NEWS
Performance Report: The Airlie Australian Share Fund
25 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Airlie Australian Share Fund rose +0.52% in February, taking 12-month performance to +11.76% vs the ASX200 Accumulation Index's +6.48%. Since inception in June 2018, the Fund has risen +9.08% p.a. vs the Index's +7.66% p.a. with...
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25 Mar 2021 - Performance Report: The Airlie Australian Share Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is long-only with a bottom-up focus. It has a concentrated portfolio of 15-35 stocks (target 25). Maximum cash holding of 10% with an aim to be fully invested. Airlie employs a prudent investment approach that identifies companies based on their financial strength, attractive durable business characteristics and the quality of their management teams. Airlie invests in these companies when their view of their fair value exceeds the prevailing market price. It is jointly managed by Matt Williams and Emma Fisher. Matt has over 25 years' investment experience and formerly held the role of Head of Equities and Portfolio Manager at Perpetual Investments. Emma has over 8 years' investment experience and has previously worked as an investment analyst within the Australian equities team at Fidelity International and, prior to that, at Nomura Securities. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's 12-month up-capture and down-capture ratios, 110% and 93% respectively, indicate that, on average, it has outperformed during the market's positive and negative months. The Fund has maintained an up-capture ratio of above 100% over all time periods, highlighting its capacity to outperform in positive markets. At month-end, the portfolio's top positions included Aurizon Holdings, BHP Group, CBA, CSL, Healius, NAB, PWR Holdings, Tabcorp Holdings, Wesfarmers and Woolworths Ltd. By sector, the portfolio was most heavily weighted towards the Financials and Consumer Discretionary sectors. |
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Performance Report: Insync Global Capital Aware Fund
25 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Insync Global Capital Aware Fund rose +0.40% in February, taking 12-month performance to +10.79% with a volatility of 13.47%. Since inception in October 2009, the Fund has risen +11.43% p.a. with an annualised volatility of 9.90%.
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25 Mar 2021 - Performance Report: Insync Global Capital Aware Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Insync employs four simple screens to narrow the universe of over 40,000 listed companies globally to a focus group of high quality companies that it believes have the potential to consistently grow their profits and dividends. These screens are size of the company, balance sheet performance, valuation and dividend quality. Companies that pass this due diligence process are then valued using dividend discount models, free cash flow yield and proprietary implied growth and expected return models. The end result is a high conviction portfolio of typically 15-30 stocks. The principal investments will be in shares of companies listed on international stock exchanges (including the US, Europe and Asia). The Fund may also hold cash, derivatives (for example futures, options and swaps), currency contracts, American Depository Receipts and Global Depository Receipts. The Fund may also invest in various types of international pooled investment vehicles. At times, Insync may consider holding higher levels of cash if valuations are full and it is difficult to find attractive investment opportunities. When Insync believes markets to be overvalued, it may hold part of its resources in cash, or use derivatives as a way of reducing its equity exposure. Insync may use options, futures and other derivatives to reduce risk or gain exposure to underlying physical investments. The Fund may purchase put options on market indices or specific stocks to hedge against losses caused by declines in the prices of stocks in its portfolio. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's capacity to protect investors' capital in falling and volatile markets is highlighted by the following statistics (since inception): Sortino ratio of 1.68 vs the Index's 1.36, maximum drawdown of -10.98% vs the Index's -13.59%, and down-capture ratio of 61.74%. The Fund's top 10 active holdings at month-end were Walt Disney, PayPal, Nintendo, Visa, S&P Global, Domino's Pizza, Dollar General, Qualcomm, Microsoft and Facebook. By sector, the portfolio was most heavily weighted towards the IT sector relative to the MSCI while also relatively underweight the Industrials sector. Megatrends to which the Fund had the greatest exposure were eCommerce and Digitisation. |
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Performance Report: Premium Asia Fund
24 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Premium Asia Fund rose +2.79% in February, outperforming AFM's Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index by +2.06% and taking 12-month performance to +33.50% vs the Index's +18.28%. Since inception in December 2009, the Fund has risen +12.97% p.a....
