NEWS
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
5 Jun 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Long Short Fund had a remarkable May delivering 9.49% and its twelve month performance to 19.89%.
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5 Jun 2013 - Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | Once again, May proved to be a tough month for the S&P/ASX200 Index, finishing down 5.1%. A slew of profit warnings concentrated mainly across the domestic cyclical and mining services sectors dented investor confidence whilst some weak domestic economic data together with a surprise RBA rate cut further eroded sentiment. A breakdown in the AUDUSD (-7.3%) and rising bond yields (US 10 year bond yield +46bps to 2.13% and Australia 10 year bond yield +27bps to 3.36%) saw a rotation out of yield names and into resources. The portfolio had a pleasing month, with both the long and short portfolios positively contributing to performance. The long portfolio returned 30% of the total return with the shorts delivering 70%, mainly on the back of strong performances from some of the longs which have USD exposure whilst the sell off across domestic cyclicals helped our short portfolio. |
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Blackrock Global Allocation Fund (Class D)
4 Jun 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Blackrock Global Allocation Fund returned 2.04% in April, in line with its benchmark, and 14.10% over the preceding 12 months.
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4 Jun 2013 - Blackrock Global Allocation Fund (Class D)
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The G.A. Team believes that competitive returns with low to moderate levels of risk can be achieved through a flexible, research intensive, value-oriented approach that seeks the best investment opportunities worldwide, broadly diversified across asset classes, countries and securities. The Fund's current investment strategy is to invest in global equities, fixed income and cash. The Fund aims to maximise total investment returns while managing risk and is generally diversified across markets, industries and issuers. In selecting equity investments, the Fund mainly seeks to invest in securities which are believed to be undervalued. The Fund may buy fixed income securities of varying maturities. While the Fund can, and does, look for investments in all the markets of the world, it will typically invest a majority of its assets in the securities of companies and governments located in North and South America, Europe and Asia. In making investment decisions,the G.A. Team aims to identify the long-term trends and changes that could benefit particular markets and/or industries relative to other markets and industries. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund also remains overweight Japanese equities based on attractive valuations, anticipation of further accommodative monetary policy, and potential for enduring negative sentiment and underinvestment in Japan to reverse. Importantly, much of the Japanese yen (JPY) exposure in the Fund has been hedged given the possibility of more aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan. |
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Bennelong ex-20 Australian Equities Fund
3 Jun 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong ex-20 Australian Equities Fund had a strong April returning 3.04%, well ahead of its benchmark of 0.49%.
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3 Jun 2013 - Bennelong ex-20 Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Bennelong ex-20 Australian Equities Fund aims to outperform the return generated that is generated by the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index excluding that part of the return that is generated by the stocks comprised in the S&P/ASX 20 Leaders Index, which represents the 20 largest stocks by market capitalisation in Australia, by 4% per annum after fees on a rolling three-year basis by actively managing a portfolio of primarily Australian shares. The companies within the portfolio are primarily selected from, but not limited to, the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index excluding the S&P/ASX 20 Leaders 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 company-specific risks. The Fund typically holds between 20 and 60 stocks. The Fund's maximum net targeted position of an individual stock is 10%. 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. |
| Manager Comments | The Australian equity market (S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index ex-top 20) closed up 0.49% in April, with investors favouring defensive yield plays over Resources, which were sold down on weak Chinese economic data. The market is currently trading on 14.4x consensus earnings forecasts for next year, which are expected to grow 8.6%, with a corresponding dividend yield of 4.1%. Although global economic growth is being impacted by the European recession and slower growth in China, the outlook for Australian earnings, particularly in the non-resource sectors, is showing signs of improvement. The portfolio has a bias to high quality companies that are well positioned to deliver positive earnings surprise, relative to expectations, at inexpensive valuations. The largest sector exposure is Consumer Discretionary at 47.9%. |
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Blackrock Multi Opportunity Fund
30 May 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Blackrock Multi Opportunity Fund had a sound April recording a return of 1.69% (net) and 10.86% over the last twelve months.
