NEWS
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
11 Dec 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund rose 1.16%, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index, which fell 0.68%, by 1.84%.
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11 Dec 2015 - 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 | 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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Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
10 Dec 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Morphic Global Opportunities Fund returned -1.35% in November, outperforming its benchmark (MSCI AC World Total Return in Australian Dollars), which fell 2.35%, by 1.00%.
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10 Dec 2015 - Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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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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The Paragon Fund
10 Dec 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Fund rose 2.60% for the month of November, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by 3.28%
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10 Dec 2015 - The Paragon Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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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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Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
9 Dec 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust returned +1.0%, and outperformed the the ASX200 Accumulation Index's by +1.68%.
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9 Dec 2015 - 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 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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Meme Australian Share Fund November 2015
8 Dec 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
November Fund Review is now available on Meme Australian Share Fund, that invests in ASX listed securities outside of the S&P/ASX20.
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8 Dec 2015 - Meme Australian Share Fund November 2015
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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.
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
7 Dec 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund rose 0.65% in November, to bring latest 12-month return to 32.76%.
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7 Dec 2015 - 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 performance featured an event split of winning and losing pairs. The two strongest contributors to performance were pairs in Energy and Healthcare driven by short positions in Santos and Primary Health Care. On the negative side, the Fund's position in a building materials pair detracted from performance as the long side (James Hardie) disappointed. Portfolio positioning over the month featured several modest adjustments to portfolio weightings, as well as the introduction of a new position in the healthcare sector. Click below to read the Fund Manager's commentary and future market outlook. |
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Meme Australian Share Fund
4 Dec 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
For the month of November, the Meme Australian Share Fund gained 3.11% compared to the ASX200 Accumulation Index's loss of 0.68%, an outperformance of 3.80%.
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4 Dec 2015 - Meme Australian Share Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund's investment strategy seeks to identify low-risk entry opportunities and then build positions in these stocks. Once established in the portfolio, individual stock holdings are maintained for as long as their long-term upward trend remains intact and while they continue to make positive contributions to portfolio growth. Positions are reduced and ultimately closed out as their trends become exhausted or as their relative long-term performance against the broad market weakens. The Fund believes that longer time frame investments also provide a number of advantages. The effect of false signals and 'noise' which attend shorter term time frames is mitigated by only attending to signals which are confirmed by our longer term assessments. Also, the Fund gains exposure to the more expansive price trends which can last for months and years, allowing dividends and distributions received during this time to further enhance portfolio returns. |
| Manager Comments | The most significant positive contributors to the fund's performance were Netcomm Wireless (NTC, +1.81%), Norwood Systems (NOR, +1.09%), Lynas Corporation (LYC, +0.44%) and Hub24 (HUB, +0.43%). The month's the largest negative contributions were St. Barbara (SBM, -0.43%), SMS Management (SMX, -0.32%) and Pilbara Minerals (PLS, -0.28%). The total number of portfolio stocks increased from the previous month's 79 to 101, due to strong investor inflows allowing a number of new positions to be secured. During the month, the Fund's exposure to the Materials, Energy and Information Technology sectors decreased and to the Industrials, Property and Health sectors increased, with exposure to other sectors remained relatively stable. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's commentary on the Fund. |
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Fund Review: Supervised High Yield Fund October 2015
2 Dec 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Fund review on Supervised High Yield Fund, a fixed income fund, is now available.
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2 Dec 2015 - Fund Review: Supervised High Yield Fund October 2015
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Supervised High Yield Fund AFM Review October 2015 (pdf format)
SUPERVISED HIGH YIELD FUND
Attached is AFM's updated Fund Review on the Supervised High Yield Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund:
- The Supervised High Yield Fund (SHYF) has a 6 year track record investing in fixed interest investments. The Investment strategy aims to deliver returns with zero correlation to equity markets by investing in debt securities with minimal default probability and offering a premium return above the risk free rate.
- The Fund is managed by Philip Carden whose experience in debt and capital markets spans over 32years, including time with JB Were's Capel Court Securities and Macquarie Bank, where he was the Executive Director responsible for the Debt Markets Division.
- SHYF is an Alternative Income fund which invests in Global and Australian debt markets, with all foreign currency receivables hedged back to Australian dollars.
- The Fund utilises a top down analysis of the economic environment and market to screen and identify debt market opportunities which it believes offer low risk with high yield. The next stage is the development of a risk matrix and investment strategy, following which detailed research is undertaken on specific investment opportunities which meet the pre-defined criteria established in the investment strategy.
- Prior to approving an investment for the Fund each potential investment is subject to two stress tests. The first of these is for credit and default risk, in which the investment is stress-tested to ensure that in a worst case economic environment it can repay 100% of its principal and interest obligations case scenario for the asset by examining the highest margin over the risk rate that the investment has previously experienced in a crisis situation. Any decline in value under the stress test that exceeds 10% of the Fund's value is avoided The second test examines market risk. In this case Carden looks at the worst case scenario for the asset by examining the highest margin over the risk rate that the investment has previously experienced in a crisis situation. Any decline in value under the stress test that exceeds 10% of the Fund's value is avoided.
Supervised High Yield Fund AFM Review October 2015 (pdf format)
Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund October 2015
1 Dec 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Titans Fund is now available.
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1 Dec 2015 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund October 2015
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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 returned 3.5% for the month of October. The performance was driven by positive contributions from our holdings in Microsoft, Medtronic, McDonald's and Zimmer. The Fund continues to have no foreign currency hedging in place as Insync consider that the risk to the Australian dollar continues to be on the downside.
- 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.
Fund Review: Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund October 2015
30 Nov 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest fund review now available on the Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund, which has one of the most risk averse Key Performance Statistics of any fund in AFM's database.
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30 Nov 2015 - Fund Review: Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund October 2015
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AURORA FORTITUDE ABSOLUTE RETURN FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- The Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund (AFARF) has a 10 year track record investing in ASX listed equities. A Market Neutral overlay is used across a multi strategy approach which allows for flexible asset allocation to maximise returns and minimise risk under a variety of market conditions and cycles.CIO John Corr has over 20 years financial market experience with a strong focus on risk.
- Significant use of low risk "long" derivatives and option overlays has provided positive returns with low volatility during periods of market dislocation. Risk statistics are impressive and shows the Funds risk philosophy; 85% of monthly performances have been positive with no losing months in 2008, the Fund's largest drawdown is -2.09% and the Sharpe ratio 1.09.
- ASX listed Aurora Funds Limited was established on the merger of three existing fund management businesses, managing approx. $230m on behalf of more than 2,500 retail and wholesale investors.
