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Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust May 2017
21 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on Optimal Australian Absolute Trust.
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21 Jun 2017 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust May 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - May 2017 (pdf format)
OPTIMAL AUSTRALIA ABSOLUTE TRUST
AFM have released the most recently updated Fund Review on the Optimal Australia Absolute Trust.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
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Optimal Australia is a specialist Australian equity investment manager and the Fund has a long/short equity strategy typically with a low but variable net market exposure comprising 40 to 65 stocks broadly selected from within the ASX200.
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The investment team comprising George Colman, Peter Whiting, and Stephen Nicholls bring 100 years combined experience in equity markets.
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In May, the Fund returned +0.17%, to take annualised return since inception to 8.02% p.a. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.28 (Index 0.26), Sortino ratio of 2.62 (Index 0.26), both of which are well above the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and has recorded over 78% positive months.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - May 2017 (pdf format)
Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
21 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Australian Equities Fund returned -1.04% in May, outperforming the S&P/ASX-300 Accumulation Index which returned -2.74%, by +1.70%.
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21 Jun 2017 - 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 | Stocks within the Fund generally held up well despite the difficult market. Leading the contributors was Aristocrat, the slot machine manufacturer. Other contributors to the Fund's outperformance were Treasury Wine Estates, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Reliance Worldwide. Also, contributing was an underweight exposure to the Banking sector. The investment team continues to remain focused on the company fundamentals, particularly in an environment of macro and political uncertainty. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: APN Asian REIT Fund May 2017
20 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on APN Asian REIT Fund, a property securities fund, investing primarily in the Asian REITS.
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20 Jun 2017 - Fund Review: APN Asian REIT Fund May 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - May 2017 (pdf format)
APN Asian REIT Fund
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the APN Asian REIT Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- APN is an ASX-listed fund manager specialising in property investment, with an investment team of six. Established in 1996, APN now has FUM of $A2.4bn including four REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) funds.
- The APN Asian REIT Fund (Fund) is a property securities fund that invests in a quality portfolio of Asian REITs, listed on the securities exchanges of the Asian Region, with the ability to hold some cash and fixed interest investments.
- The Fund aims to deliver a competitive yield with lower risk than the market. The underlying stocks are selected based on a highly disciplined investment approach that focuses on the fundamentals and number of valuation approaches. The universe can include new IPO's, other corporate actions take place and/or corporate governance improvements at the country or REIT level bring new stocks into focus.
- The Fund provides access to a wide spread of property-based revenue streams that are specifically analysed, selected and weighted with the aim of delivering strong and sustainable income returns. The Fund is an unhedged product.
- APN's Asian REIT Fund invests in a portfolio of 25-40 listed Asian REITs with a core philosophy of investing in properties with sustainable rental income streams.
- The Fund has delivered an annualised return of 14.7% p.a., since inception in July 2011 with a standard deviation of 9.33% p.a. The Sharpe and Sortino ratios are 1.25 and 2.23 respectively.
AFM Fund Review - May 2017 (pdf format)
Affluence Investment Fund
20 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Affluence Investment Fund managed a very small gain of 0.07% in May, resulting in a +9.22% return for the latest 12 months.
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20 Jun 2017 - Affluence Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund does not invest directly into any asset class, rather, it invests in investment managers which satisfy Affluence Funds Management's investment criteria; its investment philosophy is based on a formula developed by CEO/Portfolio Manager Daryl Wilson since the start of his career in 1999. The Fund targets total returns of at least 5% above inflation over rolling 3 year periods with volatility of returns less than 50% of the ASX200 Index. The Fund also aims to provide investors with a distribution yield of at least 5% p.a. To ensure appropriate diversity of managers and limit the potential for conflicts of interest, no more than 20% of the Fund will be invested with any one external manager. Affluence seeks to achieve the Funds' investment objective by choosing attractively priced investments overseen by quality managers. The Fund uses a number of processes to identify potential investments including quantitative screens for investments which meet historical performance, volatility and other criteria. They also use a number of external researchers and information sources to assist in this process. |
| Manager Comments | The biggest contribution in May came from Bronte Capital Amalthea Fund, which was up over 7% for the month. Other investments to produce positive returns in May included the Baker Steel Gold Fund (+3.1%), India Avenue Equity Fund (+2.6%), Deep Value Microcap (+2.4%) and Wentworth Williamson (+1.8%). Negative contributors were the Phoenix Opportunities Fund (down 2.8%) and the Terra Capital Natural Resources Fund, which was down 4% for the month. At month end, 61% of the Fund was invested in unlisted investments, 20% in the Affluence LIC Fund, 6% in other listed investments, and 13% in cash. The Fund currently provides exposure to over 25 unlisted funds, and over 20 LIC's and other listed entities. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund May 2017
19 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund, which has an annualised return since inception of 10.93% p.a.