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30 May 2013 - Blackrock Multi Opportunity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | - Australian and International Equity Long/Short - Global Fixed Income Long/Short - Global Macro - Commodity Alpha - Alpha Transport The Fund's goal is to provide investors with a source of consistent, risk-controlled, absolute returns that are over time, expected to have low correlations with the returns of major asset classes. The Fund aims to achieve a return of 8% p.a. before fees, above the RBA Cash Rate Target over rolling 3 year periods. In order to achieve its expected return objective, the Fund will target a total expected risk of between 4-6% p.a. over the same rolling 3 year period. |
| Manager Comments | Global equities rose for the sixth consecutive month in April despite concerns over moderating global growth. Japanese equities continued their strong run, rallying 12.7% in April as the Bank of Japan delivered aggressive policy stimulus. Elsewhere, most equity markets posted solid gains with US equities up 1.9%, German equities up 1.2%, and Australian equities up 4.5% however Canadian equities fell 2.5% led by a decline in the materials sector. The Multi Opportunity Fund delivered strong positive performance in April with the Global Macro, Australian Equity Market Neutral, International Alpha Transport and Fixed Income Global Alpha strategies contributing positively. The Global Equity Market Neutral strategies detracted. |
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SGH ICE
29 May 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The SGH ICE Fund delivered 2.57% during April and 28.53% over the preceding twelve months.
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29 May 2013 - SGH ICE
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The investment manager believes that key intangible assets (such as Brands, Patents, Licenses, Logistical capability, a Captive client base) are the most difficult to replicate and that these key assets enable companies to entrench their products/services in the marketplace. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's largest holdings were Industrials at 18.21 and Consumer Discretionary at 17.69 and the smallest sector holding was Energy at 0.95%. The five largest holdings represented 18.54% of the Fund and these were TPG Telecom, Sky Network, AMP, STW Communications and Amcom Telecomms. |
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Allard Investment Fund
24 May 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Allard Investment Fund recorded 0.80% over April with its since inception (July 2003) performance at 8.49% pa.
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24 May 2013 - Allard Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | At end-April the asset breakdown was 68.6% equities and 31.4% cash and fixed income. The geographic breakdown was HK/China 32.1%, Sing 12.4% and Korea 9.3% with other countries at lower percentages. In terms of portfolio concentration the top 5 holdings were 36.1% of the total portfolio, the next 5 holdings 16.6% and the remainder at 15.9%. |
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Pengana Australian Equities Market Neutral Fund
23 May 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana Australian Equities Market Neutral Fund delivered -0.9% for April and has an annualised return of 8.82% since inception in September 2008.
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23 May 2013 - Pengana Australian Equities Market Neutral Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | Two of our largest long positions in April were BC Iron and Skilled Group, while two of our largest short positions were Macquarie Atlas Roads Group and AWE. Following on from March, Momentum (see chart below) was again the best performing investment theme in our model for the month followed by Earnings Revisions and Quality. Value failed to deliver in April and remains out of favour with a market that is firmly focused on Equity income via low risk(beta), large cap, and high dividend yielding stocks. With Momentum capturing share price movements that are based on previous performance, it provides a technical component to our mostly fundamental model. The market is now starting to pay attention to the fundamental Earnings Revisions and Quality components of our model, and the outstanding issue is when the market will start to factor in the fundamental or “true Value” of companies as they continue to stretch further into areas of over and under valuation across the defensive and cyclical sectors. |
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8IP Asia Pacific Partners Fund
22 May 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The 8IP Asia Pacific Partners Fund delivered -1.17% during April bringing its six month performance to 21.57%.
