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Printed: 21 September 2026 3:41 AM

13 Apr 2016 - Optimal Australia Absolute Trust

By: Australian Fund Monitors
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Report Date11 April 2016
ManagerOptimal Fund Management Australia
Fund NameOptimal Australia Absolute Trust
StrategyEquity Long/Short
Latest Return DateMarch 2016
Latest Return2.34%
Latest 6 Months5.55%
Latest 12 Months12.59%
Latest 24 Months13.16%
Annualised Since Inception9.20%
Inception Date15 September 2008
FUM (millions)AU$100
Fund OverviewThe investment objective of the Fund is to seek to achieve above average returns in absolute terms, through investing in listed securities in Australia and New Zealand, subject to the overarching requirement of capital preservation. Investments will predominantly be in equity securities but may include fixed interest instruments, money market instruments, derivatives and foreign exchange contracts.

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 CommentsOptimal Australia Absolute Trust recorded a positive 2.3% return in March, against the ASX200 Accumulation Index's 4.73%. Since inception, the Fund has an annualised return of 9.20% p.a. (Index 4.5% p.a.), which has been achieved with relatively low volatility of 3.64% p.a. (Index 14.52% p.a).

During March, the Fund had solid gains from their high-conviction longs in the retail, media and utility sectors. The hedging through short exposure was not too expensive, with loss attribution of around 0.70% arising almost solely from index futures - the stock shorts broke even for the month. The Fund's stock selection worked extremely well, however the net short through the month, detracted from the returns. At month-end, the Fund's gross exposure was at 72% and net at -15%.

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