NEWS
Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund January 2017
3 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund, which has an annualised return of 8.58% p.a.
Read more...
3 Mar 2017 - Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
PENGANA ABSOLUTE RETURN ASIA PACIFIC FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund.
- The Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund ("PARAP") was established in 2008 by portfolio managers Antonio Meroni and Vikas Kumra. The Fund is a feeder fund into a Cayman Islands AUD share class fund.
- The Fund invests both long and short in Asia Pacific equities, including in Australian and New Zealand, after a stock specific "event" has either occurred or been announced and the portfolio aims to be uncorrelated to the underlying equity markets. A combination of the Manager's experience, thorough research and continuous back- testing identify the most attractive of these events.
- Risk controls include limits on individual positions as well as gross and net exposure. Limits are in place for option exposure and cash borrowing, with stop loss limits on individual positions. Overall the manager is looking to derive returns from the event strategies as opposed to any currency or market exposures.
- Since inception, the Fund has an annualised return of 8.58% p.a., compared to the MSCI ACWI Asia Pacific Price Index's return of 3.43% p.a.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
2 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund was down -1.47% in January, to take the latest 6 months to 4.05%. The Fund has a low systematic risk (beta) to the ASX 200 and the MSCI World Indices of 0.07 and 0.08 respectively.
Read more...
2 Mar 2017 - Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | PanAgora believes the best way to find opportunities in the global markets is to combine fundamental analysis with robust quantitative techniques in order to filter the investment universe and select the investments. The Fund invests primarily in listed equity securities from a global universe of developed markets and a select group of emerging market countries. The Fund's objective is to seek absolute returns by identifying and exploiting multiple inefficiencies that may exist in global equity markets. These inefficiencies are primarily exploited through the use of a long/short equity strategy which aims to construct a portfolio that is generally neutral to market movements. As such the performance of the investment strategy is largely independent of the market's performance. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by using a diversified set of strategies that have low correlation to one another. In addition, because many of these strategies are designed to generate profit under different market conditions, their combination is expected to result in more stable returns over time than any individual strategy in and of itself. |
| Manager Comments | January's underperformance was largely driven by the International long term portfolio which detracted -1.02%. Some of this detraction came from Peru (-0.16%) and Canada (-0.17%) due to the portfolio's underexposure to copper and silver, both of which were up approximately +7% for the month. U.S. Large caps and U.S. mergers and acquisitions also detracted a combined -0.30% from the performance. On the positive side, overweight positions in Incyte Corp. and Vertex held due to their strong Patent model score, outperformed for the month. |
| More Information |
Insync Global Titans Fund
2 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Insync Global Titans Fund returned -0.94% in January, compared to the MSCI All Country World ex-Australia Net Total Return Index in $A, which returned -2.0%.
Read more...
2 Mar 2017 - Insync Global Titans Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| 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 the holdings in Zimmer, Comcast, BAT, Medtronic, and eBay. The main negative contributors were Mead Johnson, McDonald's Corp, and Johnson & Johnson. 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. Over 50% of the Fund is currently protected using a put protection strategy. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund January 2017
28 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund is now available.
Read more...
28 Feb 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 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 - January 2017 (pdf format)
Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund January 2017
27 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund, investing exclusively in S&P/ASX 100 stocks.
Read more...
27 Feb 2017 - Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- Qato Capital is a Melbourne-based boutique fund manager backed by single family office, Larkfield Funds Management.
- Qato has a systematic, market-neutral strategy which invests exclusively in S&P/ASX 100 stocks.
- The QATO Capital's Q-score process captures and quantifies six broad fundamental factors, which assess multiple underlying sub-categories. Those companies with the top score (quality companies) are included in the "long" portfolio, those with the lowest score are sold short.
- The Fund seeks to preserve capital and maximises absolute returns through active and constant risk management, targeting monthly a net market exposure of 0% to hedge broader market risks through S&P/ASX-100 positions. In a typical environment, the Fund targets 25 long and 25 short positions.
- Qato Capital's process is systematic - stock selection and risk management are employed in a rules-based approach. The Fund employs no financial leverage/gearing to purchase securities, no derivatives, and no financial products to imitate leverage.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund
24 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund returned -0.45% for the month of January and +17.5% over the latest 24 months.
Read more...
24 Feb 2017 - King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| 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 | Amongst the Fund's managers 8 of 15 returned positive results for the month with 10 of them outperforming their local market. Monash, Smallco, and Auscap were the key detractors for the month, falling -4.01%, -2.70% and -1.20% respectively. L1, Paragon and PIE Growth were the biggest contributors for the month, with returns of 2.51%, 2.29%, and 0.68%. At the end of the month, King Tide added Level 18 Fund to their portfolio, following on from the final redemption of Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund at the end of December. |
| More Information |
Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
24 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund beat the market (S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index) posting a positive return of 2.12% for the month of January 2017.
