NEWS
Allard Investment Fund
26 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Allard Investment Fund returned -1.0% during August with an allocation of 67.1% equity and 32.9% cash.
Read more...
26 Sep 2013 - Allard Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | |
| Manager Comments | In terms of geographic allocation the Fund's major allocations are 32.1% HK/China and 13.1% Singapore and in terms of industry the biggest exposure is financial services at 14.5% and conglomerates, 12.2%. The Fund's lower risk characteristics are shown by the annualised volatility of 8.2% pa as compared to that of the MSCI ASia Pacific ex Japan ($A) of 13.8%, over the last ten years. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund
25 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
AFM's updated Fund Review for Insync Global Titans Fund for August 2013 shows the Fund delivering sound returns of 9.63% pa with an annualised standard deviation of 8.40% (since inception in October 2009) and sound risk-reward statistics.
Read more...
25 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund (pdf format)
INSYNC GLOBAL TITANS FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Insync Global Titans Fund.
We would like to highlight the following:
- The Global Titans Fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of 15-25 stocks, targeting exceptional, large cap global companies with a strong focus on dividend growth and downside protection.
- Portfolio selection is driven by a core strategy of investing in companies with sustainable growth in dividends, high returns on capital, positive free cash flows and strong balance sheets.
- The investment strategy has delivered above MSCI ($A) benchmark performance over the medium and longer terms with limited drawdowns and excellent risk statistics.The Sharpe ratio is 0.67 (ASX 200 Acc 0.26) and Sortino ratio 1.17 (ASX 200 Acc 0.28) and are well above those of the ASX with downside deviation approximately one-half of the same Index since inception. The Fund has a record of 62% positive months and a downside capture ratio of -0.42 over the same time frame.
- Emphasis on limiting downside risk is through extensive company research, the ability to hold cash and long protective index put options.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund (pdf format)
Totus Alpha Fund
24 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund rose 2.1% during August with net exposure of 41% and gross exposure of 274% across 86 positions.
Read more...
24 Sep 2013 - Totus Alpha Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| 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 as determined by Totus Capital. 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 | Since inception in April 2012 the Fund has returned 29.1% (24.2% ASX 200 Acc Index) with a Sharpe Ratio of 1.41, Sortino Ratio of 3.14 and a down capture ratio of -0.84. The Fund also has a negative correlation of -0.209 to the Index. August was a tricky month for the fund. A number of the trends that the Manager had anticipated heading into reporting season did in fact play out but struggled to make money from them. The Manager had anticipated weak outlook statements and consensus earnings downgrades from a number of cyclical companies (and had positioned accordingly) yet many of these stocks rallied in spite of the downgrades. The Manager has been gradually trimming short positions (particularly in cyclical companies) and increasing the net long exposure of the fund. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Pengana Australian Equities Market Neutral Fund
23 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Australian Equities Market Neutral Fund completed a fifth year of operation recording an annualised return of 9.7% pa.
Read more...
23 Sep 2013 - Pengana Australian Equities Market Neutral Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | The manager's investment approach is premised on the belief that fundamental factors (such as earnings, cash flow and profit growth) affect stock prices, but that the adoption of quantitative techniques (i.e. computer based models) provides an advantage in assimilating and analysing this information, and building an efficient portfolio. The Fund's portfolio is constructed to be 'Market Neutral' i.e. it aims to have little or no overall exposure to movements in the equity market. The aim of low exposure to market movements is to enhance the consistency of the portfolio's performance and to provide diversification from other market oriented investments. |
| Manager Comments | Since inception the Fund has an annualised standard deviation of 8.02% compared to 15.48% (Index) and the risk-reward and risk statistics are sound with a Sharpe ratio of 0.7 (0.12 Index) and a Sortino Ratio of 1.06 (0.06 Index). The August performance was 3.8%. The Manager notes that the portfolio gained better traction from the Value fundamental factor during August with Value continuing its recent strong performance following the sharp positive shift in July. Risk appetite continues to stay in focus with the higher risk stocks outperforming lower risk, higher yielding stocks. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Auscap Long Short Australian Equities Fund
20 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Auscap Long Short Australian Equities Fund had a strong August returning 4.28% while maintaining an average net exposure of 61.1%.
Read more...
