NEWS
NWQ Fiduciary Fund
18 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
NWQ Fiduciary Fund returned +0.21% in March bringing the net performance since inception in May 2013 to +24.68%.
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18 Apr 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 performance of the Fund's underlying managers in March was mixed with six of the nine managers delivering a positive return. In a month where the market rallied strongly, the Beta managers (+0.13%) made a positive overall contribution to the Fund's performance. This was complemented by the performance of the Alpha managers, which combined to make a positive contribution (+0.16%). The Cash and Fixed Income allocation also made a small, positive contribution to performance (+0.01%). NWQ continues to believe that there exists further potential for destructive equity and bond market volatility in the coming months, and therefore, the portfolio continues to remain overweight to the Alpha or market neutral strategies. |
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APN Asian REIT Fund
13 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN Asian REIT Fund returned +0.57% in March, compared to the Bloomberg Asia REIT Index's return of 1.09%.
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13 Apr 2017 - 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. |
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Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
13 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Optimal Australia Absolute Trust rose +0.94% in March 2017, to take the annualised return since inception to 8.15% p.a.
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13 Apr 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 month's performance was largely driven by the Fund's long positions. The stock shorts basically broke even and the short index futures position was a substantial drag on performance. Key contributors during the month included a number of stocks, which have been in the portfolio for some time. These included Clydesdale Bank, Henderson Group, and CSL. Woolworths also continued to drive strong returns, although the Fund has now reduced its position as the stock price approached the upper end of the Fund's fair value range. |
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Totus Alpha Fund
12 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund rose 2.2% in March, to take the latest 24 months return to +19.14%.
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12 Apr 2017 - 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 | The top contributors for the month were the long positions in Shriro +0.86% and Vita Group +0.48%, and a short position in Quintus +0.64%. However, the short positions in Spotless -0.39%, Woodside -0.32% and G8 Education -0.30%, detracted from the performance. At 31 March, the Fund had a net exposure of 37.8% and a gross exposure of 219.1%. The Fund held 105 positions (45 long and 60 short). |
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Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
12 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Australian Long Short Fund returned -1.6% for the month of March and +9.186% for the latest 24 months.
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12 Apr 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. |
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Allard Investment Fund
11 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Allard Investment Fund (AIF) increased 3.27% during the month of March 2017 and is up 21.0% for the latest 12 months.
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11 Apr 2017 - Allard Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Allard's investment approach has remained consistent throughout their history: That is to invest prudently but proactively in well-managed businesses that achieve superior returns on capital in industries with long-term growth potential. The Manager uses both broad top-down guidance and detailed bottom-up analysis to identify suitable markets, industries and companies. Although long only investors, a critical factor in their strategy and performance is the ability to hold cash when they cannot find companies that meet their criteria or are at a sufficient discount to their valuations. |
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Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
10 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund was up slightly for March, returning +0.29%, taking the latest 24 months return to 20.38%.
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10 Apr 2017 - Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | In a typical environment the Fund will hold around 70 stocks comprising 35 pairs. Each pair contains one long and one short position each of which will have been thoroughly researched and are selected from the same market sector. Whilst in an ideal environment each stock's position will make a positive return, it is the relative performance of the pair that is important. As a result the Fund can make positive returns when each stock moves in the same direction provided the long position outperforms the short one in relative terms. However, if neither side of the trade is profitable, strict controls are required to ensure losses are limited. The Fund uses no derivatives and has no currency exposure. The Fund has no hard stop loss limits, instead relying on the small average position size per stock (1.5%) and per pair (3%) to limit exposure. Where practical pairs are always held within the same sector to limit cross sector risk, and positions can be held for months or years. The Bennelong Market Neutral Fund, with same strategy and liquidity is available for retail investors. |
| Manager Comments | The standout pair for the month was ILuka / Downer with both positions contributing positively. The TPG Telecom / Telstra and Challenger / AMP pairs also contributed positively for the month. Elsewhere pair performance was balanced with little change. The Fund's performance for the most recent quarter was up +7.43%, dominated by company fundamental performance in 2017. The portfolio benefited from both numerous upgrades to the long portfolio and downgrades to the short portfolio, and had few losers. |
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King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund
5 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund returned -1.72% for the month of February, taking the annualised return since inception to 8.75% p.a.
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5 Apr 2017 - King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The fund seeks to outperform the market with less volatility than the market by allocating capital to a select group of eight to sixteen funds whose investment mandates allow them to use short selling of equities and equity indices, to use derivatives to manage risk, to use leverage and to hold large amounts of cash. In-depth proprietary research is used to select and monitor fund managers with particular emphasis on their ability to manage equity market risk through stock selection, short selling and the use of derivatives and cash. |
| Manager Comments | It was the managers with large cap exposure and more diversified portfolios such as Wavestone and L1 that performed well for the month, with returns of 2.35% and 2.23% respectively. However, some of the Fund's small cap specialists such as PIE Funds found the month tough, with their Growth Fund and Emerging Companies Fund falling -5.98% and -4.30%. Managers investing in resource sector, such as Paragon and Regal Atlantic also fell -4.99% and -5.12% respectively. At the end of February, King Tide added a new fund, the Sandon Capital Activist Fund, bringing a different style of investing - an activist strategy, to the Fund's portfolio. |
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Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund February 2017
4 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Titans Fund is now available.
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4 Apr 2017 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund February 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
INSYNC GLOBAL TITANS FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Insync Global Titans Fund.
We would like to highlight the following:
- The Fund's unit price returned +2.1% for the month of February. The performance was driven by positive contributions from the holdings in Unilever, Heineken, Visa, Medtronic and eBay. The main negative contributors were Zimmer Holdings, Microsoft Corp and Comcast.
- The Global Titans Fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of 15-30 stocks, targeting exceptional, large cap global companies with a strong focus on dividend growth and downside protection.
- Portfolio selection is driven by a core strategy of investing in companies with sustainable growth in dividends, high returns on capital, positive free cash flows and strong balance sheets.
- Emphasis on limiting downside risk is through extensive company research, the ability to hold cash and long protective index put options.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
4D Global Infrastructure Fund
31 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
4D Global Infrastructure Fund recorded a net gain of 3.97% for the month of February, outperforming its benchmark (OECD G7 Inflation Index + 5.5%) of 0.34%, by 3.63%.
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31 Mar 2017 - 4D Global Infrastructure Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The fund will be managed as a single portfolio of listed global infrastructure securities including regulated utilities in gas, electricity and water, transport infrastructure such as airports, ports, road and rail as well as communication assets such as the towers and satellite sectors. The portfolio is intended to have exposure to both developed and emerging market opportunities, with country risk assessed internally before any investment is considered. The maximum absolute position of an individual stock is 7% of the fund. |
| Manager Comments | The biggest contributor to performance came from a UK based satellite operator Inmarsat, which was up 17% for the month. The Fund also saw strong performance from its Brazilian names that leveraged to the rapidly declining Brazilian Selic rate, such as the Brazilian toll road operators CCR and Ecorodovias, rail operator Rumo and utility operators who can capitalise on lower interest rates to expand their portfolios. The weakest performer for February was Mexican tower operator Telesites, down 5.5% on the back of slightly weaker than expected FY numbers reported in the last week of February. |
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