NEWS
BlackRock Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund
18 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The BlackRock Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund has a low overall risk profile with an annualised volatility of 5.69% (13.19% for the Index) since inception in Sept 2001.
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18 Oct 2013 - BlackRock Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund's portfolio primarily consists of long and short Australian equity positions. The Fund may also invest in other funds managed by BlackRock. Derivative securities, such as futures, forwards, swaps and options, can be used to manage risk and return Key insights into the investment process include: Analyst Expectations, Relative Valuation, Earnings Quality, Market Signals and Timing. Short-Term return enhancing opportunities including: Dividend reinvestment plans, Manging index changes, Managing cash flows and Arbitrage, Initial public offerings and Seasoned Equity Offerings and Off Market Buybacks. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund had little net exposure to the global risk sentiment effects, with offsetting long mining and short mining services positions. Stock picking within the domestic sectors added value, especially during the lead up to the August reporting season, when many companies made pre-emptive announcements to foreshadow poor results. Themes of new media versus old media, and online retail versus department stores, added value here. The out-performance of domestic cyclicals post the results season was a net negative for the Fund, with the primary detractors being building materials. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
17 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Morphic Global Opportunities Fund returned 0.26% during September and 29.91% for the last 12 months achieved with a notable Sharpe ratio of 2.91.
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17 Oct 2013 - Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | The Fund ended the month underweight the US and overweight Japan, Europe and Emerging Markets; reflecting the view that a trend that began in April of industrial and cyclical stocks outperforming more defensive equities is set to continue. Accelerating global demand and ample liquidity should be a potent mix for shares and the Fund is therefore fully invested. Forward indicators for growth across many countries are accelerating at rates not seen for more than two years and Chinese 'hard landing' fears have receded. The biggest single risk is the US budgetary battle. While the Manager's core view is that this will be resolved, the implications of protracted negotiations could be material. The Manager has therefore established a number of hedges to protect from short term volatility and the tail risks associated with a US technical default on its obligations. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Insync Global Titans Fund
16 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Insync Global Titans Fund has just completed it's fourth year with a return of 9.26% (ASX 200 Accum 7.03%) and annualised volatility of 8.34% (Index 12.35%) since inception.
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16 Oct 2013 - Insync Global Titans Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | The main detractors for the month were GlaxoSmithKline, General Mills and SAP. The largest positive contributions came from our holdings in Reckitt Benckiser, British Sky Broadcasting, Safran and Nestle. Safran has more than a 75% market share in narrow-body aircraft engines, an industry with very high barriers to entry. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
15 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust recorded 0.43% in September bringing the since inception (Sept 2008) return to 10.85%. Annualised volatility is 3.62% vs 15.37% for the ASX 200 Accum over the same time frame.
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15 Oct 2013 - 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 Manager notes that at a market level, there has still been little change in the pattern of leadership. Despite very rich valuations, defensive yield and financials still seem to attract the majority of fresh money flows in our market, and the Fed's recent actions may continue to limit the perceived utility of valuation for a while longer, dangerous as that is. In this environment, hedging risk has been a frustrating and expensive exercise, although in the Manager's view, an increasingly essential one. Risk still strikes the Manager as being asymmetrically priced, with only low single-digit returns on offer from equity and debt securities if things hold together, and the prospect of much more substantial losses if they do not. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Fund Review: BlackRock Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund
11 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The BlackRock Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund portfolio consists of approx. 180 stocks in equally weighted long and short portfolios to maximise potential returns while minimising market volatility.
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11 Oct 2013 - Fund Review: BlackRock Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
BLACKROCK AUSTRALIAN EQUITY MARKET NEUTRAL FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the BlackRock Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund.
We would highlight the following:
- The Fund's portfolio generally consists of approx. 180 stocks in equally weighted long and short portfolios to maximise potential returns while minimising market volatility.
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The strategy has recorded a return of 12.14% since inception (Sept 2001) as compared to the ASX 200 Accumulation Index return of 8.37% and with a volatility less than one-half that of the Index at 5.7% pa as compared to 13.23% pa.
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The Fund has also recorded a maximum drawdown of 12.41% as compared to 47.19% for the Index and has had 78% positive months since inception.
- BlackRock is the world's largest fund management group. Since being established in 1988 it has grown organically and by acquisition to manage US$3.93 trillion as of March 2013.
