NEWS
Totus Alpha Fund
23 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund returned -2.30% during December bringing year to date return for 2014 to 12.85% with a volatility 9.14%.
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23 Jan 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 | This annualised return was comfortably ahead of the broader Australian market return of 5.3% including dividends. In a year in which many asset classes experienced an uptick in volatility it is pleasing that the fund was able to deliver absolute returns from both the long (+7%) and short (+6%) side of the book. It is also pleasing that the contribution to returns was relatively broad based with no single stock or theme impacting returns by >5% during the year. Top contributors to performance in December were the short positions in LNG Limited +1.42% (Promoter) and Metcash +1.09% (Structural Change). Long position in 1-Page added 0.69% (Online). Biggest detractors from performance were long positions in Estia Health -3.62% (Ageing Population) and Flight Centre -0.57% (Scarce Growth), whilst the short position in a litigious stock promoter detracted -1.30%. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Fund Review: Monash Absolute Investment Fund Dec 2014
22 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Monash Absolute Investment Fund improved 0.80% in December and returned 5.40% for the previous 12 months. The Monash Absolute Investment Fund is a long/short equity fund, with a home bias to investing in Australia. The Fund places a high...
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22 Jan 2015 - Fund Review: Monash Absolute Investment Fund Dec 2014
By: Australian Fund Monitors
MONASH ABSOLUTE INVESTMENT FUND
CPD Points are now available for all AFM Fund Reviews. Read the review and answer 5 questions to earn half a point toward your continuing professional development.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund:
- The Fund is a research driven, active equity long/short strategy investing in listed ASX companies.
- The Fund seeks to identify opportunities in the share market to make positive returns (long and short) irrespective of market conditions. It is style agnostic, as compelling investment opportunities exist across all investment styles from time to time. The Fund places a high priority on capital preservation, and has an absolute return focus in accepting market risk.
If you have any questions in relation to the Fund Review, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sean Webster
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund
22 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund returned 0.64% over the month of December bringing 2014 return to 9.04% (compared to the ASX200 Accum Index return at 5.61%) and volatility of 0.63% (Index 10.95%).
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22 Jan 2015 - Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund may also invest in derivatives for hedging purposes. The portfolio of the Fund comprises primarily Investment Grade holding of 75% of the Fund's assets. Benchmark allocations are Australasia 50% to 100%, North America 0% to 50% and Europe 0% to 50%. Currency hedging may take place depending on benefits to the Fund. |
| Manager Comments | The portfolio composition of the Fund did see some change over the year. Although the allocation to residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) was roughly the same, falling from 67% to 65%, the allocation to short dated loans increased from 10% to 19%. Laminar will continue to focus on short dated assets in 2015. These assets are a major contributor to the low credit duration of the Fund (2.2 years as at 31 December) and have provided stability to the unit price when market volatility increased in late 2014 and other assets experienced some negative returns. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Fund Review: Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund Dec 2014
21 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Alpha 200 Fund primarily invests within the top 200 by market capitalisation, using a similar "pairs trading" approach while remaining broadly market neutral on a cost basis. The Fund returned -0.13% in October and 2.26% since...
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21 Jan 2015 - Fund Review: Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund Dec 2014
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund Fund Review - December 2014 (pdf format)
BENNELONG ALPHA 200 FUND
CPD Points are now available for all AFM Fund Reviews. Read the review and answer 5 questions to earn half a point toward your continuing professional development.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund:
- The Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund is a new fund opened in December 2013. The Fund is broadly modelled on the strategy used for Bennelong's original Equity Long Short Fund which uses a market neutral "pairs trading" approach to invest in Top 100 stocks, and which has been managed by Richard Fish since the inception of BLSEM in 2002.
- The Alpha 200 Fund however primarily invests within the top 200 by market capitalisation, using a similar "pairs trading" approach while remaining broadly market neutral on a cost basis.
- The Fund will hold 70 - 90 stocks comprising 35 to 45 pairs,although it can hold up to 100 stocks and 50 pairs. Each pair contains one long and one short position each of which is thoroughly researched and,where possible, from the same market sector. The pair positions are dollar neutral at cost, limited in terms of sector exposure, and give theportfolio a target beta of zero over time.
