NEWS
Signature Quantitative Fund
22 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Signature Quantitative Fund recorded a flat return (0.003%) in July.
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22 Aug 2016 - Signature Quantitative Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | SQF has been established to profit from anomalies surrounding event driven, behavioural & factor based structural market inefficiencies which generate significant profits and are uncorrelated & persistent over time. Specific strategies such as dividend arbitrage, index addition and deletion, tax year end, capital raisings, among other strategies are used by the Fund. The Fund's initial focus is on investing in Australian and New Zealand markets. |
| Manager Comments | Capital Raisings continued its outperformance recently as the capital markets continued to provide numerous opportunities and SQF's market exposure also contributed to performance. Alpha Capture underperformed (contribution of 2.2% to the fund's returns) during July's market rally. The Fund had a gross exposure of 277% (Long 166% and Short -116%) and net exposure of 55% Click the link below to view the latest Monthly report. |
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Totus Alpha Fund
19 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund rose 8.82% for the month of July, outperforming the ASX 200 Accumulation Index which returned 6.29%, by 2.53%.
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19 Aug 2016 - 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 | At month-end, the fund had a net exposure of 39.7% and a gross exposure of 277.0%. The fund held 134 positions (67 long and 67 short) that were diversified across multiple investment themes. Top contributors were long positions in Smartgroup, Alphabet and Hansen. Biggest detractors were short positions in Independence Group, Fortescue and Metcash. Click below to read the latest Fund's Monthly Report. |
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Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
19 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund returned +6.43% against the ASX 200 Accumulation Index's return of 6.29%.
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19 Aug 2016 - Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is managed as one portfolio but comprises and combines two separately managed exposures: 1. An investment in the top 20 stocks of the markets, which the Fund achieves by taking an indexed position in the S&P/ASX 20 Index; and 2. An investment in the stocks beyond the S&P/ASX 20 Index. This exposure is managed on an active basis using a fundamental core approach. The Fund may also invest in securities expected to be listed on the ASX, securities listed or expected to be listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to ASX-listed securities.Derivative instruments may be used to replicate underlying positions and hedge market and company specific risks. The companies within the portfolio are primarily selected from, but not limited to, the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index. The Fund typically holds between 40-55 stocks and thus is considered to be highly concentrated. This means that investors should expect to see high short-term volatility. The Fund seeks to achieve growth over the long-term, therefore the minimum suggested investment timeframe is 5 years. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund benefited over the month from strong share price gains in Aristocrat Leisure, Ramsay Health Care, and Domino's Pizza Enterprises. For the month of July, the sector exposure of the actively managed portion of the portfolio deviated from the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index to be overweight in the Discretionary and Health Care sectors and underweight in the REITs and Materials sectors. The investment team believes that the companies in which they are invested are well positioned and increasingly adding to smaller positions as they gain confidence in their outlook and find new stocks in which to invest. Click below to read the latest Fund Report. |
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Fund Review: APN Asian REIT Fund July 2016
18 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
July Fund Review is now available on APN Asian REIT Fund, a property securities fund, investing primarily in the Asian REITS.
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18 Aug 2016 - Fund Review: APN Asian REIT Fund July 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - July 2016 (pdf format)
APN Asian REIT Fund
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the APN Asian REIT Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- APN is an ASX-listed fund manager specialising in property investment, with an investment team of six. Established in 1996, APN now has FUM of $A2.4bn including four REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) funds.
- The APN Asian REIT Fund (Fund) is a property securities fund that invests in a quality portfolio of Asian REITs, listed on the securities exchanges of the Asian Region, with the ability to hold some cash and fixed interest investments.
- 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 can include 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 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.
- APN's Asian REIT Fund invests in a portfolio of 25-40 listed Asian REITs with a core philosophy of investing in properties with sustainable rental income streams.
- The Fund has delivered an annualised return of 17.39% p.a., since inception in July 2011 with a standard deviation of 9.42% p.a. The Sharpe and Sortino ratios are 1.46 and 2.73 respectively.
AFM Fund Review - July 2016 (pdf format)
Affluence Investment Fund
18 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Affluence Investment Fund rose 2.98% in July to take the latest 12-months return to 12.28%.
