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Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund May 2016
21 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review now available on Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund, which has over 6 years of track record and annualised return of 9.75% p.a.
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21 Jun 2016 - Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund May 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - May 2016 (pdf format)
PENGANA ABSOLUTE RETURN ASIA PACIFIC FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund.
- The Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund ("PARAP") was established in 2008 by portfolio managers Antonio Meroni and Vikas Kumra. The Fund is a feeder fund into a Cayman Islands AUD share class fund.
- The Fund invests both long and short in Asia Pacific equities, including in Australian and New Zealand, after a stock specific "event" has either occurred or been announced and the portfolio aims to be uncorrelated to the underlying equity markets. A combination of the Manager's experience, thorough research and continuous back- testing identify the most attractive of these events.
- Risk controls include limits on individual positions as well as gross and net exposure. Limits are in place for option exposure and cash borrowing, with stop loss limits on individual positions. Overall the manager is looking to derive returns from the event strategies as opposed to any currency or market exposures.
- Since inception, the Fund has an annualised return of 9.75% p.a., compared to the AFM's Asia Pacific Index of 5.17%. The Fund has achieved this with lower volatility of 6.08% (Index 11.96%).
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - May 2016 (pdf format)
NWQ Fiduciary Fund
21 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The NWQ Fiduciary Fund rose 2.86% in May bringing the net performance for the trailing 12 months to 9.50%.
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21 Jun 2016 - 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 | The Fund had positive attribution from both, the Beta and Alpha allocations as the market experienced its third consecutive month of strong returns. The portfolio's Beta managers utilised a range of long/short equity strategies and were able to benefit from profits in long exposures, attributing +0.61% for the month. Alpha managers performed strongly, attributing +2.34%. The Fund currently has an overweight allocation to the Alpha and/or market neutral strategies, positioned to provide downside protection from further equity and bond market volatility. Click below to read the latest Fund's Report. |
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Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
21 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund rose 4.48%, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by 1.39%.
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21 Jun 2016 - Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is managed as one portfolio but comprises and combines two separately managed exposures: 1. An investment in the top 20 stocks of the markets, which the Fund achieves by taking an indexed position in the S&P/ASX 20 Index; and 2. An investment in the stocks beyond the S&P/ASX 20 Index. This exposure is managed on an active basis using a fundamental core approach. The Fund may also invest in securities expected to be listed on the ASX, securities listed or expected to be listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to ASX-listed securities.Derivative instruments may be used to replicate underlying positions and hedge market and company specific risks. The companies within the portfolio are primarily selected from, but not limited to, the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index. The Fund typically holds between 40-55 stocks and thus is considered to be highly concentrated. This means that investors should expect to see high short-term volatility. The Fund seeks to achieve growth over the long-term, therefore the minimum suggested investment timeframe is 5 years. |
| Manager Comments | According to the investment team, the market is currently behaving true to form, where companies that are outperforming earnings expectations, upgrading guidance, or making accretive acquisitions or investments, are generally seeing their share prices respond accordingly. This was the case for a number of the ex-20 stocks in the portfolio for May. The top contributors for the month were Aristocrat Leisure, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Eclipx Group. The Fund continues to be selective to uncover stocks that can lead to outperformance and favor high quality and growing companies that can outperform in terms of earnings. Click below to read the latest Fund Report. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund May 2016
20 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review now available on Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund, which has over 9 years of positive track record.
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20 Jun 2016 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund May 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - May 2016 (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 a nine-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 11.86% p.a. with a volatility of 7.28%, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 4.78% p.a. with a volatility of 14.21%.
- 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 2016 (pdf format)
Affluence Investment Fund
20 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Affluence Investment Fund rose 1.87% in May.
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20 Jun 2016 - 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. Finally, the Fund aims to outperform the Australian stock market (S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index) by at least 5% in any year in which that index delivers a negative return. 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 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 underlying investments performed well during the month. Both the long/short managers and smaller company managers performed had a good month. The small resources investments were the detractors for the month. At the end of May, the Affluence Fund held investments in 19 unlisted funds, which represented 55% of the total portfolio. It also held listed investments in 15 listed investment companies and other securities, representing 18% of the portfolio. The cash balance was increased from the prior month to 27%, largely due to inflows from new investors. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's report. |
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Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
17 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Global Small Companies Fund generated a positive return of 5.11% in May 2016, compared to a 5.58% return for the MSCI AC World SMID Cap Index.