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19 Jun 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund May 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - May 2017 (pdf format)
BENNELONG KARDINIA ABSOLUTE RETURN FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review. You are also able to view the Fund's Profile.
- The Fund is long biased, research driven, active equity long/short strategy investing in listed ASX companies with over ten-year track record.
- The Fund has significantly outperformed the ASX200 Accumulation Index since its inception in May 2006 and also has significantly lower risk KPIs. The Fund has an annualised return of 10.93% p.a. with a volatility of 7.1%, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 5.34% p.a. with a volatility of 13.88%.
- The Fund also has a strong focus on capital protection in negative markets. Portfolio Managers Mark Burgess and Kristiaan Rehder have significant market experience, while Bennelong Funds Management provide infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution capabilities.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - May 2017 (pdf format)
APN AREIT Fund
19 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN AREIT Fund fell 1.02% for the month of May, to take the latest 24 months return to 18.52%.
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19 Jun 2017 - APN AREIT Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The senior management of APN FM all have significant experience in their fields. They include CEO Real Estate Securities, Michael Doble who has 25 years'experience having held various senior roles specialising in real estate valuation, consultancy and funds management. Immediately prior to joining APN in 2003 he was Head of Property at ANZ Funds Management. He is a fellow of the Australian Property Institute and FINSIA as well as holding a Bachelor of Business (Property). The Fund aims to deliver a competitive yield with lower risk than the market. The underlying stocks are selected based on a highly disciplined investment approach that focuses on the fundamentals and number of valuation approaches. The Fund provides access to a wide spread of property-based revenue streams that are specifically analysed, selected and weighted with the aim of delivering strong and sustainable income returns. The Fund is suited to medium to long term investors seeking a relatively high monthly income and some capital growth over the long term. |
| Manager Comments | For the month of May, the portfolio's property sector allocation remained mostly unchanged, with 61% in the Retail sector, followed by 21% in the Office sector. More than half of the portfolio consisted of the Fund's top 5 holdings, which included Scentre Group, Vicinity Centres, Stockland, Charter Hall Retail REIT and Dexus Property Group. |
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Totus Alpha Fund
16 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund rose 1.01%, outperforming the ASX 300 Accumulation Index which was down 2.7% for the month of May.
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16 Jun 2017 - Totus Alpha Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is a long/short investment fund principally investing in listed entities, commodities, futures and options in Australia and internationally. The Fund is not a market neutral fund and accordingly may switch between net long positions and net short positions. The Fund may use short sales and derivatives. Gearing may be used to enhance returns and the Fund may be geared in excess of 100% of the Fund's Net Asset Value. There is a limit to net exposure of 150%. |
| Manager Comments | The positive contributions for the month came from a short position in Quintis +3.12%, and long positions in Alphabet +0.77%, and Smartgroup +0.66%. The biggest detractors included long positions in Vita Group -1.16%, Shriro -1.12% and Medibank -0.40%. As of 31 May, the Fund had a net exposure of 62.90% and a gross exposure of 258.9% and held 119 positions (52 long and 67 short). |
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NWQ Fiduciary Fund
16 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
NWQ Fiduciary Fund returned +0.81% in May and has returned +5.82% p.a. since its inception in May 2013.
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16 Jun 2017 - 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 between 8% to 11% 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 | Six of the nine managers delivered a positive return in a month where the domestic equity market fell sharply. In particular, three of the four Beta managers, that have positive net market exposure, delivered a positive return, underlining the importance of stock selection and active risk management. The Beta managers combined for a positive contribution (+0.22%) to overall Fund performance. The Fund's Alpha managers also combined to make a positive contribution (+0.66%) to overall performance in May with three of the five managers delivering a positive return. NWQ continues to believe that there exists further potential for destructive equity and bond market volatility in the coming months, and therefore, the portfolio continues to remain overweight to the Alpha or market neutral strategies. |
| More Information |
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
15 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Optimal Australia Absolute Trust reported a net return of +0.17% in May 2017, to take the annualised return since inception to 8.02% p.a.
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15 Jun 2017 - Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| 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 Fund's short positions in the financial and healthcare sectors made positive contributions to the month's performance. Also, the Henderson/Janus merger closed on schedule, and the stock was a positive contributor to returns. However, one of the Fund's international-facing financials, CYBG, did less well following its earnings report and pre-UK election uncertainty. The investment team continues to actively position the Fund to be slightly net short beta exposure, and the long positions remain tactically weighted to stocks which feature little dependence on the domestic economy, strong balance sheets and free cash flows, and defensive valuations. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund May 2017
15 Jun 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund which has an annualised return of 16.85% p.a.
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15 Jun 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund May 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - May 2017 (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 large-caps from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with over fourteen-year track record and annualised returns of 16.85% p.a.
- The consistent returns across the investment history indicate 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 1.02 and 1.71 respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - May 2017 (pdf format)
