NEWS
Microequities Deep Value Microcap Fund
5 Aug 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Microequities Deep Value Microcap Fund recorded a notable monthly out-performance with a return of 5.94% during July and 34.46% for the previous twelve months.
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5 Aug 2014 - Microequities Deep Value Microcap Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The objective of the Fund is to identify undervalued Microcap companies, invest in them and, through a medium to long term commitment, attempt to deliver superior investment returns. The Fund invests primarily in ASX listed Microcap companies, which at the time of initial investment are generally below a market capitalisation of A$250 million. The Fund may also invest in companies with a higher market capitalisation, but these will be limited to no more than 20% of the assets of the Fund. At times the Fund may invest in pre-IPO securities that are due to be listed on the ASX within 3-6 months, and have lodged a prospectus with ASIC. These investments will also be limited to no more than 10% of the assets of the Fund. The Fund will be limited to investing no more than 20% of the Fund's assets in any one security or company. The Fund will make investments with a medium to long term time horizon of between 3-5+ years. The Fund will not speculate in derivatives. It will be permitted to hold other securities that are directly associated with a particular investment such as options granted with a specific company issue etc. The Fund will not engage in short selling or stock lending. The Fund will not hold financial debt of any kind. |
| Manager Comments | Two months ago we alluded to the particular anomalies that have contributed to the US negative GDP number for the 1st quarter of 2014. We expected the second quarter number to be much more representative of the underlying strength of the US economic resurgence. That prognosis was affirmed earlier during the week when the US reported second quarter GDP growth of 4%, with firmer labor market conditions and solid consumer spending underpinning the growth rate. The outlook for the second half remains positive as the drivers for consumer confidence should contribute to a more appeasing environment for the US consumer to spend. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust June 2014
4 Aug 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
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.
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4 Aug 2014 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust June 2014
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust - June 2014 (pdf format)
OPTIMAL AUSTRALIA ABSOLUTE TRUST
AFM have released the most recently updated Fund Review on the Optimal Australia Absolute Trust.
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:
- 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.
- The Fund returned 0.63% in June with an annual return of 5.66%.
- The Fund's low risk profile is shown by 84% of monthly performances to date being positive with the largest drawdown of -1.38%.
- The Fund's Sharpe Ratio is 1.79 and Sortino ratio of 5.25 compared to the ASX200 Accumulation Index.
- The investment team comprising George Colman, Peter Whiting supported by Stephen Nicholls and Justin Hay have over 100 years combined experience in equity markets.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust - June 2014 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Microequities Deep Value Microcap Fund May 2014
1 Aug 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
AFM's updated Fund Review for the Microequities Deep Value Microcap Fund for May 2014. The Fund is characterised by strong returns (29.82% pa since inception) albeit with higher volatility (15.09%) than the ASX 200 Accum Index.
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1 Aug 2014 - Fund Review: Microequities Deep Value Microcap Fund May 2014
By: Australian Fund Monitors
MICROEQUITIES DEEP VALUE FUND
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- The Microequities Deep Value Fund has a 5 year track record investing in ASX listed equities. The Fund is a fundamental, research-driven Fund investing in equities with a market cap below $250m. The Fund uses a value philosophy based on the view that microcaps are often under-researched and under-valued.CIO Carlos Gil has over 15 years financial market experience across a broad range of equities.
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The Fund has delivered very strong performance since inception with a 29.63% annualised return compared to the ASX 200 IndexAccum return of 14.32%. Volatility has been somewhat higher than the Index at 14.97% (ASX 200 Accum 12.59%) however theSharpe ratio at 1.58 (0.84) reflects the high incremental returns for taking on the extra volatility/risk.
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The Fund does not short, use derivatives or borrow i.e., it is long only and is concentrated; usually with 15 to 20 companies acrossindustrial sectors. Resource stocks are avoided.
