NEWS
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
19 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund rose 1.04% in March, taking the annualised return since inception to 11.09% p.a.
Read more...
19 Apr 2017 - Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return 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'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 | For the month, AGL Energy (+36bp) was the largest contributor to performance. The Banks (NAB, ANZ, CBA, WBC) and Aristocrat Leisure were also solid contributors to performance (combined +98 basis points). The key negative contributors included a short position in Spotless Group (-23bp) and a short position in SPI Futures (-19bp). Resources (RIO, MIN, BHP, MGX) also detracted (combined -42bp). Net equity market exposure increased from 53.9% to 69.9% (73.1% long and 3.2% short). |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust March 2017
18 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on Optimal Australian Absolute Trust.
Read more...
18 Apr 2017 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust March 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - March 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 February, the Fund returned +0.9%, to take annualised return since inception to 8.15% p.a. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.30 (Index 0.28), Sortino ratio of 2.65 (Index 0.29), both of which are well above the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and has recorded over 78% positive months.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - March 2017 (pdf format)
APN AREIT Fund
18 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN AREIT Fund returned +0.2% for the month of March, to take the latest 24 months return to 19.24%.
Read more...
18 Apr 2017 - APN AREIT 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 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 | For the month of March, the portfolio's property sector allocation remained mainly unchanged, with 62% in the Retail sector, followed by 20% in the Office sector. The Fund's top 5 holdings included Scentre Group, Vicinity Centres, Stockland, Charter Hall Retail REIT and Dexus Property Group, with 3 of the holdings above 10% each. |
| More Information |
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%.
Read more...
18 Apr 2017 - NWQ Fiduciary 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 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. |
| More Information |
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%.
Read more...
13 Apr 2017 - APN Asian REIT 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 | 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. |
| Manager Comments | |
| More Information |
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.
Read more...
13 Apr 2017 - Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
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'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. |
| More Information |
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%.
Read more...
12 Apr 2017 - Totus Alpha 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 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). |
| More Information |
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.
Read more...
12 Apr 2017 - Paragon Australian Long Short 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 | 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 | |
| More Information |
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.
Read more...
11 Apr 2017 - Allard Investment 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 | 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. |
| Manager Comments | |
| More Information |
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%.
Read more...
10 Apr 2017 - Bennelong 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 | 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. |
| More Information |