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24 Mar 2021 - Performance Report: Premium Asia Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is managed by Value Partners using a disciplined value-oriented approach supported by intensive, on-the-ground bottom-up fundamental research resulting in a portfolio of individual holdings, which are, in the view of Value Partners, undervalued and of high quality, on either an absolute or relative basis, and which have the potential for capital appreciation. The Fund will primarily have exposure to the equity securities of entities listed on securities exchanges across the Asia (ex-Japan) region, however, the Fund may also gain exposure to entities listed on securities outside the Asia (ex-Japan) region which have significant assets, investments, production activities, trading or other business interests in the Asia (ex-Japan) region as well as unlisted instruments with equity-like characteristics, such as participatory notes and convertible bonds. The Fund may also invest in cash and money market instruments, depositary receipts, listed unit trusts, shares in mutual fund corporations and other collective investment schemes (including real estate investment trusts), derivatives including both exchange-traded and OTC, convertible securities, participatory notes, bonds, and foreign exchange contracts. |
| Manager Comments | Under high demand for electronic components, the Fund's South Korean and Taiwanese hardware manufacturers holdings continued to rally in February. Premium noted the global recovery lends upside to demand, benefitting the materials sector. This includes the Fund's chemical manufacturer holding in South Korea. As the pandemic impacts lessened and recovery kicked in, the Manager has been building more positions in Korean equities since the beginning of the year. They remain constructive on the global recovery outlook and continue to favour the market as the earnings upcycle continues. Premium's view is that overall growth in North Asia has higher visibility underpinned by the resilient macro backdrop. Thus, they maintain their overweight position in the sub-region over ASEAN. Looking forward, Premium's conviction on Asian equities remains unchanged. They expect fundamentals to stay robust amid the on-going recovery in the region. The change in the inflation environment is being assessed in their bottom-up stock picking process. They remain focused on quality companies that showcase high visibility and sustained earnings growth. |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
24 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund rose +0.11% in February, taking 12-month performance to +20.67% vs the ASX200 Accumulation Index's +6.48%. Since inception in February 2009, the Fund has returned +16.69% p.a. vs the...
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24 Mar 2021 - Performance Report: Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The overriding objective of the Concentrated Australian Equities Fund is to seek investment opportunities which are under-appreciated and have the potential to deliver positive earnings, while satisfying our stringent quality criteria. Bennelong's investment process combines bottom-up fundamental analysis together with proprietary investment tools which are used to build and maintain high quality portfolios that are risk aware. The portfolio typically consists of 20-35 high-conviction stocks from the S&P/ASX 300 Index. The Fund may invest in securities listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to ASX-listed securities. Derivative instruments are mainly used to replicate underlying positions and hedge market and company specific risks. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's superior capacity to avoid the market's downside volatility over the long-term is supported by its Sortino ratio (since inception) of 1.37 vs the Index's 0.74%. As at the end of February, the portfolio's weightings had been increased in the Discretionary, Health Care, Industrials, Consumer Staples and Materials sectors, and decreased in the IT, Communication, REIT's and Financials sectors. Relative to the ASX300 Index, the portfolio was significantly overweight the Discretionary sector (Fund weight: 42.4%, benchmark weight: 8.0%) and underweight the Financials sector (Fund weight: 6.9%, benchmark weight: 27.6%). |
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Performance Report: Glenmore Australian Equities Fund
24 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Glenmore Australian Equities Fund has risen +20.23% over the past 12 months vs the ASX200 Accumulation Index's +6.48%. Since inception in June 2017, the Fund has returned +20.99% p.a. vs the Index's +8.18%.
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24 Mar 2021 - Performance Report: Glenmore Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The main driver of identifying potential investments will be bottom up company analysis, however macro-economic conditions will be considered as part of the investment thesis for each stock. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund returned -1.61% in February. Positive contributors included Pinnacle Investment Management and Uniti Group, while NRW Holdings and Coronado Global Resources detracted from performance. Glenmore believe that, regarding COVID-19, the data both in Australia and globally continue to show improvement. Their view is that the outlook over the next 12-18 months is for incremental improvement in cases, which they expect should present investment opportunities in stocks and sectors that underperformed in 2020. |
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Performance Report: NWQ Fiduciary Fund
24 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The NWQ Fiduciary Fund has risen +6.77% over the past 12 months with a volatility of 9.79%. Over the same period, the ASX200 Accumulation Index has returned +6.48% with a volatility of 25.58%. Since inception in May 2013, the Fund has...
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24 Mar 2021 - Performance Report: NWQ Fiduciary Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund aims to produce returns after management fees and expenses of RBA Cash Rate + 4.0-5.0% p.a. over rolling five-year periods. Furthermore, the Fund aims to achieve these returns with volatility that is a fraction of the Australian equity market, in order to smooth returns for investors. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's capacity to protect investors' capital in falling and volatile markets is highlighted by the following statistics (since inception): Sortino ratio of 1.08 vs the Index's 0.56, maximum drawdown of -8.77% vs the Index's -26.75%, and down-capture ratio of 13.25%. The Fund underperformed in February with the rotation from defensive/growth companies into cyclical/value companies impacting both sides of the portfolio. Several companies facing structural challenges in the medium-term (short portfolio) outperformed in February at the expense of higher quality names (long portfolio). NWQ emphasise the Fund is an alternative to a typical balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds. The typical balanced portfolio has relied on falling bond yields to boost returns (prices rise as yields fall) and to provide a buffer against equity market risks. However, NWQ believe with bond yields on the rise this favourable dynamic for balanced fund investors may not be so reliable in future. With bonds having low or negative expected returns over the medium-term, NWQ expect investors will need to seek alternative return sources in order to realise attractive real returns. |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
23 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Australian Equities Fund rose +0.82% in February, taking 12-month performance to +28.13% vs the ASX200 Accumulation Index's +6.48%. Since inception in February 2009, the Fund has risen +14.69% p.a. vs the Index's +10.01%.
