Absolute Return Capital Management's Australian equity long short Ascot Fund reported a positive result for July, returning 6.6% net of fees, to produce their best ever return over the four years since the fund's inception in August 2005.
July's gain of 6.6% has brought the 2009 YTD result for the Ascot Fund to 12.37% following their positive return in calendar 2008 of 5.24%, and an annualised return since inception of 14.33% with volatility of just 5.56%.
Commenting on the result, Managing Director Craig Connelly noted not only the record result and a pleasing start to the new financial year, but the fact that the performance was based on an average net long position of only 57% of funds under management (beta adjusted), attributing the performance to a combination of strong stock selection as well as the effective use of call options to provide leverage.
Looking forward the manager is bullish, noting that the ASX's strong bounce off the March low was from a market that had overshot to the downside, and intends to retain a net long bias while remaining vigilant to lock in trading profits while continuing to manage their positions in a pro-active manner.
