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Printed: 21 September 2026 5:34 AM

12 Jul 2016 - Optimal Australia Absolute Trust

By: Australian Fund Monitors
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Report Date11 July 2016
ManagerOptimal Fund Management Australia
Fund NameOptimal Australia Absolute Trust
StrategyEquity Long/Short
Latest Return DateJune 2016
Latest Return0.11%
Latest 6 Months4.90%
Latest 12 Months11.27%
Latest 24 Months5.91%
Annualised Since Inception9.13%
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 returned +0.11% in June, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index which returned -2.45%, by 2.56%. Since inception, the Fund has an annualised return of 9.13% p.a. (Index 4.87% p.a.), which has been achieved with relatively low volatility of 3.67% p.a. (Index 14.39% p.a).

The Fund maintained a net short market exposure throughout the month of June and therefore profited from the risk liquidation. However, most of the gains quickly disappeared post-Brexit rally. The Fund's short positions made a net contribution of 1.30% (on average exposure of 48% of NAV), slightly exceeding losses on their longs. The longs in Industrial, Resources and Staples sectors and the shorts in Banks, Builders, Index Futures sectors positively contributed to the Fund. However the longs in Insurance, Banks and Chemical sectors and the shorts in REITs and media sector contributed negatively.

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