NEWS
Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund
21 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund returned 0.51% in October with the 12 month return coming in at 9.28% with a volatility of 0.62%.
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21 Nov 2014 - Laminar 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 | The Fund has averaged 20.35% since inception with a volatility of 7.81%, a Sharpe ratio of 1.99% and 93% positive months. At month-end the Fund held 65% RMBS, 6% listed securities, 7% corporate bonds, 20% short-dated loan and 2% cash. |
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Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
20 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund returned 1.22% during October and 4.31% over the previous 12 months with a volatility of 4.02%.
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20 Nov 2014 - Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund's discretionary investment strategy commences with a macro view of the economy and direction to establish the portfolio's desired market exposure. Following this detailed sector and company research is gathered from knowledge of the individual stocks in the Fund's universe, with widespread use of broker research. Company visits, presentations and discussions with management at CEO and CFO level are used wherever possible to assess management quality across a range of criteria. Detailed analysis of company valuations using financial statements and forecasts, particularly focusing on free cash flow, is conducted. Technical analysis is used to validate the Manager's fundamental research and valuations and to manage market timing. A significant portion of the Fund's overall performance can be attributed to the attention and importance given to the macro economic outlook and the ability and willingness to adjust the Fund's market risk. |
| Manager Comments | In October Commonwealth Bank, CSL, Lend Lease and Telstra were all significant contributors to performance, whilst Share Price Index Futures (hedging long positions), Greencross and a short position in Metcash were the major detractors. Net equity market exposure including derivatives was increased to 65.9% (75.1% long and 9.2% short). |
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Fund Review: Monash Absolute Investment Fund Oct 2014
20 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Monash Absolute Investment Fund declined 0.30% in October and returned 4.83% for the previous 12 months. The Fund's investment strategy is best described as long biased, equity long-short, with a strong focus on absolute returns rather...
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20 Nov 2014 - Fund Review: Monash Absolute Investment Fund Oct 2014
By: Australian Fund Monitors
MONASH ABSOLUTE INVESTMENT FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review. You are also able to view the Fund's Profile
CPD Points are now available for all AFM Fund Reviews. Read the review and answer 5 questions to earn half a point toward your continuing professional development.
We would like to highlight the following:
- The Fund is a research driven, active equity long/short strategy investing in listed ASX companies.
- The Fund seeks to identify opportunities in the share market to make positive returns (long and short) irrespective of market conditions. It is style agnostic, as compelling investment opportunities exist across all investment styles from time to time. The Fund places a high priority on capital preservation, and has an absolute return focus in accepting market risk.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sean Webster
Research Manager
Monash Absolute Investment Fund AFM Fund Review Oct 2014Avenir Value Fund
19 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Avenir Value Fund returned -1.92% during October with annual performance of 18.68% and volatility of 9.00%.
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19 Nov 2014 - Avenir Value Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund will invest in securities where Avenir believes the company is simply mis-priced and deeply undervalued and offers significant potential for revaluation. The Fund will also invest in companies that are subject to specific corporate events such as mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, recapitalisations, spin-offs, demergers, management change, distressed situations, and other sharply delineated corporate events. The Fund will also selectively invest in short positions in companies where Avenir believes the company is significantly overvalued or where the company's business model is broken or structurally challenged. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's annual Up and Down Capture ratios are notable at 0.41 and -0.92 respectively with the Sharpe ratio 1.69 (Index 0.41). At month-end the Fund's geographic exposure was US 43%, W. Europe 16% Asia 13% Australia 1%, Other 18% with cash at 8%. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Fund Review: Morphic Global Opportunities Fund October 2014
19 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
The October Fund Review shows performance at 1.12% for the Morphic Global Opportunities Fund ahead of the Global Equity Index (0.36%) and a 12 month Sharpe ratio of 1.52. CPD Points available.
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19 Nov 2014 - Fund Review: Morphic Global Opportunities Fund October 2014
By: Australian Fund Monitors
MORPHIC GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Morphic Global Opportunities Fund.
CPD Points are now available for all AFM Fund Reviews. Read the review and answer 5 questions to earn half a point toward your continuing professional development.
Key points include:
- The Fund is a global equity long/short manager with a long bias and a macro-economic overlay. The mandate allows the Fund to short sell, use derivatives and invest in assets such as commodities & currencies.
- Morphic's philosophy is that only funds with flexible investment and hedging strategies will be able to deliver acceptable, steady, real, absolute returns over the investment cycle.
- The Fund is an early stage, boutique, Sydney-based fund established in 2012 with experienced CIO's, and an investment team of 6 including a risk manager.
- The Board has a majority of independent members with significant risk and investment experience.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sean Webster
Research Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund
18 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund returned 0.87% during October and 15.65% over the prior 12 months with a volatility 8.94%.
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18 Nov 2014 - Totus Alpha Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is a long/short investment fund principally investing in listed entities, commodities, futures and options in Australia and internationally. The Fund is not a market neutral fund and accordingly may switch between net long positions and net short positions. The Fund may use short sales and derivatives. Gearing may be used to enhance returns and the Fund may be geared in excess of 100% of the Fund's Net Asset Value. There is a limit to net exposure of 150%. |
| Manager Comments | The Sharpe and Sortino ratios over the last year are 1.40 (0.41) and 2.95 (0.55) respectively with the Up and Down Capture ratios 0.59 and -0.36. At month-end the Fund had a net exposure of 5.9% and a gross exposure of 211%. We discussed the reasons for our cautious portfolio positioning in our last monthly (the end of QE in the USA, pressure on emerging market currency and commodity markets, US $ and Bond market strength) and despite the sharp rebound in some equity markets (particularly the US) many of these conditions are still in place (or intensifying) as we sit here in mid-November. Volumes (and share prices) in the mid cap space appear to be sliding with investors increasingly gravitating to a small number of (extremely expensive) growth stocks while at the large cap end banks and yield plays have been bid back up aggressively. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
The Paragon Fund
17 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Fund returned -2.50% (ASX 200 Accum 4.43%) during October with annual returns at 23.80% (Index 6.39%) with a volatility 14.39% (Index 10.33%).