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22 May 2013 - 8IP Asia Pacific Partners Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | There is a relatively low number of individual securities in the Fund which may result in periods of high volatility. Ideally, investments should be made for a minimum of five years so that short term volatility may be offset by high capital growth over time. Companies are chosen using an active, bottom-up approach with particular attention paid to valuation and the sustainability of return on equity. The Fund takes a long term view when investing. Companies of all sizes are considered for inclusion in the Fund. The Fund invests in a mix of both developed and emerging markets. Investments in emerging markets may carry risk associated with delivery difficulties, failed or late settlement of market transactions and the registration and custody of securities is more complex. The lack of liquidity and efficiency in these markets may mean that from time to time the Fund may experience more difficulty in purchasing or selling securities than it would in a more developed market. |
| Manager Comments | After five months of strong gains, a number of stocks in the Fund ran into profit taking. During the month, we re-initiated a position in KWG Property Holdings Limited, a Chinese property company. Recent weakness in the share price provided an opportunity to buy after the strong performance by Chinese property stocks in 2012. Having recently visited six companies in the sector, it is clear that end-user demand is strong and interest costs have fallen sharply. In fact, demand for corporate bonds issued by Chinese property companies is the strongest we have ever seen. This bodes well for the performance of the shares over coming years. Largest sector exposures were financials, real estate and consumer discretionary. |
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Pengana Asia Special Events (Onshore) Fund
21 May 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana Asia Special Events (Onshore) Fund returned 1.31% during April and had a twelve month return of 8.23%.
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21 May 2013 - Pengana Asia Special Events (Onshore) Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| 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 | Japanese, Singaporean and Malaysian positions contributed significantly to the positive performance over the month as M&A activity picked up. Capital Management was the most successful strategy for the Fund, with Earnings Surprise, M&A and Stubs Trades also making meaningful contributions. Short index futures positions negatively impacted on performance as Asian markets generally rose strongly over the month. The Fund maintained an average net and gross exposure of 16% and 164% respectively. Largest month-end net exposures were China, Japan and Indonesia and biggest gross exposure by strategy was Merger and Acquisitions. April was very eventful led by a significant pick up in M&A activity and the earnings seasons in some markets. Japan was the most active M&A market in Asia, accounting for 6 of the 14 new deals during the month. Interestingly, as a sign of returning corporate confidence, 2 of the biggest Asian deals for the year were announced in April. Leading the table was the stake increase in Hindustan Unilever by parent Unilever Plc. Within the consumer space as well CP ALL, the operator of over 5,000 7-Eleven stores in Thailand, announced a takeover of Thai hypermart operator Siam Makro. A fall in commodity prices, led by the unexpected collapse of gold prices, resulted in significant volatility in resource stocks during the month. The falls did not adversely affect the risk arbitrage spreads the Fund was involved in. |
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BlackRock Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund
20 May 2013 - Australian Fund Monitors
The BlackRock Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund had a sound April returning 2.18%, bringing its 12 month return to 8.71%.
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20 May 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 S&P/ASX 200 rose 4.5% (4.5% accumulation) in April to reach its highest level since June 2008. This was largely driven by the seemingly insatiable appetite for yield, with high yield stocks outperforming and Australian Government bonds rallying strongly. Resources, however, slumped further amidst weaker than expected US and Chinese economic data and softer commodity prices. Domestically, the under-performance of resource stocks was most notable amongst gold stocks following the spectacular fall in the gold price. Small capitalisation miners with higher leverage to commodity prices were also hit particularly hard, and a number of mining service companies issued profit warnings. The search for yield was well evidenced by the remarkable turnaround (+9.7%) of WPL on the day it announced it will pay a special dividend and raise its dividend payout ratio. The portfolio benefited from the resource under-performance due to a tilt toward producers versus explorers, with significant contribution coming from short positions in Kingsgate Consolidated, Newcrest Mining and Oz Minerals, amongst others. The yield theme also proved profitable via our exposure to property trusts and telecoms. Elsewhere, the portfolio also had positive contributions from stock selection in domestic cyclicals, such as Flight Centre, Trade Me, Super Retail and Qantas. Losing stocks generally came from the same sectors, with long positions in Resolute Mining and St Barbara amongst the largest detractors. |
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