NEWS
16 Dec 2015 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust November 2015
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 November, the Fund returned 1.0%. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.51 (Index 0.16), Sortino ratio of 3.41 (Index 0.11), 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.
16 Dec 2015 - NWQ Fiduciary Fund
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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, utilised a range of long/short equity strategies, outperforming the market and delivering a positive return of 0.25%. The Fund's Alpha managers also outperformed, contributing +0.51% to the portfolio return. The Fund's portfolio has an overweight allocation to the Alpha, market neutral strategies, as the NWQ view is that there is potential for market volatility in the coming months. Click below to read the latest Fund's Report. |
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16 Dec 2015 - Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
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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 | The MSCI inclusion of Chinese US listed ADRs was a key event for the Fund during the month. The M&A sub-strategy contributed 0.58% of Fund performance as a number of deals in the portfolio reached maturity or completion. Main contributors were Youku Tudou (YOKU US), Jingwei Textile (350 HK), Mindray Medical (MR US), Veda Group (VED AU) and Affinity Education (AFJ AU). Capital Structure and Capital Management strategies also contributed positively to the Fund's performance. Biggest negative contributor came from the Stubs strategy. The Fund's average gross and net exposures were 186.3% and 3.2% respectively. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
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15 Dec 2015 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund November 2015
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 cap stocks from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with over thirteen year track record and annualised returns of 18.18%.
- The consistent returns across the investment history indicates 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 1.11 (Index 0.29) and 1.91 (Index 0.30) respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
14 Dec 2015 - Jamieson Coote Bonds Active Fund
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Fund Overview | JCBAF seeks to establish a mid to long term core portfolio using both domestic and global macroeconomic analysis. This is overlaid with a number of valuation indicators and international market intelligence from a global network of market moving investors, including central bankers and hedge funds, to construct an optimal indexed portfolio allocation at any given time. The Fund recognises short term oscillations driven by technical factors and supply dynamics create opportunities within short term pricing cycles, which can generate significant alpha when managed within a risk adjusted framework. The Fund aims to outperform its index using duration and curve management at appropriate times in the pricing cycle whilst retaining a core long. The JCB Active Fund gives direct access to the management team whilst providing portfolio balance with increased capital stability and a fixed income streams with both income and principle repayment secured by the Australian or State Governments. |
Manager Comments | The significant repricing of RBA expectations by the market caused the term structure to bear flatten over the month. The Fund was cautious on outright valuations coming into year end and therefore reduced its duration exposures. The re pricing of the RBA and the huge employment report, suggesting boom like employment conditions in Australia did not help the Fund performance. However, the Fund investment team there is nothing boom like about Australia's economic growth outlook and hence adding front end duration exposure was fundamentally justified into 2016. Click below to read the Fund's monthly performance and Fund Managers market outlook. |
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11 Dec 2015 - Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
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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 | BWX, Bellamy's, Surfstitch and Ramsay were the largest contributors to performance whilst Australian Careers Network, Vitaco and James Hardie were the largest detractors. Net equity market exposure (including derivatives) at month end sat at 53.6% (61.8% long and 8.2% short) Click below to read the November 2015 Fund Report. |
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10 Dec 2015 - Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
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Manager Comments | The largest stock contributor was Open House, a Tokyo based property developer, which reported earnings significantly above market expectations and raised guidance for 2016. Gains were also made from opportunities in European bank recapitalizations and government disposals of banks they were forced to take over in the GFC. The Fund's short position in Aberdeen Asset Management proved to be profitable as the company reported poor flows for their funds and rising costs, which saw the stock fall 8% over the month. Large gains in the basket of high quality US regional banks, were substantially eroded by the long Wells Fargo position. Underperformance also came from German copper smelter Aurubis and their holdings in US healthcare. The Fund began December fully invested. Fund positioning is generally neutral in regard to sectors and countries. Click below to read more. |
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10 Dec 2015 - The Paragon Fund
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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 | Key positive contributors for November included Longs in NetComm Wireless, Mayne Pharma, and APN Outdoor. At the end of the month the Fund had 34 long positions and 16 short positions. Majority of the Fund's net industry exposure was in the Industrial sector at 54%, followed by Financial sectors, 13.9%. Over one-fifth of the portfolio was held in cash (23.1%). Click below to read the latest monthly report, highlighting two stocks; Mayne Pharma and Netcomm Wireless that the Fund Manager believes will provide long term growth. |
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9 Dec 2015 - Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
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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 held average gross at 110% of NAV, with net short exposure averaging 7% of NAV, avoiding the negative drag from another weak market, and recorded gains on both sides of the ledger. The Fund's long positions strongly outperformed the market, with attribution of +0.8% on average long exposure of 50% of NAV. Key contributors again included some recovery situations in retail (Myer, Metcash, Super Retail Group), Financials (banks and Perpetual), and some bottom-fishing in the energy and commodity groups. The Fund's short positions served as a useful hedge, with attribution of +0.6% % on average short (stock) exposure of 36% of NAV. Click below to read the latest Fund Monthly Report. |
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8 Dec 2015 - Meme Australian Share Fund November 2015
Meme Australian Share Fund
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Meme Australian Share Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
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The Meme Capital Management is a Perth-based boutique Fund Manager, established in 2012 and manages the Meme Australian Share Fund.
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The Fund specializes in technical and quantitative strategies to identify investment opportunities expected to provide both positive price appreciation and relative price out-performance over the medium to long term.
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The Fund's objective is to outperform the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index over rolling three year periods, through investing in ASX listed securities outside the S&P/ASX 20. The Fund only takes long positions and does not use derivatives.
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Over the past 12 months, the Fund returned positive 28.38%, versus the Index's 1.90% return.