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17 Jun 2016 - Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is managed by Founder & CIO Leah Zell, and Portfolio Managers Jon Moog and David Li. The Lizard investment team have over 50 years combined investment experience in global small cap investing. Leah Zell has over 30 years of experience and is a recognized expert in international investing in the international small-cap category. The Fund's investment team uses a value-oriented investment approach to small and mid-cap global equities that seeks to identify and invest in quality businesses that create significant value but are mispriced, overlooked or out-of-favour. The investment manager believes that unique opportunities exist due to limited available research, corporate actions or unfavourable investor perception. The portfolio construction process aims to develop portfolios that incorporate the best investment ideas from the investment manager's research while allowing for liquidity constraints and perceived risk. The Fund's investment manager will not typically hedge currency exposures, however during periods of currency extremes, some currency hedging may be employed. Derivatives may be used to achieve long or short exposures, reduce risk and reduce transaction costs. Derivatives will not be used for the purposes of leverage and the Fund's net exposure will never be short. |
| Manager Comments | Currency positively impacted the Fund by 2.9% and the benchmark by 3.8%. However, excluding currency fluctuations, the Fund outperformed the benchmark. The largest contributors for the month were Moleskine and Boohoo. Ubiquiti was also an important contributor. The Fund experienced no meaningful losses from any stocks this month. The Fund added three new positions this month: CarMax, Cogeco Inc, and Fagron. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's report. |
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APN Asian REIT Fund
17 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN Asian REIT Fund returned +0.90% for May, outperforming the Bloomberg Asia REIT Index which returned 0.64%, by 0.26%.
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17 Jun 2016 - APN Asian REIT Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Pete Morrissey and Corrine Ng are the Portfolio Managers of the Fund. Morrissey has over 15 years financial markets experience and joined APN in 2006. Previously, he worked at Lonsec and also managed an internationally focused private investment fund as well as spending several years as an analyst in the UK for Nomura, amongst others. He has also completed Masters level academic research papers on both commercial real estate cycles and global property cycles. Ng also has a strong background in property and REITs in Australia, Asia and the North American markets. Prior to joining APN, Ng worked for Aviva Investors (Senior Investment Analyst, North America Real Estate Securities Team) and Goldman Sachs & Co (Vice President, Goldman Sachs Asset Management Real Estate Securities Team) in New York. 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 is expected to be dynamic as new IPO's, other corporate actions take place and / or corporate governance improvements at country or REIT level bring new stocks into focus. The Fund focuses on passive rental earnings derived from well managed Asian REITs listed in mature capital markets and will not invest in infrastructure, property development companies or stocks with a 'loose association with property'. 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. The Fund is suited to medium to long term investors seeking a relatively high income and some capital growth over the long term. The manager has offered a special 50% reduction in management fee for all existing and new investors who apply by 30 June 2016. |
| Manager Comments | The portfolio was allocated in multiple Asian countries, with the majority in Japan (38.5%) and Singapore (30.9%). Over 65% of the Fund was invested in the Retail REITs (40.3%) and the Office REITs (25%) sectors. The top 5 Asian REIT holdings were in Ascendas Real Estate Inv Trust, Link REIT, Gip J-REIT, Japan Retail Fund Investment and Prosperity REIT. Click below to read the latest Fund's performance report. |
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Totus Alpha Fund
16 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund rose 9.36% for the month of May, to take the trailing 12-months return to 34.36%.
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16 Jun 2016 - 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 | At month-end, the fund had a net exposure of 15.8% and a gross exposure of 253.4%. The fund held 126 positions (57 long and 69 short) that were diversified across multiple investment themes. Top contributors in May were long positions in SmartGroup, McMillian Shakespeare and CYBG. Biggest detractors were short positions in Macquarie, Metcash and OxForex. Click below to read the latest Fund's Monthly Report. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund May 2016
16 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
May Fund Review now available on Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund which has annualised returns of 18% p.a.
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16 Jun 2016 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund May 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - May 2016 (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 18.0%.
- The consistent returns across the investment history indicates 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 1.09 (Index 0.31) and 1.85 (Index 0.33) respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - May 2016 (pdf format)
Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
15 Jun 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund returned -0.56% for the month of May 2016, compared to Asia Pacific markets falling -1.6%.
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15 Jun 2016 - Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund will usually hold 40 to 80 positions and will be well diversified across the various event strategies. In keeping with the absolute return focus the Manager will eliminate market risk where appropriate by hedging market and foreign currency risks. Since inception the Fund has averaged a net equity market exposure of ~10%. Sizing of an investment position will depend on the expected risk adjusted returns while taking account the liquidity and volatility of the stock. In addition, the maximum potential loss on any one position should be greater than 0.5% of the NAV and the position should not exceed 30% participation of stressed volume assuming a $200m NAV. Other criteria considered are ability to hedge and the availability of pair candidates as well as the average bid-ask size. For M&A strategies average long position is 3 to 5.5% and average short position 2 to 5%. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund navigated the month with an average gross and net exposure of 215% and 9.7% respectively. Gross exposure was increased from the previous month on the back of increased M&A deal activity and capital employed towards more mature M&A transactions. The Stubs and Capital Structure strategies contributed positively to the Fund's performance. Biggest negative contributor came from the M&A strategy. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
| More Information |