- In addition to Richard Fish, the team is composed of Sam Shepherd who joined BLESM from Credit Suisse, where he ran the Melbourne institutional equities desk. Shepherd's 20 year experience also covers JP Morgan and Norwich Investment Management. Tim Hall recently joined BLSEM as a specialist mid and small-cap portfolio manager to work on the expanded universe of the 200 Alpha Fund. The team is supported by experienced investment analyst, Sam Taylor.
If you have any questions in relation to the Fund Review, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sean Webster
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund Fund Review - December 2014 (pdf format)
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
21 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust returned -1.53% in December, resulting in a 2014 annual return of 3.24% (ASX200 Accum Index 5.61%) and volatility of 2.80% (Index 10.95%).
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21 Jan 2015 - 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 | Two key macro factors took the fund's return down, being the surprising collapse in energy prices and unprecedented decline in bond yields. Extreme volatility in the energy sector continued in December, and led to some contagion in the wider commodity complex. Specifically, a broad range of positive long positions were overwhelmed by losses from small exposure to energy and metals. Elsewhere, the fund realised solid gains in a number of non-bank financials, but hedging these against banks proved too costly, despite the implications of the Murray report for bank sector capital and forward ROE being essentially negative. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund
20 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund returned -0.74% during December, bringing 2014 annual return to 0.71% (ASX200 Total Return 5.61%) with a volatility of 1.23% (Index 10.95%).
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20 Jan 2015 - Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund aims to produce positive returns irrespective of the direction of the share market. For each investment the manager considers the risk, the timeline of that risk occurring and then the potential return. Low transaction costs and liquidity are other important factors in the success and implementation of the strategies. |
| Manager Comments | The month's performance was again strongly dictated through Long/Short trading (-1.26%) largely caused by the collapse of a planned asset sale by Stonewall Resources. The Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Australian Careers Network was also a drawdown within the Long/Short strategy as the market became more cautious of vocational education and training businesses after a competitor had a major downgrade. As part of the ongoing risk management process, the Manager has continued to unwind some of the smaller, less liquid positions where price and time stop losses have been triggered. Mergers and Acquisitions was the most profitable strategy for the month (+0.25%). The Option overlay was profitable (+0.19%) due to increasing levels of volatility. The strong moves in industrial names provided positive returns from Wesfarmers, Westpac, Stockland and Macquarie Group. Rio Tinto and Newcrest were the best of the resources positions against some under-performance from Woodside Petroleum Ltd and BHP Biliton. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Monash Absolute Investment Fund
19 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Monash Absolute Investment Fund returned 0.80% during December bringing the 2014 return to 5.40% (ASX 200 Accum 5.61%) and a volatility of 8.10% (Index 10.95%).
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19 Jan 2015 - Monash Absolute Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The fund seeks to identify opportunities in the share market to make positive returns (long and short) irrespective of market conditions. It is style agnostic, as compelling investment opportunities exist across all investment styles from time to time. The Fund places a high priority on capital preservation, and has an absolute return focus in accepting market risk. The Manager's experience across value, growth and discounted cash flow styles allows them to use a comprehensive approach to investment decisions that applies all three. They also have the patience to seek out only compelling opportunities, rather than settling for relative value. The portfolio is somewhat concentrated, looking to diversify across industries and themes, rather than by trying to stay near an index. The portfolio may at times have a large amount of cash or other protection. However once investments are made turnover may be relatively high in order to lock in gains and avoid losses. |
| Manager Comments | The Manager notes that the portfolio has been close to flat over the last 6 months, however the stocks continue to operate very well with the expectation that strong performance will be reflected in the share prices soon enough. For example, Lend Lease (EML) rose 7.0% in December. Despite its share price run over the year, it is only on a P/E of 13.4x for FY16. With almost half of its earnings coming from overseas it is a beneficiary of the Australian Dollar fall. Nonetheless, Yowie Group (YOW) fell 13.5% this month, although the Manager notes that the company's products have had a great deal of interest by US retailers due to a lack of market competition. NetComm Wireless (NTC) also fell 14.3%. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund
16 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund returned -0.13% during December, bringing returns to 2.26% over 2014 (ASX Accum Index 5.61%).
