NEWS
Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund August 2017
20 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review for the Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund is now available.
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20 Sep 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund August 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - August 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 10.69% p.a. with a volatility of 7.04%, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 5.30% p.a. with a volatility of 13.72%.
- 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 - August 2017 (pdf format)
Performance Report: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
20 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund rose +0.34% in August, with strong profit results from several key holdings driving positive performance.
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20 Sep 2017 - Performance Report: 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 | Positive positions included Costa Group (+0.22%), BHP (+0.17%), Rio Tinto (+0.17%) and Orora (+0.17%). The Fund's short book also performed well, with Telstra, Scentre Group and Westfield all making solid contributions. Negative performers included Bluescope Steel (-0.5%), Commonwealth Bank (-0.23%), JB Hi-Fi (-0.17%) and Boral (-0.13%). The Fund's net market exposure, including derivatives, fell from 60.4% to 35.8% (41.2% long and 5.4% short) as the Manager sold the Fund's holdings in CBA and Bluescope Steel, and reduced its position size in a number of other stocks, including the major banks. |
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Performance Report: KIS Asia Long Short Fund
19 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The KIS Asia Long Short Fund rose +1.08% in August, taking annualised performance since inception to +13.68%.
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19 Sep 2017 - Performance Report: 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 | The Manager's report noted that they were careful about positioning going into reporting season, with a keen eye to ensure that the exposures they carried were not consensus trades. Stock picking on the long side in the mid and small cap sectors drove returns for the month, with positive contributors including a long position in Alumina Ltd (+0.23%), a short in Automotive Holdings Group (+0.22%) and a long in Altium Ltd (+0.29%). Two of the Fund's biggest losers were short positions in Incitec Pivot Ltd (-0.12%) and Amaysim Australia Ltd (-0.18%), while the largest loss came from a long position in QBE Insurance Group Ltd (-0.28%). |
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Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund August 2017
15 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund is now available.
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15 Sep 2017 - Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund August 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review August 2017 (pdf format)
BENNELONG TWENTY20 AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund.
- The Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund invests in ASX listed stocks, combining an indexed position in the Top 20 stocks with an actively managed portfolio of stocks outside the Top 20. Construction of the ex-top 20 portfolio is fundamental, bottom-up, core investment style, biased to quality stocks, with a structured risk management approach.
- Mark East, the Fund's Chief Investment Officer, and Keith Kwang, Director of Quantitative Research have over 50 years combined market experience. Bennelong Funds Management (BFM) provides the investment manager, Bennelong Australian Equity Partners (BAEP) with infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution services.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review August 2017 (pdf format)
Performance Report: Cyan C3G Fund
15 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Cyan's CG3 Fund delivers 3.6% in August benefiting from reporting season while avoiding the pitfalls...
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15 Sep 2017 - Performance Report: Cyan C3G Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Cyan C3G Fund is based on the investment philosophy which can be defined as a comprehensive, clear and considered process focused on delivering growth. These are identified through stringent filter criteria and a rigorous research process. The Manager uses a proprietary stock filter in order to eliminate a large proportion of investments due to both internal characteristics (such as gearing levels or cash flow) and external characteristics (such as exposure to commodity prices or customer concentration). Typically, the Fund looks for businesses that are one or more of: a) under researched, b) fundamentally undervalued, c) have a catalyst for re-rating. The Manager seeks to achieve this investment outcome by actively managing a portfolio of Australian listed securities. When the opportunity to invest in suitable securities cannot be found, the manager may reduce the level of equities exposure and accumulate a defensive cash position. Whilst it is the company's intention, there is no guarantee that any distributions or returns will be declared, or that if declared, the amount of any returns will remain constant or increase over time. The Fund does not invest in derivatives and does not use debt to leverage the Fund's performance. However, companies in which the Fund invests may be leveraged. |
| Manager Comments | The August result was also well ahead of both the 0.8% gain in the ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index and the 1.7% delivered by the ASX Small Industrials Accumulation Index. Importantly, it was delivered through an earnings season when most (if not all) of the Fund's return was driven by holdings reporting impressive business performance. Commenting on the market performance in August Cyan noted the fall in the very widely-held Telstra (that the Fund does not and has never owned), which plummeted 15% from its intra-month highs after cutting its dividend. TLS now finds itself trading at a 5 year low, 45% below recent highs in July 2015 highlighting the manager's view that large ASX listed companies are not necessarily defensive. At month's end the Fund's cash weighting was 37%, with 24 individual holdings and no position accounting for more than 7% of the total Fund. The companies span 6 broad industry sectors including: consumer staples and discretionary; industrials; health care; technology and financials with a weighted average market cap of approximately $300m. |
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NWQ Fiduciary Fund
13 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The NWQ Fiduciary Fund saw a high level of variation in manager returns in August, resulting in a small decline of -0.13%.
