NEWS
Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund
12 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund rose 0.75% in September to take annualised return since inception to 16.64% p.a.
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12 Oct 2016 - Alexander 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 | During the month, the Fund closed another private debt transaction and is now the senior secured lender to an Australian micro-finance company. This position will provide a solid return for the Fund but with a significant amount of security. The Fund will continue to look for similar opportunities to lend to small to medium sized domestic companies that offer an attractive return on a secured basis. For September, the majority of the portfolio was allocated in the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) at 47%, followed by Corporate Bonds/Loans at 28%. Click below to read the latest monthly report. |
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Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
12 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund returned -0.22% in September to take annualised return since inception to 11.59% p.a.
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12 Oct 2016 - 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 BHP, South32 and RIO were the largest positive contributors, whilst TPG Telecom, Skycity Entertainment and S2 Resources were the largest detractors from performance. Net equity market exposure (including derivatives) increased from 45.4% to 46.7% (64.7% long and 18.1% short). Click below to read the latest Fund Report. |
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Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
11 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Global Small Companies Fund rose 0.60% in September 2016, outperforming the MSCI AC World SMID Cap Index by 1.2%.
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11 Oct 2016 - Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| 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 boohoo.com Plc, Moleskine SpA, Halogen Software, Inc., Fagron NV and Valmet Corp. However, Credito Real S.A. de C.V., Sarine Technologies Ltd, CarMax, Inc., Softcat Plc, and Liberty Tax, Inc. Class A detracted from the performance. At month-end, the Fund's top 10 holdings accounted for 37% of the Fund's assets, with no single name representing more than 5.5% of the Fund. Cash increased from the prior month to 10.1% of the Fund. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's report. |
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Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
10 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Optimal Australia Absolute Trust recorded a net return of 0.56% in September.
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10 Oct 2016 - 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 enjoyed strong gains in stocks such as Orica and Aurizon that have been beaten up by exposure to the commodity complex, and which offered very substantial valuation discounts and/or self-help stories. However, the Fund's holding in Hendersons and Clydesdale Bank was a substantial drag on performance during the month, but have done much better so far in October. At month-end, the Fund had a gross exposure of 94.6% and net exposure 3.8%. Click below to read the latest Fund monthly report. |
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Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
7 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund returned -1.06% in September but is up +30.13% for the latest 24-months.
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7 Oct 2016 - 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 Fund's performance was hit by their holding in the telco pair of Long TPG Telecom / Short Telstra, following the release of TPG's 2016 earnings results. While the reported results were in-line with expectations, the 2017 profile guidance from the company disappointed investors, falling approximately 7% short of the market estimate. For the month, the top three spreads for the month were long Oil Search / short Santos, long Crown Resorts / short Skycity Entertainment, and long Challenger/ short ANZ. The bottom three spreads for the month were long TPG Telecom / short Telstra, long Bluescope / short Sims Metal and long James Hardie / short CSR Limited. Click below to read the Fund Manager's commentary and market outlook. |
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Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund August 2016
4 Oct 2016 - 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.
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4 Oct 2016 - Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund August 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - August 2016 (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 30 S&P/ASX-100 positions (15 long & 15 short equally-weighted positions).
- Qato Capital's process is entirely 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 - August 2016 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund August 2016
3 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Titans Fund is now available.
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3 Oct 2016 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund August 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - August 2016 (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 increased by 0.5% in August. The performance was driven by positive contributions from the holdings in Visa, Microsoft, Time Warner, eBay and Oracle Corp. The main negative contributors were BAT, Comcast, Roche and Mead Johnson Nutrition.
- 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 - August 2016 (pdf format)
Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund August 2016
30 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund, which has over 7 years of positive track record and an annualised return of 8.83% p.a.
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30 Sep 2016 - Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund August 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - August 2016 (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 8.70% p.a., compared to the MSCI ACWI Asia Pacific Price Index's return of 3.80% p.a.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - August 2016 (pdf format)
Insync Global Titans Fund
29 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Insync Global Titans Fund returned +0.5%, compared to the MSCI All Country World ex-Australia Net Total Return Index in $A, which returned 1.60%.
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29 Sep 2016 - Insync Global Titans Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| 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 Visa, Microsoft, Time Warner, eBay and Oracle Corp. The main negative contributors were BAT, Comcast, Roche and Mead Johnson Nutrition. The Fund returned to having no foreign currency hedging in place during the month as Insync considers the main risks to the Australian dollar to be on the downside. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager Report. |
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QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund
28 Sep 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Qato Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund returned -0.96% in August, outperforming the S&P/ASX-100's return of -2.37%, by 1.41%.
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28 Sep 2016 - QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The fund targets a net market exposure of 0% to hedge broader market risks through long and short positions. The process is entirely systematic - stock selection and risk management are all employed in a rules based approach. The Market Neutral Long/Short Fund employs no financial leverage, no derivatives and no financial products to imitate leverage. The Investment Manager's three principal investment goals for the Fund are: 1. Market neutral long/short portfolio management with little correlation to equity markets; 2. Over a 3-5 year period, seeking to target annualised volatility of 15% per annum and annualised returns of 15-30% per annum above the Benchmark; Sharpe Ratio 1.0-2.0 and a negative beta to ASX listed equities; and 3. To provide investors with a co-investment opportunity alongside the founding members' investments in the Investment Manager's strategy. |
| Manager Comments | From the short portfolio, AMP Limited contributed +0.49% and QBE Insurance Group contributed +0.17%. AMP missed consensus by -28.78%, closing down -5.7% the following day. QBE missed 5% in NPAT, resulting the stock to be down -6.72%. The long positions in Newcrest Mining and Northern Star and the short position in Flight Centre were the biggest detractors for the month. |
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