| 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'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 noted the ASX200 Accumulation Index posted its first negative quarter in over a year, as underlying volatility edged up, albeit from very low levels, as bond yields rose, with both the A$ and US$ 10-year yields up 35 bps in just two weeks, and with greater gains in the Euro zone. Given that these moves are against only the possibility of central banks withdrawing monetary stimulus, Optimal are concerned that the reality of such action could be very ugly indeed. On the portfolio front Optimal see earnings risks in companies facing the Australian consumer, and considerable risk in the banks and sectors exposed to housing given recent reactive government policy such as bank taxes, and concerns over energy security and rising gas and electricity prices. Optimal expect volatility to continue to rise over the very short term in spite of the market shrugging off increasingly poor geo-political risks, and the upcoming company reporting season in August. At month end the Fund's gross exposure stood at 122% of NAV, 64% long and 38% short (including derivatives) for a net exposure of 6%. |
| More Information |
