NEWS
NWQ Fiduciary Fund
21 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
NWQ Fiduciary Fund fell 1.54% in August and returned +12.72% over the last 24 months.
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21 Sep 2016 - NWQ Fiduciary Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund aims to produce returns, after management fees and expenses of between 8% to 11% p.a. over rolling five-year periods. Furthermore, the Fund aims to achieve these returns with volatility that is a fraction of the Australian equity market, in order to smooth returns for investors. |
| Manager Comments | The earnings season proved difficult for some of the Fund's long managers. This earnings volatility stabilised by month-end and these same positions began to rise following buying interest into the new month. The Beta managers attributed +0.01% for the month, avoiding the market downside. However, the Alpha managers were impacted more heavily by the reporting season, contributing -1.46% for the month. The Fund remains overweight to the Alpha or market neutral strategies to protect again future equity and bond market volatility. Click below to read the latest Fund's Report. |
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Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
20 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund returned 1.63% in August, compared to MSCI ACWI Asia Pacific markets which were returned +0.91%.
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20 Sep 2016 - Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund will usually hold 40 to 80 positions and will be well diversified across the various event strategies. In keeping with the absolute return focus the Manager will eliminate market risk where appropriate by hedging market and foreign currency risks. Since inception the Fund has averaged a net equity market exposure of ~10%. Sizing of an investment position will depend on the expected risk adjusted returns while taking account the liquidity and volatility of the stock. In addition, the maximum potential loss on any one position should be greater than 0.5% of the NAV and the position should not exceed 30% participation of stressed volume assuming a $200m NAV. Other criteria considered are ability to hedge and the availability of pair candidates as well as the average bid-ask size. For M&A strategies average long position is 3 to 5.5% and average short position 2 to 5%. |
| Manager Comments | The M&A book contributed favourably (+0.8%) to overall performance due to positions in Galileo Japan Trust (GJT AU) and HTL International (HWA SP), which saw positive developments. The Stub-strategy continued to be robust posting a strong contribution to overall performance of 88 basis points. Since the start of the financial year, this strategy has contributed +1.75%. Stub trades in HK Trust (6823 HK) long vs PCCW (8 HK) short and Swire Properties (1972 HK) long vs Swire Pacific (19 HK) short contributed favourably. The Korean preference shares/local shares trades also contributed positively to performance, whilst offset by a negative contribution from the Earnings Surprise sub-strategy. The opportunity set in Asia continues to be robust, which is reflected in the Fund's gross exposure of 206%, with low Beta equity risk. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund August 2016
20 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review now available on Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund, which has over 9 years of positive track record.
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20 Sep 2016 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund August 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - August 2016 (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 a nine-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 11.71% p.a. with a volatility of 7.25%, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 4.87% p.a. with a volatility of 14.20%.
- 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 - August 2016 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust August 2016
19 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on Optimal Australian Absolute Trust.
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19 Sep 2016 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust August 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - August 2016 (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 supported by Stephen Nicholls and Justin Hay have over 100 years combined experience in equity markets.
- In August, the Fund recorded a flat return (+0.02%), to take annualised return since inception to 8.62% p.a. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.37 (Index 0.21), Sortino ratio of 2.86 (Index 0.19), both of which are well above the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and has recorded 79% positive months.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - August 2016 (pdf format)
APN AREIT Fund
19 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN AREIT Fund returned -3.29% in August. The long term performance since inception remains strong with annual returns of 18.62% p.a.
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19 Sep 2016 - APN AREIT Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The senior management of APN FM all have significant experience in their fields. They include CEO Real Estate Securities, Michael Doble who has 25 years'experience having held various senior roles specialising in real estate valuation, consultancy and funds management. Immediately prior to joining APN in 2003 he was Head of Property at ANZ Funds Management. He is a fellow of the Australian Property Institute and FINSIA as well as holding a Bachelor of Business (Property). The Fund aims to deliver a competitive yield with lower risk than the market. The underlying stocks are selected based on a highly disciplined investment approach that focuses on the fundamentals and number of valuation approaches. The Fund provides access to a wide spread of property-based revenue streams that are specifically analysed, selected and weighted with the aim of delivering strong and sustainable income returns. The Fund is suited to medium to long term investors seeking a relatively high monthly income and some capital growth over the long term. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund returned 9.05% for the quarter ended 30 June 2016, underperforming the S&P/ASX 300 Property Accumulation Index by 0.18%. The stocks impacting the Fund's performance relative to the AREIT Index were due to the Fund's overweight positions in underperforming stocks such as Charter Hall Retail (CQR) and Cromwell Group (CMW), along with underweight positions in relatively stronger stocks like Dexus Property Group which was up 16.18%. Click below to read the complete Fund Manager's Report. |
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Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund
16 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund rose 0.58% in August.