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13 Sep 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 | The Fund's beta managers posted robust returns, this was driven by the high conviction stock positions of most of these managers. The Fund's holdings in cash and fixed income was reduced to 5% from 7.5% in July, while the Fund's allocation to its alpha managers increased to 70% from 67.5%. |
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Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
11 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Optimal Australian Absolute Trust fell -0.29% in August, its first negative return in 6 months, maintaining its position as one of the most defensive in the industry.
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11 Sep 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 long portfolio contributed positively to performance and continues to drive 75%+ of the Fund's return over time, while the Fund's short positions impacted negatively. Strong performers in the long portfolio include Orocobre, CYBG, JHG, CTX and STO while the Fund's long exposure to insurance (SUN), transport (QUB) and retail (WOW) sectors detracted from performance. Shorts in the resource and REIT's sectors contributed negatively along with ARCO's index futures shorts used to hedge against broader market risk. ARCO seek to build modest positions in CBA and Telstra to take advantage of opportunities they feel were created during reporting season. ARCO remain sceptical about the major banks and healthcare stocks, cautious about the major resource companies and REITs and selectively interested in the consumer discretionary and telecommunications stocks. ARCO also remain vigilant of macro drivers, with particular focus on escalating geopolitical tensions and the US economy. As such, the Fund is positioned defensively with a net -2.4% market exposure at the end of August. |
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Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust August 2017
11 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on Optimal Australia Absolute Trust.
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11 Sep 2017 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust August 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - August 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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ARCO Investment Management 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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The Fund has an annualised return since inception of +8.00%. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.30 (Index 0.26), Sortino ratio of 2.67 (Index 0.26), both of which are well above the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and has recorded over 79% positive months.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - August 2017 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund August 2017
8 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review for the Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund is now available.
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8 Sep 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund August 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - August 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 16.08% 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 0.96 and 1.57 respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - August 2017 (pdf format)
Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
4 Sep 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Australian Long Short Fund rose +7.3% in August, outperforming the ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index by +6.5%.
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4 Sep 2017 - Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Paragon believes that markets are not always efficient, exhibiting a common tendency to price securities well outside of their intrinsic value over the medium term. This market characteristic provides the opportunity for Paragon, an active manager with a flexible mandate, to generate superior investment returns over the longer term. Paragon believes that it is critical to understand both the companies and the industries in which they operate, in order to fully comprehend each investment opportunity. Accordingly, a fundamental approach to company research is taken. Assessing the potential downside is also paramount in framing the risk/reward trade-off for potential investments. |
| Manager Comments | Main contributors for the month were gains in Kidman, Updater, Global GeoScience, Smartgroup, FastBrick Robotics, Wattle Heath and Lynas plus shorts in Telstra, Domino's Pizza and Select Harvest. At the end of the month the Fund had 42 long and 18 short positions. The Fund's cash holdings were reduced to 20.8% from 29% in July. Paragon's short in Telstra was initiated at $4.83 per share in February 2017, premised on rising Mobile & Broadband competition. In August, Telstra downgraded its FY17 results, cutting its FY18 dividend from 29.5cps to 22cps. Paragon's short in Domino's was initiated at $71 per share based on the view that it was an expensive growth stock (greater than 50x PE ratio) under pressure. Paragon are maintaining their short positions in both Telstra and Domino's. |
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