20 Sep 2013 - Auscap Long Short Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | The Fund focuses on fundamental long and short investments. The Fund may utilise a multi-strategy approach if short term opportunities to increase returns, hedge the portfolio, protect capital or minimise volatility are found. The Fund is a high conviction fund and the combined portfolio will typically have 25-45 positions, investing primarily in stocks in the ASX200. The Fund may be net long, short or neutral depending on the strategies employed at the time. The Fund may hold cash so that it is in a position to take advantage of market volatility and compelling investment opportunities as and when they arise. The Fund may be geared up to 200% gross long or short and up to 150% net long or short. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's biggest exposures were spread across consumer discretionary, financials, healthcare and telecommunications sectors. The Manager has written an interesting piece on their view of the relative merits of large cap versus small cap investing. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Fund Review: Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
19 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Morphic's Global Opportunities Fund has recently completed its first year of operations having returned 32.55% over 12 months with volatility of under 10% and a Sharpe ratio of 3.10 since inception in August 2012.
Read more...
19 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Morphic Global Opportunities Fund (pdf format)
MORPHIC GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND
AFM has updated the Fund Review on the Morphic Global Opportunities Fund.
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.
- Portfolio construction is stock selection agnostic with a bias to value based and momentum strategies. Risk management is a primary consideration in portfolio construction and the strong emphasis on risk is evidenced by the Fund's very high Sortino ratio of 14.88 and maximum drawdown of -0.52%.
- Morphic's philosophy is that only funds with flexible 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.
The full Review can be accessed from the link below, or from the Fund's Profile page.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Morphic Global Opportunities Fund (pdf format)
Pengana Asia Special Events (Onshore) Fund
18 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Asia Special Events (Onshore) Fund returned 1.03% during August 2013 with gross and net exposure averaging 158% and 12% respectively.
Read more...
18 Sep 2013 - Pengana Asia Special Events (Onshore) Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | The Fund seeks to profit from trading securities which are primarily subject to corporate events or from trading-related securities which the Investment Manager believes are mispriced by the market. The Fund invests in securities that are listed on Asian stock markets and other markets where related securities may be listed and in securities which are listed on markets outside of Asia where more than 70% (by assets or earnings) of the underlying business originates from an Asian country. The Fund aims to generate consistently positive returns which have a low correlation to the Asian stock markets. The objective is to generate 10-20% pa with a standard deviation of 6-10% |
| Manager Comments | Short index futures protected the Fund during the month, while non-directional trades such as M&A and stubs trades also contributed positively to performance. Malaysian and Japanese trades proved particularly profitable during the month. With market attention mostly macro related, the Asian event landscape was relatively calm with the announced M&A count remaining healthy for the month. Private equity players have become more active recently with 2 deals in August alone highlighting this trend. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Fund Review: Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund
18 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
AFM's updated Fund Review for the Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund for August 2013. The Fund is characterised by steady returns and very low risk. The since inception (March 2005) return is 8.23% pa and the annualised standard deviation 2.80%.
Read more...
18 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund (pdf format)
AURORA FORTITUDE ABSOLUTE RETURN FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
The Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund (AFARF) has a 8 year track record investing in ASX listed equities. A Market Neutral overlay is used across a multi strategy approach which allows for flexible asset allocation to maximise returns and minimise risk under a variety of market conditions and cycles.
Strong use of low risk "long" derivatives and option overlays has provided positive returns with low volatility during periods of market dislocation. Over 87% of monthly performances have been positive, with no losing months in 2008 and a largest drawdown of -2.09%.
ASX listed Aurora Funds Limited was established on the merger of three existing fund management businesses, managing approx. $480m on behalf of more than 2,500 retail and wholesale investors.CIO John Corr has over 20 years financial market experience with a strong focus on risk.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund (pdf format)
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
17 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
AFM's updated Fund Review for the Optimal Australia Absolute Trust for August 2013, which is characterised by very low risk. The Fund's since inception (September 2008) return is 10.65% pa and the annualised standard deviation 3.65%.
Read more...
17 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust (pdf format)
OPTIMAL AUSTRALIA ABSOLUTE FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Optimal Australia Absolute Fund.
We would like to highlight the following:
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 Fund has recorded out-performance of the market since inception in September 2008 with approximately 84% of monthly performances having positive returns and the largest drawdown -1.38%
The investment team comprising George Colman, Peter Whiting and Stephen Nicholls have close to 90 years combined experience in equity markets.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust (pdf format)
Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
16 Sep 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
AFM's updated Fund Review for BKARF, showing KPI's for August 2013 vs ASX200, Performance (net of fees) and Cumulative Performance since inception.
Read more...
16 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund (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 seven year track record. Consistent top decile long short equity sector performance with a since inception (May 2006) return of 14.11% pa (ASX Accumulation Index 4.18% pa) and a standard deviation of 7.89% pa (Index 14.86%) indicate the Fund's ability to generate strong risk-adjusted returns. 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 the Bennelong Group provide infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution capabilities.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund (pdf format)