Sean Webster
Research and Database Manager
Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Australian Fund
1 Aug 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Australian Fund returned 1.04% during June and 7.93% for the prior 12 months with a low volatility of 2.86%.
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1 Aug 2014 - Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Australian Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund seeks to profit from trading securities which are primarily subject to corporate events or from trading-related securities which the Investment Manager believes are mispriced by the market. The Fund invests in securities that are listed on Asian stock markets and other markets where related securities may be listed and in securities which are listed on markets outside of Asia where more than 70% (by assets or earnings) of the underlying business originates from an Asian country. The Fund aims to generate consistently positive returns which have a low correlation to the Asian stock markets. The objective is to generate 10-20% pa with a standard deviation of 6-10% |
| Manager Comments | Since inception in October 2008 the Fund has out-performed the ASX 200 Accumulation Index with a return of 11.23% pa as compared to 7.49%. The Fund's volatility was below that of the Index at 6.04% (Index 14.11%) while the Sharpe and Sortino ratios are 1.21 and 3.00 respectively with the Fund recording 80% positive months. The Fund's gross exposures by strategy (at month-end) were M&A 46%, Capital Management 23.3%, Stubs 14.3% and Index Futures 7.1%. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Forager Australian Shares Fund
31 Jul 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Forager Australian Shares Fund returned -0.15% during June and 17.72% over the year-ended June 2014 with a volatility of 11.48%.
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31 Jul 2014 - Forager Australian Shares Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | The economic outlook in Australia, however, remains a concern. The boom in new mining investment has now clearly come to an end but, as the chart below shows, the impact on the economy has been cushioned so far by the completion of old projects. The contribution of business investment to gross domestic product (GDP), currently at record highs, is set to fall heavily. Investment from the last decade ensures Australia will export record tonnes of ore, but unlike investment and construction, the additional benefits to the wider economy are limited. So what does this mean for the portfolio? Luckily value investors do not have to play fair (the idea is pretty much to play as unfairly as possible) so the Fund can cherry pick areas it likes and avoid other ones entirely. It has been a theme for the past five years, but we are still focused on finding foreign currency exposure on the ASX. The trends highlighted above are likely to force the Australian dollar, which has appreciated 5% to US$0.943 this year, lower long term. The full text of the Fund's quarterly report is on the AFM website under the Fund's profile. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
KIS Asia Long Short Fund
30 Jul 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
KIS Asia Long Short Fund returned 0.95% during June and 11.89% for the previous 12 months with a low volatility of 2.69%.
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30 Jul 2014 - 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 | Suffice it to say we still believe that globally long dated bonds do not offer value, money on deposit is a waste of opportunity, credit spreads are too tight to reflect normal default risk and equity volatility cannot remain this low forever. These are all observations of markets that have been strongly influenced by the liquidity that has been put into markets by various central banks. These are asset classes you can easily lose money on in tightening liquidity conditions. More importantly, our view is that these assets are now so artificially priced you are unlikely to make a decent return even if central banks keep the liquidity tap on. On the subject of when will the liquidity tap be closed; as inflationary signs begin to appear in wages and consumer price indices the various central banks will be forced to reduce the flow of money. We watch carefully for a tick up in these barometers. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund
29 Jul 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund returned 1.09% during June and 12.20% over the previous 12 months as compared to the RBA cash rate over that time of 2.54%.
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29 Jul 2014 - 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 | Over the year the Fund had a positive return for each month with a minimum monthly return of 0.37% generated in August of 2013 and a maximum monthly return of 3.47% achieved in July of 2013. There were three months in which the Fund returned greater than 1% but only one month in which the returns were less than 0.5%. At month-end Fund largest exposures were 64% RMBS and 17% Corporate Bonds with Cash at 3%. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Fund Review: Morphic Global Opportunities Fund May 2014
28 Jul 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
AFM's updated Fund Review for the Morphic Global Opportunities Fund for June 2014 has been released. The Fund returned 1.07% during the month for an annual return of 20.81%.