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23 Mar 2021 - Performance Report: Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Bennelong Australian Equities Fund seeks quality investment opportunities which are under-appreciated and have the potential to deliver positive earnings. The investment process combines bottom-up fundamental analysis with proprietary investment tools that are used to build and maintain high quality portfolios that are risk aware. The investment team manages an extensive company/industry contact program which helps identify and verify various investment opportunities. The companies within the portfolio are primarily selected from, but not limited to, the S&P/ASX 300 Index. The Fund may invest in securities listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to the ASX-listed securities. The Fund typically holds between 25-60 stocks with a maximum net targeted position of an individual stock of 6%. |
| Manager Comments | As at the end of February, the portfolio's weightings had been increased in the Discretionary, Health Care, Communications, Industrials and Materials sectors, and decreased in the REIT's, IT and Financials sectors. Relative to the ASX300 Index, the portfolio was significantly overweight the Discretionary sector (Fund weight: 44.7%, benchmark weight: 7.6%) and underweight the Financials sector (Fund weight: 6.8%, benchmark weight: 28.6%). |
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Performance Report: Montgomery Small Companies Fund
22 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Montgomery Small Companies Fund rose +4.52% in February, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +3.52% and taking 12-month performance to +37.98% vs the Index's +6.48%. Since inception in October 2019, the Fund has risen...
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22 Mar 2021 - Performance Report: Montgomery Small Companies Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Montgomery Lucent, a joint venture between Lucent Capital Partners and Montgomery Investment Management, is the investment manager of the Fund. Lucent Capital Partners is owned by its founders Gary Rollo and Dominic Rose. Gary and Dominic have worked together for three years as at February 2020 and have a combined three decades of portfolio management and equities research experience. The manager is able to invest up to 10% of the portfolio in pre-IPO opportunities. They search for companies likely to benefit from secular trends, industry change and with substantial competitive advantages. Cash typically ranges around 10%. |
| Manager Comments | The largest positive contributors for February included Aeris Resources (ASX:AIS), EML Payments (ASX:EML) and Uniti Group (ASX:UWL). The largest detractors from performance included GWA Group (ASX:GWA), NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) and Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS). Montgomery's central case is that markets will observe a vaccine rollout-driven acceleration of economic activity in most Western Economies over the next 6 months. They expect that the release of pent-up demand into certain ravaged sectors specifically and a wave of relief translating to broader strength in economic activity more generally will be profound. Accordingly they have positioned the portfolio to benefit from these 'reopeners'. February performance benefitted from these stocks as reporting season shone some light on to key factors that Montgomery expect to drive value over the coming months as visibility on the detail of the recovery takes shape. |
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Performance Report: Frazis Fund
22 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Frazis Fund rose +2.50% in February, outperforming AFM's Global Equity Index by +1.03% and taking 12-month performance to +129.19% vs the Index's +10.24%. Since inception in July 2018 the Fund has returned +35.70% p.a. vs the Index's +10.79%.
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22 Mar 2021 - Performance Report: Frazis Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The manager follows a disciplined, process-driven, and thematic strategy focused on five core investment strategies: 1) Growth stocks that are really value stocks; 2) Traditional deep value; 3) The life sciences; 4) Miners and drillers expanding production into supply deficits; 5) Global special situations; The manager uses a macro overlay to manage exposure, hedging in three ways: 1) Direct shorts 2) Upside exposure to the VIX index 3) Index optionality |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's up-capture ratio (since inception) of 308.8% indicates that, on average, the Fund has risen more than three times as much as the market during the market's positive months, while the Fund's Sortino ratio (since inception) of 1.35 vs the Index's 1.19 highlights its capacity to avoid the market's downside volatility over the long-term. Frazis noted higher rates have obvious consequences for growth assets, however, they believe the recent retracement has as much to do with overextended valuations and sentiment as macro factors. As rates continue to rise, Frazis expect multiples to continue to compress. The recent reporting season suggests the Fund's holdings remain on track, though Frazis did close a small number that didn't prove up to scratch. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund February 2021
22 Mar 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The latest Fund Review on Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund is now available. The Fund invests in ASX listed stocks, combining an indexed position in the Top 20 stocks with an actively managed portfolio of ex-20 stocks.
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22 Mar 2021 - Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund February 2021
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - February 2021 (pdf format)
BENNELONG TWENTY20 AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund.
- The Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund invests in ASX listed stocks, combining an indexed position in the Top 20 stocks with an actively managed portfolio of stocks outside the Top 20. Construction of the ex-top 20 portfolio is fundamental, bottom-up, core investment style, biased to quality stocks, with a structured risk management approach.
- Mark East, the Fund's Chief Investment Officer, and Keith Kwang, Director of Quantitative Research have over 50 years combined market experience. Bennelong Funds Management (BFM) provides the investment manager, Bennelong Australian Equity Partners (BAEP) with infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution services.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - February 2021 (pdf format)
