NEWS
Freehold Absolute Return Fund
30 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Freehold Absolute Return Fund delivered -0.65% in a weak and volatile equity market (ASX200 Total Return), which declined 7.79%.
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30 Sep 2015 - Freehold Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund's research use detailed analysis of the underlying assets integrated with financial analysis to determine a sustainable yield and fundamental DCF valuation for the security. Also the Fund believes in having a strong risk control framework. The Fund will also use trading strategies via rebalancing of core portfolio positions as well as taking advantage of shorter duration inefficiencies in markets caused by an imbalance in demand and supply for global REIT and Infrastructure securities. The Fund focuses on generating absolute returns after fees of 12 to 15% pa over the medium to long term. The long-short nature of the Fund combined with Freehold's rigorous investment process ensures returns generated by the Fund are largely independent of rising or falling markets. Freehold is focused on providing investment opportunities primarily within core, value-add, opportunistic and development sectors of direct property and across listed and unlisted real estate and infrastructure securities. |
| Manager Comments | The portfolio's positive contributors in August were Westfield Group, Investa Office and Goodman Group. Negative Contributors were DUET, Federation Centres, APN Property Group. Both, the Retail and the Infrastructure sectors continued to present a strong reporting season. In Retail, specialty sales growth averaged 4.5% and was the highest in many years for Scentre Group, GPT Group and Stockland. In the Infrastructure sector, the dividend announcements and guidance were strong from Sydney Airport (SYD), Spark Infrastructure and Transurban. Click below to read the complete Fund's Monthly Performance Report. |
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KIS Asia Long Short Fund
29 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
KIS Asia Long Short Fund rose 0.34% for the month of August, when the AFM Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index returned -6.93%.
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29 Sep 2015 - KIS Asia Long Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Whilst the Fund's primary strategy is focused on long/short equities, the ability to retain discretionary powers to allocate across a number of other investment strategies is reserved. These strategies may include, but not be limited to: convertible bond investments, portfolio hedging, equity related arbitrage, special situations (e.g. merger arbitrage, rights offerings, participation in international public offerings and placements, etc.). The Fund's geographic focus is Asia excluding Japan, but including Australia). The Fund may invest outside of this region to the extent that: 1. The investment decision is driven from the Asian region or; 2. The exposure is intended to mitigate risk or enhance return from factors external to the Asian region. |
| Manager Comments | In August, the HK and Chinese markets were extremely weak, with falls of 12% in the HSCEI, Shanghai Shenzhen 300 and Shanghai Composite (with 14 to 15% falls last month). Majority of the Fund's return came from the Special Situations Strategy, which contributed 24bp. The main driver of this profit was the trading of the competitive takeover of Affinity Education Group (AFJ.AX) with an initial bid by G8 Education (GEM.AX) and a competing bid from PE group Anchorage Capital. Other strategies such as Long Short contributed 17bp, while Portfolio Hedge did not make a significant contribution. To read more, cLick below for Fund's Monthly performance report. |
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APN Asian REIT Fund
29 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN Asian REIT Fund decreased -4.67% in August. Since inception, the Fund has an annualised return of 17.67% p.a.
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29 Sep 2015 - 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. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's portfolio was geographically allocated in multiple Asian countries such as Japan at 38.3% and Singapore at 30.6%. Majority of the underlying property sector allocation was in the Retail REITs sector 37.5%, followed by Office REITs sector 28.4%. Top 5 Asian REIT holdings were in Croesus Retail Trust, Keppel Dc REIT, Normura Real Estate Office Fumd, Capitaland Retail China Trust and Mapletree Commerical Trust. Click below to read the latest Fund's August commentary. |
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Totus Alpha Fund
28 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund was up 3.0% net of fees in August, outperforming the ASX 300 Accumulation Index by 10.7%.
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28 Sep 2015 - 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,had a net exposure of -2.4% and a gross exposure of 290.6%. The Fund was diversified across a number investment themes and geographies with 126 positions (54 long and 72 short).Top contributors in August were the short positions in S&P Futures +1.99% and Woodside +0.96% (Commodities). A long position in SmartGroup added +1.45% (Scarce Growth). Biggest detractors were our long positions in Telstra -1.11% (Sustainable Yield) and CBA -0.92% (Sustainable Yield). SPI Futures cost the fund -1.00%. Click below to read the latest Fund's Monthly Report. |
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Insync Global Titans Fund
25 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Insync Global Titans Fund decreased -2.6% in August, outperforming its benchmark MSCI All Country World ex-Australia Net Total Return Index ($A) by 0.8%.
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25 Sep 2015 - Insync Global Titans 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 performance was driven by positive contributions from holdings in Zimmer, Diageo and Nestle. The main negative contributors were Disney, Medtronic and Time Warner. The Fund continues to have no foreign currency hedging in place as Insync consider the main risks to the Australian dollar to be on the downside. The fund is currently 58% protected by puts and has cash to take advantage of opportunities as the markets fall Click below to read the latest Fund Manager Report. |
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Jamieson Coote Bonds Active Bond
24 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
In August, the Jamieson Coote Bonds Active Bond Fund rose 0.50%, in an equity market that fell -7.79%.
