NEWS
Performance Report: Ark Global Fund - Class B AUD Hedged
5 Feb 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Ark Global Fund (Hedged) has returned +10.99% over the past 12 months and +9.53% p.a. since inception in July 2017. The Fund's down-capture ratio for performance since inception of -81.34% highlights the Fund's capacity to...
Read more...
5 Feb 2020 - Performance Report: Ark Global Fund - Class B AUD Hedged
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months (pa) | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | The investment objective of the Fund is to achieve long-term capital appreciation with low correlation to global equity markets through investment in the Underlying Fund. Fund One is a global macro fund that utilises quantitative research including machine learning techniques and fully automated trading algorithms which will aim to generate positive uncorrelated returns relative to any significant equity benchmark. The traded instruments are either major FX pairs or the most liquid exchange traded stock index, bond, and commodity futures across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The algorithm backtests over 10 years of tick data and in order to do so effectively requires machine learning to filter noise and identify meaningful signals, which results in statistically significant prediction of price movements. In production this processing is done in real time and the portfolio reacts to asset movements by rebalancing automatically to the desired risk exposure through the market impact optimised execution logic. Risk management layers built into the algorithm have been developed using the experience the team has gained from their decades in highly liquid fast-moving markets in the proprietary High Frequency Trading world. This allows the system to trade autonomously but safely to all trading opportunities and potential system issues, and to alert the team to any behaviour outside of strictly controlled bounds. The Fund is a 'feeder fund' which indirectly gains exposure to the underlying assets by investing all or substantially all of its assets in the Underlying Fund. The Fund may retain a certain amount of cash from the investment in the Fund for the purpose of payment of costs, fees, hedging and expenses. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's top performing assets for the month were: S&P/TSX 60 Index (+2.57% of NAV), 10-Year T-Bond (+1.72% of NAV), and AUD/USD (+1.60% of NAV). The worst performing assets were: Platinum (-1.84% of NAV), E-mini S&P 500 (-1.12% of NAV), and 10-Year Government of Canada Bond (-0.96% of NAV). Ark noted the following popular predictions for what 2020 holds in store for investors: no global recession, no rate rises, some rate cuts, steady stock markets (thanks to the rate cuts) and another good year for tech stocks. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
4 Feb 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equity Fund rose +28.37% over 2019, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +4.97% and taking annualised performance since inception in February 2009 to +16.68% versus the Index's +10.82%.
Read more...
4 Feb 2020 - Performance Report: Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months (pa) | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| 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 returned +5.51% over the December quarter versus the Index's +0.68%. The main contributor to the quarterly return was the Fund's outsized position in the healthcare sector, and in particular its positions in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and CSL. The other main contributor to the Fund's relative outperformance was avoiding the banks' underperformance - the Fund owns no banks. There were detractors, however they didn't detract significantly from performance. The largest detractor was Afterpay, which gave back some of the outperformance delivered in previous periods. Bennelong believe the many social, political and economic uncertainties that overshadowed markets in 2019 remain. They expect the ASX to produce reasonable returns over the medium term, albeit with ups and downs along the way. The Fund is selectively invested in a group of high quality growth stocks including names such as CSL and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Datt Capital Absolute Return Fund
3 Feb 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Datt Capital Absolute Return Fund returned +0.84% in December, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +3.01% and taking annualised performance since inception in August 2018 to +9.68% versus the Index's +9.28%.
Read more...
3 Feb 2020 - Performance Report: Datt Capital Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months (pa) | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | Our investment objectives are: 1) To minimise the risk of permanent capital loss 2) Generate a net return of 10% through the economic cycle An unconstrained, concentrated approach focused on superior risk-adjusted returns. The investment strategy: - targets long-term capital growth in a prudent manner, with an emphasis on capital preservation and low volatility in returns - aims to outperform in markets where equities are down - diversifies investments across asset classes and duration to reduce risk while maintaining relatively concentrated exposure to attractive investment opportunities - is an application of the Manager's investment process, that has no institutional constraints and is completely benchmark unaware |
| Manager Comments | During December the Fund evaluated 2 debt deals and invested in 1 new opportunity in commercial real estate. Datt Capital continue to monitor a number of fixed income instruments in the distressed and special situation space. The Fund's equity exposure decreased as the manager decided to exit Lynas. The Fund's current equity exposures are: Afterpay, Adriatic Metals, Alice Queen, Argonaut Resources, Valmec, Whitehaven Coal and Yandal Resources. Datt Capital noted they have a full pipeline of potential investment opportunities which they consider materially undervalued and will carefully consider for inclusion in the portfolio at the appropriate time. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund December 2019
3 Feb 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review for the Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund is now available. The Fund is a research driven, market and sector neutral, "pairs" trading strategy investing primarily in large-caps from the ASX/S&P100 Index...
