions and hedge market and company specific risks. |
| Manager Comments | More than half of the portfolio (63.5%) was allocated in the Discretionary, Health Care and Consumer Staples sectors. The Fund's top holdings consisted of Westpac Banking, National Australia Bank, CSL and Aristocrat Leisure. The investment team continues to remain focused on the company fundamentals, with an eye on value, but only in the context of what one receives in return in terms of quality and earnings delivery and growth. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund April 2017
30 May 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Titans Fund is now available.
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30 May 2017 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund April 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - April 2017 (pdf format)
INSYNC GLOBAL TITANS FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Insync Global Titans Fund.
We would like to highlight the following:
- The Fund's unit price increased by 5.2%, after the cost of protection, in April. The performance was driven by positive contributions from the Fund's holdings in PayPal, Heineken, Comcast Corp, Unilever and Microsoft Corp. There were no negative contributors during the month.
- The Global Titans Fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of 15-30 stocks, targeting exceptional, large cap global companies with a strong focus on dividend growth and downside protection.
- Portfolio selection is driven by a core strategy of investing in companies with sustainable growth in dividends, high returns on capital, positive free cash flows and strong balance sheets.
- Emphasis on limiting downside risk is through extensive company research, the ability to hold cash and long protective index put options.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - April 2017 (pdf format)
Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund April 2017
29 May 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund, which has an annualised return of 8.26% p.a.
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29 May 2017 - Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund April 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - April 2017 (pdf format)
PENGANA ABSOLUTE RETURN ASIA PACIFIC FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund.
- The Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund ("PARAP") was established in 2008 by portfolio managers Antonio Meroni and Vikas Kumra. The Fund is a feeder fund into a Cayman Islands AUD share class fund.
- The Fund invests both long and short in Asia Pacific equities, including in Australian and New Zealand, after a stock specific "event" has either occurred or been announced and the portfolio aims to be uncorrelated to the underlying equity markets. A combination of the Manager's experience, thorough research and continuous back- testing identify the most attractive of these events.
- Risk controls include limits on individual positions as well as gross and net exposure. Limits are in place for option exposure and cash borrowing, with stop loss limits on individual positions. Overall the manager is looking to derive returns from the event strategies as opposed to any currency or market exposures.
- Since inception, the Fund has an annualised return of 8.26% p.a., compared to the MSCI ACWI Asia Pacific Price Index's return of 3.92 p.a.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - April 2017 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund April 2017
26 May 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund is now available.
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26 May 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund April 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - April 2017 (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 2017 (pdf format)
Insync Global Titans Fund
26 May 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Insync Global Titans Fund increased 5.2% in April, outperforming the MSCI All Country World ex-Australia Net Total Return Index ($A), which returned 3.7%, by +1.5%.
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26 May 2017 - 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 | The performance was driven by positive contributions from the holdings in PayPal, Heineken, Comcast Corp, Unilever and Microsoft Corp, with no negative contributors during the month. The Fund continues to have no foreign currency hedging in place as Insync consider the main risks to the Australian dollar to be on the downside. Over 50% of the Fund is currently protected using the put protection strategy. |
| More Information |
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
26 May 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund returned -1.17% for the month of April. The Fund has a low systematic risk (beta) to the ASX 200 and the MSCI World Indices of 0.07 and 0.08 respectively.
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26 May 2017 - Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | PanAgora believes the best way to find opportunities in the global markets is to combine fundamental analysis with robust quantitative techniques in order to filter the investment universe and select the investments. The Fund invests primarily in listed equity securities from a global universe of developed markets and a select group of emerging market countries. The Fund's objective is to seek absolute returns by identifying and exploiting multiple inefficiencies that may exist in global equity markets. These inefficiencies are primarily exploited through the use of a long/short equity strategy which aims to construct a portfolio that is generally neutral to market movements. As such the performance of the investment strategy is largely independent of the market's performance. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by using a diversified set of strategies that have low correlation to one another. In addition, because many of these strategies are designed to generate profit under different market conditions, their combination is expected to result in more stable returns over time than any individual strategy in and of itself. |
| Manager Comments | The U.S. sleeve of the long-term portfolio detracted -1.27% from performance in large part due to the poor returns of valuation based signals during the first 3 weeks of the month. Sector-wise the biggest detraction occurred in Information Technology (-0.80%) and Consumer Discretionary (-0.50%). The positive contribution from Health Care (+0.20%) and Industrials (+0.12%), alleviated some of the underperformance. The international sleeve of the long-term portfolio contributed a marginal +0.01% in April, driven by mixed factor performance. The intermediate-term portfolio contributed a negligible +0.01% in April. The short-term strategies proved more effective with a net contribution of +0.08%, attributable primarily to earnings related trades. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund April 2017
25 May 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund, which has an annualised return since inception of 11.09% p.a.
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25 May 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund April 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - April 2017 (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 11.09% p.a. with a volatility of 7.11, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 5.65% p.a. with a volatility of 13.89%.
- 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 2017 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust April 2017
24 May 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on Optimal Australian Absolute Trust.
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24 May 2017 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust April 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - April 2017 (pdf format)
OPTIMAL AUSTRALIA ABSOLUTE TRUST
AFM have released the most recently updated Fund Review on the Optimal Australia Absolute Trust.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- Optimal Australia 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.
- The investment team comprising George Colman, Peter Whiting, and Stephen Nicholls bring 100 years combined experience in equity markets.
- In April, the Fund returned +0.0.7%, to take annualised return since inception to 8.08% p.a. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.29 (Index 0.28), Sortino ratio of 2.63 (Index 0.30, 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 2017 (pdf format)