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16 Sep 2016 - Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund may also invest in derivatives for hedging purposes. The portfolio of the Fund comprises primarily Investment Grade holding of 75% of the Fund's assets. Benchmark allocations are Australasia 50% to 100%, North America 0% to 50% and Europe 0% to 50%. Currency hedging may take place depending on benefits to the Fund. |
| Manager Comments | Credit spreads continued to get tighter in August. The risk premium associated with subordinated bank credit rallied 30 basis points in the month which added to the 20 basis point tightening from the previous month. The Fund participated in two listed primary issues during the month being the ANZ tier 1 and the Qube deal. Both transactions were oversubscribed and are likely to perform well in secondary trading. For August, the majority of the portfolio was allocated in the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) at 50%, followed by Corporate Bonds/Loans at 23%. Click below to read the latest monthly report. |
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Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
16 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund returned -0.74% to take latest 6 months return to 13.42%.
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16 Sep 2016 - Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is managed as one portfolio but comprises and combines two separately managed exposures: 1. An investment in the top 20 stocks of the markets, which the Fund achieves by taking an indexed position in the S&P/ASX 20 Index; and 2. An investment in the stocks beyond the S&P/ASX 20 Index. This exposure is managed on an active basis using a fundamental core approach. The Fund may also invest in securities expected to be listed on the ASX, securities listed or expected to be listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to ASX-listed securities.Derivative instruments may be used to replicate underlying positions and hedge market and company specific risks. The companies within the portfolio are primarily selected from, but not limited to, the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index. The Fund typically holds between 40-55 stocks and thus is considered to be highly concentrated. This means that investors should expect to see high short-term volatility. The Fund seeks to achieve growth over the long-term, therefore the minimum suggested investment timeframe is 5 years. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund outperformed the market's return of -1.55%, due to the ex-20 exposure within the Fund. Some of the largest positions held in the ex-20 fund were Domino's Pizza Enterprises, Ramsay Health Care, Star Entertainment Group, and Treasury Wine Estate. All these companies reported strong results and their shares responded accordingly. The August reporting season highlighted that the market continues to offer quite attractive opportunities. However, the reporting season also highlighted the need to be specific in one's investment in the market. Click below to read the latest Fund Report. |
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Signature Quantitative Fund
15 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Signature Quantitative Fund returned -0.5% in August.
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15 Sep 2016 - Signature Quantitative Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | SQF has been established to profit from anomalies surrounding event driven, behavioural & factor based structural market inefficiencies which generate significant profits and are uncorrelated & persistent over time. Specific strategies such as dividend arbitrage, index addition and deletion, tax year end, capital raisings, among other strategies are used by the Fund. The Fund's initial focus is on investing in Australian and New Zealand markets. |
| Manager Comments | Alpha Capture outperformed during the August reporting season as the positions were on the right side of company announcements. Capital Raisings underperformed slightly and SQF's market exposure also contributed to negative performance. The Fund had a gross exposure of 311% (Long 182% and Short -129%) and net exposure of 53%. Click the link below to view the latest Monthly report. |
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KIS Asia Long Short Fund
15 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
KIS Asia Long Short Fund rose 0.52% for the month of August taking the return for the most recent 12 months to 18.12% versus an S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index of 8.96% over the same period.
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15 Sep 2016 - KIS Asia Long Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Whilst the Fund's primary strategy is focused on long/short equities, the ability to retain discretionary powers to allocate across a number of other investment strategies is reserved. These strategies may include, but not be limited to: convertible bond investments, portfolio hedging, equity related arbitrage, special situations (e.g. merger arbitrage, rights offerings, participation in international public offerings and placements, etc.). The Fund's geographic focus is Asia excluding Japan, but including Australia). The Fund may invest outside of this region to the extent that: 1. The investment decision is driven from the Asian region or; 2. The exposure is intended to mitigate risk or enhance return from factors external to the Asian region. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's performance was driven largely by long positions in Altium Ltd (ALU.AX) 0.45% and short positions in Aurizon Holdings Ltd Ltd (AZJ.AX) 0.20% and Navitas Ltd (NVT.AX) 0.18%. Detractors for the month included long positions in Plymouth Minerals Ltd (PLH.AX) -0.27%, AHALife Holdings (AHL.AX) -0.23% and Actinogen Medical Ltd (ACW.AX) -0.17%. Click below to read the latest monthly Fund Report. |
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Cyan C3G Fund
14 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Cyan C3G Fund rose 1.60% in August, outperforming the market (ASX 200 Total Return Index) that fell -1.55%, by 3.15%.
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14 Sep 2016 - 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 | Positive performers for the month included Afterpay (AFY), Bellamy's (BAL), Vita Group (VTG), Skydive The Beach, AMA Group, Nick Scali and PSC Insurance. One of the notable price movements on the back of poor results or negative outlook commentary included APN Outdoor (-35%). The Fund had minor exposure to APN Outdoor, which they sold immediately on the day the result was released. Currently, the Fund has a high cash balance accompanied by a well-diversified portfolio, which has exposure to the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Financials, Industrials and Health Care sectors. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
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