Read more...
24 Feb 2017 - Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | The overriding objective of the Concentrated Australian Equities Fund is to seek investment opportunities which are under-appreciated and have the potential to deliver positive earnings, while satisfying our stringent quality criteria. Bennelong's investment process combines bottom-up fundamental analysis together with proprietary investment tools which are used to build and maintain high quality portfolios that are risk aware. The portfolio typically consists of 20-35 high-conviction stocks from the S&P/ASX 300 Index. The Fund may invest in securities listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to ASX-listed securities. Derivative instruments are mainly used to replicate underlying positions and hedge market and company specific risks. |
| Manager Comments | More than half of the portfolio (54.1%) was invested in the Discretionary, Health Care and Consumer Staples sectors. The Fund's top holdings included Westpac Banking, National Australia Bank, CSL, Aristocrat Leisure. The investment team continues to remain focused on the company fundamentals, with an eye on value, but only in the context of what one receives in return in terms of quality and earnings delivery and growth. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust January 2017
23 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on Optimal Australian Absolute Trust.
Read more...
23 Feb 2017 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 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;
- 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 investment team comprising George Colman, Peter Whiting, and Stephen Nicholls bring 100 years combined experience in equity markets.
- In January, the Fund returned -1.0%, to take annualised return since inception to 8.32% p.a. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.33 (Index 0.22), Sortino ratio of 2.75 (Index 0.23), both of which are well above the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and has recorded 80% positive months.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
Quay Global Real Estate Fund
23 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Quay Global Real Estate Fund returned -3.78% to take annualised return since inception of 14.64% p.a.
Read more...
23 Feb 2017 - Quay Global Real Estate Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | The Fund will invest in a number of global listed real estate companies, groups or funds. The investment strategy is to make investments in real estate securities at a price that will deliver a real, after inflation, total return of 5% per annum (before costs and fees), inclusive of distributions over a longer-term period. The Investment Strategy is indifferent to the constraints of any index benchmarks and is relatively concentrated in its number of investments. The Fund is expected to own between 20 and 40 securities, and from time to time up to 20% of the portfolio maybe invested in cash. The Fund is $A un-hedged. |
| Manager Comments | The investment team continues to seek opportunities with long-term secular tailwinds back by demographics or other structural changes. This allows the team to ignore the short-term noise and focus on longer-term returns. |
| More Information |
Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
22 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Global Small Companies Fund returned -0.2% in January, outperforming the MSCI AC World SMID Cap Index which returned -1.7%, by 1.5%.
Read more...
22 Feb 2017 - Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
| Report Date | |
| Manager | |
| Fund Name | |
| Strategy | |
| Latest Return Date | |
| Latest Return | |
| Latest 6 Months | |
| Latest 12 Months | |
| Latest 24 Months | |
| Annualised Since Inception | |
| Inception Date | |
| FUM (millions) | |
| Fund Overview | The Fund is managed by Founder & CIO Leah Zell, and Portfolio Managers Jon Moog and David Li. The Lizard investment team have over 50 years combined investment experience in global small cap investing. Leah Zell has over 30 years of experience and is a recognized expert in international investing in the international small-cap category. The Fund's investment team uses a value-oriented investment approach to small and mid-cap global equities that seeks to identify and invest in quality businesses that create significant value but are mispriced, overlooked or out-of-favour. The investment manager believes that unique opportunities exist due to limited available research, corporate actions or unfavourable investor perception. The portfolio construction process aims to develop portfolios that incorporate the best investment ideas from the investment manager's research while allowing for liquidity constraints and perceived risk. The Fund's investment manager will not typically hedge currency exposures, however during periods of currency extremes, some currency hedging may be employed. Derivatives may be used to achieve long or short exposures, reduce risk and reduce transaction costs. Derivatives will not be used for the purposes of leverage and the Fund's net exposure will never be short. |
| Manager Comments | The top positive contributors for the month were ams AG, Broadleaf Co Ltd, Cogeco Inc., Halogen Software Inc., and Tegma Gestao Logistica S.A. However, positions in Cerved Information Solutions S.p.A., Hostelworld Group Plc, Peyto Exploration & Development Corp., Spirit Airlines Inc., and Wizz Air Holdings Plc detracted from the performance. At month-end, the Fund's 10 holdings accounted for 33.8% of the Fund's assets, with no single name representing more than 5% of the Fund. Cash represented 8.7% of the Fund. |
| More Information |