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18 Aug 2016 - Affluence Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund does not invest directly into any asset class, rather, it invests in investment managers which satisfy Affluence Funds Management's investment criteria; its investment philosophy is based on a formula developed by CEO/Portfolio Manager Daryl Wilson since the start of his career in 1999. The Fund targets total returns of at least 5% above inflation over rolling 3 year periods with volatility of returns less than 50% of the ASX200 Index. The Fund also aims to provide investors with a distribution yield of at least 5% p.a. Finally, the Fund aims to outperform the Australian stock market (S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index) by at least 5% in any year in which that index delivers a negative return. To ensure appropriate diversity of managers and limit the potential for conflicts of interest, no more than 20% of the Fund will be invested with any one manager. Affluence seeks to achieve the Funds' investment objective by choosing attractively priced investments overseen by quality managers. The Fund uses a number of processes to identify potential investments including quantitative screens for investments which meet historical performance, volatility and other criteria. They also use a number of external researchers and information sources to assist in this process. |
| Manager Comments | Amongst the 22 unlisted Fund investments, 21 delivered a positive return for the month. The best returns came from their investments in long/short funds and the Baker Steel Gold Fund. The Fund made additional investments into two of their existing holdings and also added two new investments, Bronte Capital and Lanyon. The 22 unlisted funds represented 58% of the total portfolio. Another 17 listed investment companies and other securities represented 16% of the portfolio. The rest of the balance (26%) was held in cash. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's report. |
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Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
17 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund returned -0.97% for the month of July 2016, compared to MSCI ACWI Asia Pacific markets which were returned +5.9%.
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17 Aug 2016 - Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund will usually hold 40 to 80 positions and will be well diversified across the various event strategies. In keeping with the absolute return focus the Manager will eliminate market risk where appropriate by hedging market and foreign currency risks. Since inception the Fund has averaged a net equity market exposure of ~10%. Sizing of an investment position will depend on the expected risk adjusted returns while taking account the liquidity and volatility of the stock. In addition, the maximum potential loss on any one position should be greater than 0.5% of the NAV and the position should not exceed 30% participation of stressed volume assuming a $200m NAV. Other criteria considered are ability to hedge and the availability of pair candidates as well as the average bid-ask size. For M&A strategies average long position is 3 to 5.5% and average short position 2 to 5%. |
| Manager Comments | Negative developments continued to affect the M&A sub-strategy, in particular, the state directed 'SOE Reform' deal in West China Cement (2233 HK, WCC). The Stub Strategy remained robust posting a strong contribution to the overall performance of 87 bps. The two stub trades in Thailand alone contributed the majority of this, namely Quality Houses (QH TB) and Advanced (ADVANC TB) / versus Intouch (INTUCH TB). Within the Fund's directional strategy, the Earnings Surprise strategy contributed favourably to overall performance. The opportunity set in Asia remains robust, and reflecting this, the Fund's gross exposure remained high at 241%, whilst equity beta risk was kept low. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
| More Information |
KIS Asia Long Short Fund
17 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
KIS Asia Long Short Fund rose 2.99% for the month of July 2016.
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17 Aug 2016 - 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 | Click below to read the latest monthly Fund Report. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund July 2016
16 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review now available on Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund, which has over 9 years of positive track record.
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16 Aug 2016 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund July 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - July 2016 (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 a nine-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 11.92% p.a. with a volatility of 7.26%, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 5.07% p.a. with a volatility of 14.24%.
- 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 - July 2016 (pdf format)
APN AREIT Fund
16 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN AREIT Fund rose 4.94% in July, to take annualised return since inception to 19.38% p.a.
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16 Aug 2016 - APN AREIT Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The senior management of APN FM all have significant experience in their fields. They include CEO Real Estate Securities, Michael Doble who has 25 years'experience having held various senior roles specialising in real estate valuation, consultancy and funds management. Immediately prior to joining APN in 2003 he was Head of Property at ANZ Funds Management. He is a fellow of the Australian Property Institute and FINSIA as well as holding a Bachelor of Business (Property). 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 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 suited to medium to long term investors seeking a relatively high monthly income and some capital growth over the long term. |
| Manager Comments | Click below to read the complete Fund Manager's Report. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust July 2016
15 Aug 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on Optimal Australian Absolute Trust Fund.
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15 Aug 2016 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust July 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - July 2016 (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 supported by Stephen Nicholls and Justin Hay have over 100 years combined experience in equity markets.
- In July, the Fund returned -2.30% to take annualised return since inception to 8.71% p.a. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.38 (Index 0.23), Sortino ratio of 2.88 (Index 0.21), both of which are well above the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and has recorded 79% positive months.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - July 2016 (pdf format)
