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19 Nov 2019 - Performance Report: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund

By: Australian Fund Monitors
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Report Date19 November 2019
ManagerBennelong Long Short Equity Management, a Bennelong boutique
Fund NameBennelong Long Short Equity Fund
StrategyEquity Market Neutral
Latest Return DateOctober 2019
Latest Return8.84%
Latest 6 Months14.66%
Latest 12 Months8.27%
Latest 24 Months (pa)6.82%
Annualised Since Inception15.37%
Inception Date01 January 2003
FUM (millions)AU$384.2
Fund OverviewBennelong Long Short Equity Management applies a qualitative stock selection process to construct a diversified portfolio of paired securities based on relative value. The Bennelong Long Short Equity Management strategy invests primarily in the S&P/ASX 100 and is dollar neutral at cost.

In a typical environment the Fund will hold around 70 stocks comprising 35 pairs. Each pair contains one long and one short position each of which will have been thoroughly researched and are selected from the same market sector. Whilst in an ideal environment each stock's position will make a positive return, it is the relative performance of the pair that is important.

As a result the Fund can make positive returns when each stock moves in the same direction provided the long position outperforms the short one in relative terms. However, if neither side of the trade is profitable, strict controls are required to ensure losses are limited.

The Fund uses no derivatives and has no currency exposure. The Fund has no hard stop loss limits, instead relying on the small average position size per stock (1.5%) and per pair (3%) to limit exposure. Where practical pairs are always held within the same sector to limit cross sector risk, and positions can be held for months or years.

The Bennelong Market Neutral Fund, with same strategy and liquidity is available for retail investors as a Listed Investment Company (LIC) on the ASX.
Manager CommentsThe Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund rose +8.84% in October, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +9.19%. Since inception in February 2002, the Fund has returned +15.37% p.a. versus the Index's +8.37%. The Fund's capacity to significantly outperform in falling markets is highlighted by its Sortino ratio of 1.52 versus the Index's 0.48 and down-capture ratio for performance since inception of -179.7% (a negative down-capture ratio indicates that, on average, the fund has risen during the months the market has fallen).

Bennelong noted there was a significant amount of news flow during the month, with many companies providing a trading update with their AGMs. Overall, both long and short portfolios were on the right side of company news. Positive returns were spread across a wide range of pairs from all sectors while negative pairs made a modest contribution.

Top contributing pairs included long BlueScope (BSL)/ short Sims Metal (SGM), long Qantas (QAN) / short Flight Centre (FLT) and long Iluka (ILU) / short RIO.
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