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16 Jan 2015 - Bennelong Alpha 200 Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The core investment strategy of the Fund consists of the active selection of a series of paired long/short investments in Australian listed equities based upon the Investment Manager's fundamental research. The strategy seeks to capture stock Alpha whilst limiting portfolio exposure to market risk by adopting a dollar neutral portfolio market exposure position with the tactical capability to take net exposure of up to +/- 20% of gross assets. Stock selection is based on fundamental analysis to derive a view of a pair of individual stocks. The Investment Manager is style neutral in determining the stock's positioning. This primary 'pairs' strategy may be enhanced by other complementary strategies, including event driven, security and takeover arbitrage, thematic and momentum trading. The paired stock positions comprise long and short correlated securities that are in most cases simultaneously opened. A portfolio of approximately 30-100 stocks will be selected and actively managed in 15-50 pairs to comprise the core minimum (60%) of the Gross Asset Value. Up to a maximum of 40% of the portfolio's Gross Asset Value may be invested in uncorrelated securities and/or uncovered (long and/or short) positions. These 'satellite' positions are intended to enhance returns and to balance overall portfolio risk. In this regard, the Investment Manager recognises that it is not always possible to achieve a suitable paired profile within the S&P/ASX 200, and that a high conviction long or short stock idea might not always have a suitable pair. |
| Manager Comments | The fund delivered a flat result in a volatile December. At a sector level Energy, Consumer Staples and Industrials performed quite strongly with weakness in Consumer Discretionary, Healthcare and Materials. The month featured several trading updates which aided the Consumer Staples pair but was harmful to one of the portfolio's Retail exposures. Kathmandu provided an earning downgrade due to weak conditions in its Australian business resulting in slowing like-for-like sales growth and margin reduction. The falling oil price aided our overall Energy exposure. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
15 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Morphic Global Opportunities Fund returned 2.62% in December bringing the annual return to 13.99% (Global Equity Index 12.57%) with a volatility of 7.75%.
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15 Jan 2015 - Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | December saw a continuation of positive returns for the Fund. Continued falls in oil and other commodity prices were a major theme for the month, rewarding the Fund's overweight positioning in commodity consuming emerging markets China and India, and its underweight stance in commodity producing bourses like Russia, Indonesia, and Brazil. The Fund's underweight position in Australia and the Australian dollar also helped. The Fund closed the month fully invested, with the main features being overweight positions in China and India against the rest of the emerging market complex. There were no currency and minimal interest rate hedges at month end. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
15 Jan 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund returned 1.53% during December, bringing 2014 performance to 5.77% (ASX 200 Acc 5.61%) with volatility at 4.17% (Index 10.95%).
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15 Jan 2015 - Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund's discretionary investment strategy commences with a macro view of the economy and direction to establish the portfolio's desired market exposure. Following this detailed sector and company research is gathered from knowledge of the individual stocks in the Fund's universe, with widespread use of broker research. Company visits, presentations and discussions with management at CEO and CFO level are used wherever possible to assess management quality across a range of criteria. Detailed analysis of company valuations using financial statements and forecasts, particularly focusing on free cash flow, is conducted. Technical analysis is used to validate the Manager's fundamental research and valuations and to manage market timing. A significant portion of the Fund's overall performance can be attributed to the attention and importance given to the macro economic outlook and the ability and willingness to adjust the Fund's market risk. |
| Manager Comments | Long positions in SurfStitch, Amcor and BXB were the major positive contributors to performance, whilst a short positon in Share Price Index Futures (hedging long positions) and long positions in Australian Careers Network and Asaleo Care were the largest detractors. Equity market exposure was actively managed throughout the month with a month-end net (including derivatives) of 69.9% (83.7% long and 13.9% short). |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