Read more...
3 Feb 2020 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund December 2019
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - December 2019 (pdf format)
BENNELONG LONG SHORT EQUITY FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund.
- The Fund is a research driven, market and sector neutral, "pairs" trading strategy investing primarily in large-caps from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with over 16-years' track record and an annualised returns of 15.17%.
- The consistent returns across the investment history highlight the Fund's ability to provide positive returns in volatile and negative markets and significantly outperform the broader market. The Fund's Sharpe Ratio and Sortino Ratio are 0.94 and 1.55 respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - December 2019 (pdf format)
Performance Report: DS Capital Growth Fund
31 Jan 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The DS Capital Growth Fund rose +0.51% in December, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +2.68% and taking the 12-month return to +27.09% versus the Index's 23.40%. Since inception in December 2012, the Fund has returned +15.41%...
Read more...
31 Jan 2020 - Performance Report: DS Capital Growth Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months (pa) | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | The investment team looks for industrial businesses that are simple to understand; they generally avoid large caps, pure mining, biotech and start-ups. They also look for: - Access to management; - Businesses with a competitive edge; - Profitable companies with good margins, organic growth prospects, strong market position and a track record of healthy dividend growth; - Sectors with structural advantage and barriers to entry; - 15% p.a. pre-tax compound return on each holding; and - A history of stable and predictable cash flows that DS Capital can understand and value. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund rose +4.43% over the December quarter, outperforming the Index by +3.75%. During November DS Capital visited the UK and found that most businesses were deferring investment decisions due to election and Brexit related uncertainty. Portfolio constituents which made positive announcements during the quarter included Resimac Group, Ooh!Media and Uniti Group. Negative announcements came from McMillan Shakespeare. On the IPO front the Fund realised a profit on a small investment in an infant formula business called Nuchev. The Fund participated in secondary capital raisings for Uniti Group and Zip Co. The Fund has also sold its holdings in Challenger and in Cineworld (UK listed cinema group). DS Capital noted there is a long list of economic and political events that will make headlines in 2020 and influence stock markets to varying degrees. These include Brexit, US elections, trade talks and mid-east tensions. They expect the real influences on investment markets to come from economic fundamentals and corporate profits. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: NWQ Global Markets Fund
31 Jan 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The NWQ Global Markets Fund returned -2.61% in December and has returned +1.84% p.a. since inception in September 2018. NWQ noted the month was a challenging one for managers adopting both discretionary and systematic approaches.
Read more...
31 Jan 2020 - Performance Report: NWQ Global Markets Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months (pa) | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | This is achieved through active allocations to a select number of liquid alternative managers that employ a variety of strategies. The Fund places emphasis on managers who demonstrate a rigorous and repeatable investment process that has delivered a strong track record. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's equity and commodity positions were profitable in December while the FX and fixed income positions produced losses. NWQ highlighted that the Fund is a 'long volatility' strategy and as a strategy allocation within an investor's portfolio will be latent during periods of material outperformance for equities - such as calendar year 2019 - waiting to play its role during periods when equities and other long duration assets are challenged - such as the December quarter of 2018. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Australian Eagle Trust Long-Short Fund
30 Jan 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Australian Eagle Long-Short Fund has risen +29.82% over the past 12 months versus the ASX200 Accumulation Index's +23.40%. Since inception in July 2016, the Fund has returned +19.46% p.a. versus the Index's +11.90%.
Read more...