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Operations cover 27 countries including Australia (where BlackRock has A$48.6 billion in FUM - March 2013) managing a broad range of strategies across a variety of asset classes.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
10 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund is a research driven, market and sector neutral, "pairs" trading strategy investing primarily in large cap stocks from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with a ten year track record and annualised net returns of...
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10 Oct 2013 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund September 2013 (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 cap stocks from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with a ten year track record and annualised net returns of over 20%.
- Since inception in January 2002 the Fund has had positive annual returns each year, including an 11.95% return in 2008 and 20.6% in 2011, both of which were negative years for the ASX200.
- The Fund's risk statistics are also sound with maximum drawdown of 12.22% and 71% positive months. Both the Sharpe Ratio at 1.27 and the Sortino ratio at 2.21, indicate a high reward-to-risk ratio.
- The consistent returns across the investment history indicates the Fund's ability to provide positive returns in volatile and negative markets and significantly outperform the broader market.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund September 2013 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Prism Active Equity Fund
9 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
AFM's updated Fund Review for the Prism Active Equity Fund for August 2013. To date the Fund has delivered 5.59% and, in keeping with it's low volatility mandate, has an annualised standard deviation of 2.48% (since inception in October...
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9 Oct 2013 - Fund Review: Prism Active Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Prism Active Equity Fund August 2013 (pdf format)
AFM PRISM ACTIVE EQUITY FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the AFM Prism Active Equity Fund.
Attached is our most recent update of the Fund:
- The Prism Active Equity Fund ("Fund") comprises a portfolio of 5 to 10 underlying Australian absolute return managers each investing in ASX listed equities.
- The Fund's objective is to achieve double-digit annualised returns with significantly lower volatility than the underlying equity markets, with a focus on capital protection.
- To date the Fund has delivered 5.59% and, in keeping with it's low volatility mandate, has an annualised standard deviation of 2.48% (since inception in October 2012). The Fund's maximum drawdown is 1.42% as compared to 6.72% for the ASX 200 Accum Index
- Fund selection is made based on a combination of quantitative analysis of past performance and risk, coupled with extensive analysis and due diligence of the underlying manager's processes and pedigree.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Prism Active Equity Fund August 2013 (pdf format)
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
8 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund returned 0.93% for September bringing it's since inception (May 2006) return to 14.08% pa as compared to the ASX 200 Accumulation return of 4.44% pa.
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8 Oct 2013 - Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund consists of a concentrated long/short portfolio typically comprising 30 to 40 ASX300 listed stocks, generally with a long bias aligned to the overall market direction. There is a slight bias to large cap stocks in the long side of the portfolio, although in a rising market the portfolio will tend to hold smaller caps, including resource stocks, more frequently. On the short side, the portfolio is particularly concentrated, with stock selection limited by both liquidity and the difficulty of borrowing stock in smaller cap companies. Short positions are only taken when there is a high conviction view on the specific stock. The Fund uses derivatives in a limited way, mainly selling short dated covered call options to generate additional income. These typically have less than 30 days to expiry, and are usually 5% to 10% out of the money. ASX SPI futures and index put options can be used to hedge the portfolio's overall net position. |
| Manager Comments | Long positions in Bank of Queensland, Seek and JB Hi-Fi were all meaningful positive contributors. The largest detractors from performance were Share Price Index Futures contracts (hedging long positions), CSL and BHP. Net equity market exposure including derivatives was increased slightly to 29.6% (67.7% long and 38.1% short). |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
4 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund has a five year performance record of 16.85% vs 4.63% for the ASX 200 Acc and an annualised standard deviation of 12.63% as compared to 15.48%.
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4 Oct 2013 - Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | The Manager notes that the fund performance was slightly positive during the month with contributions from the long portfolio marginally outperforming detractions from the short book. The Fund has a month-end leverage of 4.9 times. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Monash Absolute Investment Fund
3 Oct 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Monash Absolute Investment Fund returned 7.15% during September (ASX 200 Acc 2.19%) with a net exposure of 81%.
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3 Oct 2013 - Monash Absolute Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | 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. |
| Manager Comments | The Manager notes that the portfolio more than kept up with the broader market this month despite action taken to protect returns by: trimming some holdings; increasing cash, and; adding to the short positions. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