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24 Sep 2015 - Jamieson Coote Bonds Active Bond
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | JCBAF seeks to establish a mid to long term core portfolio using both domestic and global macroeconomic analysis. This is overlaid with a number of valuation indicators and international market intelligence from a global network of market moving investors, including central bankers and hedge funds, to construct an optimal indexed portfolio allocation at any given time. The Fund recognises short term oscillations driven by technical factors and supply dynamics create opportunities within short term pricing cycles, which can generate significant alpha when managed within a risk adjusted framework. The Fund aims to outperform its index using duration and curve management at appropriate times in the pricing cycle whilst retaining a core long. The JCB Active Fund gives direct access to the management team whilst providing portfolio balance with increased capital stability and a fixed income streams with both income and principle repayment secured by the Australian or State Governments. |
| Manager Comments | JCBAF lightened duration into month-end and added to curve flattening exposure. The Fund also added some semi (state) government exposure of up-to 35% of portfolio to capture additional carry thought the quiet August period. After the devaluation of the Chinese Yuan, the Fund added duration and cut additional semi risk, moving back into core ACGB holdings. At month-end, majority (60.20%) of the portfolio was in the Australian Government Bonds, followed by State Government Bonds at 25.50%. Click below to read the Fund's monthly performance and Fund Managers market outlook. |
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APN AREIT Fund
24 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN AREIT Fund returned -3.70% in August compared to the AREIT Index -4.02%. Since inception in February 2009, the Fund has returned 17.59% p.a.
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24 Sep 2015 - APN AREIT Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Steven Chai is the Portfolio Manager of this Fund, who joined APN in July 2008. Prior to this, Chai was a Senior Analyst responsible for the management of the unit pricing and performance models for the APN AREIT Fund, the APN Property for Income funds and the APN Asian REIT Fund. Steven holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Finance) from the University of Melbourne and is a CFA charterholder. 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 | In August, the Fund had 97% allocation in AREITs, while the rest was in cash. Majority of the underlying property sector allocation was in the Retail sector at 66%, followed by Office sector at 20%. Top 5 AREIT holdings were in Scentre Group, Federation Centres, Stockland, CHarter Hall Retail REIT and Westfield Group. Click below to read the complete Fund Manager's Report. |
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Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
23 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific finished -4.98%, compared to the HFR Event Driven Index, which closed -2.9%.
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23 Sep 2015 - 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 overall negative return attribution for the M&A sub-strategy was -2.8%, which was a result of dislocation in the US ADR spreads during the month. Average spreads during the month continued to fluctuate around volatility in the Chinese markets. The volatility stems from the uncertainty on whether these deals will proceed. The Index Futures and Options/FWDs strategies contributed positively to the month's performance. However, Capital Management and M&A strategies were biggest detractors of the month. On average, the Fund's net and gross exposures were 7% and 228% respectively. Click below to read the complete Fund Manager's Report. |
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Fund Review: Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund August 2015
23 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest fund review now available on the Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund, which has one of the most risk averse Key Performance Statistics of any fund in AFM's database.
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23 Sep 2015 - Fund Review: Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund August 2015
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AURORA FORTITUDE ABSOLUTE RETURN FUND
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- The Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund (AFARF) has a 10 year track record investing in ASX listed equities. A Market Neutral overlay is used across a multi strategy approach which allows for flexible asset allocation to maximise returns and minimise risk under a variety of market conditions and cycles.CIO John Corr has over 20 years financial market experience with a strong focus on risk.
- Significant use of low risk "long" derivatives and option overlays has provided positive returns with low volatility during periods of market dislocation. Risk statistics are impressive and shows the Funds risk philosophy; over 86% of monthly performances have been positive with no losing months in 2008, the Fund's largest drawdown is -2.09% and the Sharpe ratio 1.10.
- ASX listed Aurora Funds Limited was established on the merger of three existing fund management businesses, managing approx. $230m on behalf of more than 2,500 retail and wholesale investors.
Fund Review: Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund August 2015QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund
22 Sep 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund returned -2.22% in August, to significantly outperform the
S&P/ASX-100 which fell -8.81%, the largest monthly fall since October 2008.
S&P/ASX-100 which fell -8.81%, the largest monthly fall since October 2008.
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22 Sep 2015 - QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The fund targets a net market exposure of 0% to hedge broader market risks through 30 S&P/ASX-100 positions (15 long and 15 short equally weighted positions). The turnover is generally averaged around 30% of the total portfolio each month. The process is entirely systematic - stock selection and risk management are all employed in a rules based approach. The Market Neutral Long/Short Fund employs no financial leverage, no derivatives and no financial products to imitate leverage. The Investment Manager's three principal investment goals for the Fund are: 1. Market neutral long/short portfolio management with little correlation to equity markets; 2. Over a 3-5 year period, seeking to target annualised volatility of 15% per annum and annualised returns of 15-30% per annum above the Benchmark; Sharpe Ratio 1.0-2.0 and a negative beta to ASX listed equities; and 3. To provide investors with a co-investment opportunity alongside the founding members' investments in the Investment Manager's strategy. |
| Manager Comments | One of the highlights from the Fund's long portfolio came from Asciano, which contributed +4.52% and produced significant alpha for the Fund. The Fund also benefited from it's short positions in Seek, Crown & Worley, which fell -19.57%, -15.24% & -12.90% respectively for the month. Click below to read in more detail the Fund's latest Performance Report . |
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