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17 Nov 2014 - The Paragon Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Paragon accepts that markets are not always efficient in pricing information into securities and that no one investment style works in every stage of the investment cycle. Subsequently Paragon adopts a top down thematic led approach to identify companies exhibiting sustainable or improving returns on capital driven by volume growth, pricing power and competitive advantages. Paragon utilises both quantitative analysis to provide probability weighted high/low/base case valuations and qualitative analysis in assessing management, the business model and likely direction of returns. Paragon will allocate assets to each investment opportunity based on a risk/reward profile. Positions have defined investment parameters and risk limits, which are then monitored on an ongoing basis. |
| Manager Comments | The since inception (Feb 2013) Up and Down Capture ratios are notable at 0.82 and -0.65. Key drivers of the Paragon Fund performance for October included solid returns from Regis Healthcare and our short position in Syrah Resources, offset by falls in LNG Ltd, TFS Corp and our short position in Transfield Services. At the end of October the fund had 26 long positions and 5 short positions with a net exposure of 72.8% and a gross exposure 91.8%. |
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Cor Capital Fund
13 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Cor Capital Fund returned -0.13% during October bringing the annual return to 1.72% with a volatility of 3.43%.
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13 Nov 2014 - Cor Capital Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Cor Capital Fund is a Multi- Asset Fund which combines a pre-determined strategic asset allocation with active but systemised rebalancing to generate returns and manage volatility whilst maintaining transparency and liquidity. The Fund strategy is not reliant on accurate market predictions, forecasts or timing for success. Returns are generated in a number of ways; 1) by maintaining sufficiently large positions in a diverse group of asset classes, 2) via the 'volatility harvesting' consequences of active rebalancing, and 3) from the offsetting behaviour of certain asset classes under specific conditions. The combined portfolio is expected to exhibit relatively low volatility and low turnover. In the interests of avoiding complexity, maintaining liquidity, and minimising reliance on third parties, the Fund strategy does not employ gearing, derivatives or short-selling. |
| Manager Comments | Equities continued to be volatile, with the ASX200 Accum Index making up most of September's fall (+4.43%). Strong bond (+0.97%) and equities (+2.2%) performance within the Fund portfolio was offset by a weaker gold bullion price (-3.56%). The recent increase in volatility has not been sufficient to cause a breach in any of the Fund's defined asset class limits and so there were no changes during the last month. |
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Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
12 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust returned -0.71% in October with annual returns at 5.42%, with a volatility of 2.08%.
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12 Nov 2014 - Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
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. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund recorded 83% positive months over the last year and a maximum draw-down of -0.71% as compared to the Index at 5.38%. Not only did the market post a solid rebound, but the stocks leading that recovery were exactly the same group of yield-based so-called 'defensive' industrials and financials which so dominate index construction. The stats here are instructive: the ASX 20 stock index now represents 68% of the ASX 200 index, compared with 55% just prior to the 2007 market peak. Banks are now 31% of the ASX 200 index, and the financials overall represent 47% ― an all-time high. So: investors in the Australian stock market are assuming concentration risk of unprecedented proportions, and this skew in index concentration typically occurs at market extremes. |
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Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund
11 Nov 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund returned -2.49% during October with a net exposure of 1.2%.
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11 Nov 2014 - Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The core investment strategy of the Fund consists of the active selection of a series of paired long/short investments in Australian listed equities based upon the Investment Manager's fundamental research. The strategy seeks to capture stock Alpha whilst limiting portfolio exposure to market risk by adopting a dollar neutral portfolio market exposure position with the tactical capability to take net exposure of up to +/- 20% of gross assets. Stock selection is based on fundamental analysis to derive a view of a pair of individual stocks. The Investment Manager is style neutral in determining the stock's positioning. This primary 'pairs' strategy may be enhanced by other complementary strategies, including event driven, security and takeover arbitrage, thematic and momentum trading. The paired stock positions comprise long and short correlated securities that are in most cases simultaneously opened. A portfolio of approximately 30-100 stocks will be selected and actively managed in 15-50 pairs to comprise the core minimum (60%) of the Gross Asset Value. Up to a maximum of 40% of the portfolio's Gross Asset Value may be invested in uncorrelated securities and/or uncovered (long and/or short) positions. These 'satellite' positions are intended to enhance returns and to balance overall portfolio risk. In this regard, the Investment Manager recognises that it is not always possible to achieve a suitable paired profile within the S&P/ASX 200, and that a high conviction long or short stock idea might not always have a suitable pair. |
| Manager Comments | The fund had a very disappointing month in October. Our long book contributed positively but was overwhelmed by the negative contribution from the short book. At the sector level Consumer Discretionary and Financials dragged on performance, with iProperty /Trade Me and Cedar Woods / Stockland the main culprits. The three best performing pairs (Kathmandu / The Reject Shop & Pacific Brands, Carsales / Automotive Holdings, CSL / Primary Healthcare) all benefited from being on the right side of AGM comments. There was no common theme to our poor performing pairs. |
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