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28 Jul 2014 - Fund Review: Morphic Global Opportunities Fund May 2014
By: Australian Fund Monitors
MORPHIC GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND
AFM has updated the Fund Review on the Morphic Global Opportunities Fund.
Key points include:
- The Fund is a global equity long/short manager with a long bias and a macro-economic overlay. The mandate allows the Fund to short sell, use derivatives and invest in assets such as commodities & currencies.
- Portfolio construction is stock selection agnostic with a bias to value based and momentum strategies. Risk management is a primary consideration in portfolio construction and the strong emphasis on risk is evidenced by the Fund's since inception annualised standard deviation of 9.19% (9.74% ASX 200 Accum Index), maximum drawdown of 4.93% (6.72% Index) and downside deviation of 2.90 (5.15 Index).
- The Fund had a net exposure of 101% and a gross exposure of 132% at May month-end with a VAR of 1.05%.
- Morphic's philosophy is that only funds with flexible investment and hedging strategies will be able to deliver acceptable, steady, real, absolute returns over the investment cycle.
- The Fund is an early stage, boutique, Sydney-based fund established in 2012 with experienced CIO's, and an investment team of 6 including a risk manager.
- The Board has a majority of independent members with significant risk and investment experience.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sean Webster
Research Manager
Cor Capital Fund
28 Jul 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Cor Capital Fund returned 7.82% for the 12 months to 30 June 2014 with a volatility of 5.85% and the one month return is 0.76%.
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28 Jul 2014 - Cor Capital Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Cor Capital Fund is a Multi- Asset Fund which combines a pre-determined strategic asset allocation with active but systemised rebalancing to generate returns and manage volatility whilst maintaining transparency and liquidity. The Fund strategy is not reliant on accurate market predictions, forecasts or timing for success. Returns are generated in a number of ways; 1) by maintaining sufficiently large positions in a diverse group of asset classes, 2) via the 'volatility harvesting' consequences of active rebalancing, and 3) from the offsetting behaviour of certain asset classes under specific conditions. The combined portfolio is expected to exhibit relatively low volatility and low turnover. In the interests of avoiding complexity, maintaining liquidity, and minimising reliance on third parties, the Fund strategy does not employ gearing, derivatives or short-selling. |
| Manager Comments | The Manager regularly rebalances funds away from 'popular' assets and markets, and towards the less popular. The Fund benefitted during June by recent additions to gold bullion with the precious metal up 3.58% (in AUD terms) over the month. This represented the major contribution to monthly performance (+0.83%) with a negative contribution from equities (-0.41%) more than offsetting bonds (+0.20%) and cash (+0.12%). |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
Auscap Long Short Australian Equities Fund
25 Jul 2014 - Australian Fund Monitors
Auscap Long Short Australian Equities Fund returned 1.48% during June in a negative month for the ASX. Annual performance to June 2014 was 45.98% with a volatility of 6.49%.
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25 Jul 2014 - Auscap Long Short Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund focuses on fundamental long and short investments. The Fund may utilise a multi-strategy approach if short term opportunities to increase returns, hedge the portfolio, protect capital or minimise volatility are found. The Fund is a high conviction fund and the combined portfolio will typically have 25-45 positions, investing primarily in stocks in the ASX200. The Fund may be net long, short or neutral depending on the strategies employed at the time. The Fund may hold cash so that it is in a position to take advantage of market volatility and compelling investment opportunities as and when they arise. The Fund may be geared up to 200% gross long or short and up to 150% net long or short. |
| Manager Comments | The Sharpe ratio was 5.58 with the Up and Down Capture ratio 1.55 and -1.00 respectively. The fund had no negative months over the last year. Average gross capital employed by the Fund was 147.1% long and 31.7% short and average net exposure over the month was +115.5%. At the end of the month the Fund had 37 long positions and 7 short positions. The Manager's monthly Newsletter is entitled 'Distinguishing Risk From Volatility' and is available on the AFM website. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