30 Jan 2020 - Performance Report: Australian Eagle Trust Long-Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months (pa) | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | |
| Manager Comments | The Fund returned -1.78% net of fees in December, outperforming the Index by +0.39%. The largest positive contributions came from long positions in Fortescue Metals Group and Pushpay Holdings and a short position in Whitehaven Coal, while the largest detractors were long positions in Treasury Wine Estates, Japara Healthcare and National Australia Bank. The Fund had 29 long positions and 21 short positions at the end of the month, with the largest exposure to medical devices & services and technology stocks. There was relatively less exposure in the banking and materials stocks. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Gyrostat Absolute Return Income Equity Fund
30 Jan 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Gyrostat Absolute Return Income Fund rose +0.80% in December, taking 12-month performance to +4.50% versus the RBA Cash Rate's +1.50%.
Read more...
30 Jan 2020 - Performance Report: Gyrostat Absolute Return Income Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months (pa) | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | The investment objective is to deliver regular and stable income stream (from ASX20 dividends) in a low interest rate environment with capital security - an 'alternative - defensive' asset class. Gyrostat has for 34 consecutive quarters operated within a 'hard' defined risk parameter (no more than 3% capital at risk with our maximum draw-down 2.2% in any circumstances) always in place, delivered regular income at a minimum BBSW90 + 3% by passing through ASX-20 dividends, and met returns guidance based upon market conditions (demonstrating increasing returns with market volatility). The fund buys and holds ASX-20 shares with lowest cost protection always in place with upside. It is an 'alternative - defensive' conservative asset allocation. Advances in investment risk management enable cost-effective protection to always be in place for a 'hard' defined risk parameter (say no more than 3% capital at risk). Returns are designed to increase as volatility levels increase, as this provides more opportunities to lower protection costs. Investment Objectives: - Returns: 6% - 8% pa in trending markets, greater than 8% pa in volatile markets, BBSW90 + 3% in stable markets - Income: Minimum cash rate + 3% paid semi-annually (currently 4.2% p.a.) from dividends and franking credits - Protection: No quarterly NAV draw-downs exceeding 3% Also includes a 'tail hedge' for gains on large market falls |
| Manager Comments | The Fund is a solution for falling interest rates. It has a 'conservative' asset allocation and operates with a 'hard' defined risk parameter (no quarterly NAV drawdowns exceeding 3%), delivered regular equity income (by passing through ASX20 dividends), and has provided superior returns during periods of heightened market volatility due to the Fund's tail hedge on large gains for large market falls. Gyrostat noted they anticipate increasing levels of 'late cycle' market volatility with geopolitical tensions elevated, historically high debt levels and elevated valuations. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Wheelhouse Global Equity Income Fund
30 Jan 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Wheelhouse Global Equity Income Fund rose +14.69% over 2019, taking annualised performance since inception in May 2017 to +8.78% per annum with an annualised volatility of 7.52%.
Read more...
30 Jan 2020 - Performance Report: Wheelhouse Global Equity Income Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months (pa) | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | To pursue this objective, the Investment Manager is responsible for actively managing, monitoring and tailoring the integration of derivative contracts alongside the Morningstar Portfolio, while taking into account changing market and stock specific conditions. The Investment Manager is responsible for maximising the structural benefits of short option positions (lowered Volatility, improved capital preservation, higher income generation), whilst mitigating, minimising and monitoring the structural negatives (variable market exposure, option expiries, collateral management and asymmetric return profiles). In addition, long derivatives positions are also used to enhance the capital preservation characteristics of the Fund in more extreme market movements. As a consequence of the integration of Derivatives, returns of the strategy, intra-cycle, are expected to vary from the underlying Morningstar Portfolio due to these characteristics. For example in weak markets, or in extended sideways markets, the Fund is expected to outperform relative to the Morningstar Portfolio. Conversely in strong positive markets the Fund is expected to underperform. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund returned -2.25% in December. The return comprised a return of +1.57% from the portfolio (in USD) and a negative return of -3.82% from the strengthening of the Australian dollar versus the US dollar. Income distributions were 1.5c for the December quarter, taking the rolling 12-month income return to +8.49%. Over 2019 the Fund's return (+14.69%) came mostly from income generation. Wheelhouse noted that due to the capped but more certain nature of the Fund's income generation program the Fund's 2019 return is in line with their expectations of relative underperformance in strong markets and more stable and predictable returns throughout the whole cycle. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund December 2019
29 Jan 2020 - 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.
Read more...
29 Jan 2020 - Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund December 2019
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - December 2019 (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 - December 2019 (pdf format)
