News
Performance Report: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
10 May 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund rose +5.11% in April, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +1.64%. Since inception in February 2002, the Fund has returned +14.33% p.a. vs the Index's +8.25%.
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10 May 2021 - Performance Report: 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 as a Listed Investment Company (LIC) on the ASX. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's capacity to significantly outperform in falling and volatile markets is highlighted by the following statistics (since inception): Sortino ratio of 1.35 vs the Index's 0.45, maximum drawdown of -23.77% vs the Index's -47.19%, and down-capture ratio of -162%. The Fund's down-capture ratio indicates that, on average, it has risen during the market's negative months. Bennelong noted that in recent months a sharp step up in bond yields triggered a rally in the type of company they often include in their short portfolio. In April, bond yields steadied, the trend of rotation steadied and the Fund's performance improved. Whilst short term fund volatility has settled down considerably, Bennelong are running leverage slightly lower than normal, and have increased the number of pairs in the portfolio. They think there is a good chance market volatility will increase. Two thirds of pairs were positive during the month, with positive and negative pairs spread across a variety of sectors. The two most profitable pairs both performed well due to tailwinds of the current bullish commodity cycle. Both sides of the Fund's third best pair BSL/SGM announced a profit upgrade. The Fund's bottom pair JBH/SUL featured a sales update from JBH, but more influential on the share price was the surprise announcement that long serving CEO, Richard Murray has resigned to take on the CEO role at Premier. |
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Performance Report: Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
6 May 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Australian Long Short Fund rose an estimated +22.4% in April, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +18.93% and taking 12-month performance to +97.52% vs the Index's 30.76%. Since inception in March 2013, the Fund has...
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6 May 2021 - Performance Report: Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Paragon's unique investment style, comprising thematic led idea generation followed with an in depth research effort, results in a concentrated portfolio of high conviction stocks. Conviction in bottom up analysis drives the investment case and ultimate position sizing: * Both quantitative analysis - probability weighted high/low/base case valuations - and qualitative analysis - company meetings, assessing management, the business model, balance sheet strength and likely direction of returns - collectively form Paragon's overall view for each investment case. * Paragon will then allocate weighting to each investment opportunity based on a risk/reward profile, capped to defined investment parameters by market cap, which are continually monitored as part of Paragon's overall risk management framework. The objective of the Paragon Fund is to produce absolute returns in excess of 10% p.a. over a 3-5 year time horizon with a low correlation to the Australian equities market. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's strong performance in April came from a good spread across 13 stocks, individually returning greater than +1% attribution. These include Chalice, Adriatic, Betmakers, Cettire, and Paragon's copper, gold and battery-EV stockpicks. The Fund ended the month with 36 long positions and 6 short positions. In their latest report, Paragon give their thoughts on Copper's strong fundamentals and its attractive opportunity set. They highlight that, reinforcing Copper's demand outlook, the 'green-theme' remains front and centre globally where they believe Climate transition has the potential to drive US$2t p.a. of infrastructure investments for the next decade; renewable energy systems require 5x more copper than conventional power generation, and EV require 3x more than conventional vehicles. Given Paragon's 'stronger for longer' view in Copper, they've been actively researching 'discovery' and 'developer' stocks as they expect them to vastly outperform. |
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Performance Report: Insync Global Quality Equity Fund
4 May 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Insync Global Quality Equity Fund rose +2.95% in March, taking 12-month performance to +22.69%. Since inception in October 2009, the Fund has risen +13.57% p.a. with an annualised volatility of 10.62%.
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4 May 2021 - Performance Report: Insync Global Quality Equity 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 typically of 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. |
| Manager Comments | The portfolio's top 10 holdings at month-end included PayPal, Walt Disney, Nintendo, S&P Global, Domino's Pizza, Dollar General, Facebook, Visa, Qualcomm and Microsoft. Relative to the MSCI, the portfolio was significantly overweight IT and underweight Industrials. The 'Contactless Economy' and 'Workplace Automation' megatrends had the greatest weighting in the portfolio. Insync noted continued strong performance of cyclical stocks propelled the MSCI benchmark further ahead of the funds overall in March. They continue to see no compelling reason to alter course as this typical and short-lived phenomenon is consistent with past economic periods when coming out of a recession; overly optimistic price outcomes that result drive these types of stocks far higher than others. They point specifically to 2009/10 emerging from the GFC and 2016/17 when Trump was elected with heightened expectations of economic growth. |
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Webinar| AIM Quarterly Webinar
3 May 2021 - Aitken Investment Management
We invite you to the next AIM investor webinar to be held via Zoom, Wednesday 12 May 2021 at 11 am. Charlie Aitken and the investment team will briefly cover performance and provide feedback on the 1Q company reporting period. Given the...
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3 May 2021 - Webinar| AIM Quarterly Webinar
By: Aitken Investment Management
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Wednesday, May 12, 2021 11:00 AM AEST Webinar - Where are we Finding New Ideas?
We invite you to the next AIM investor webinar to be held via Zoom, Wednesday 12 May 2021 at 11 am. Charlie and the investment team will briefly cover performance and provide feedback on the 1Q company reporting period. Given the widespread concerns on market valuations, our investment team will discuss how and where we are finding new ideas for the Fund. Q&A will follow. If you would like to request a recording of the Webinar, please do so via [email protected].
Time: 11:00 AM AEST Date: Wednesday the 12th of May, 2021 Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_X1UJK8f0RJO38KBNPhrE-w
We look forward to speaking with you.
ABOUT AIM AIM was founded in 2015 as an independent investment manager. The firm is structured to manage client investments. Activities not related to delivering this outcome are outsourced to asset management service providers to enable AIM to focus on conducting investment research, managing the portfolio, and engaging with investors. AIM is owned by its directors. They are not incentivised by any third party to sell or recommend any product or service beyond the capital they manage for their investors. In addition to business ownership, all directors are also invested in the AIM Global High Conviction Fund; the same goes for members of the staff. AIM view a significant ownership interest in the Fund as a key component to create alignment between themselves and their investors. AIM believe in their process and portfolio of businesses, and do not try and do better than their clients by investing in businesses they would not own on an investor's behalf. Equally, AIM would not own a business in the Fund that they would not own in their personal capacity. AIM are 100% aligned with their investors. |
Performance Report: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
3 May 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund rose +1.65% in March, taking 12-month performance to +53.98% vs the ASX200 Accumulation Index's +37.47%. Since inception in November 2009, the Fund has returned +11.12%. p.a. vs the Index's +7.88%.
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3 May 2021 - Performance Report: 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 has achieved up-capture and down-capture ratios (since inception) of 124% and 96% respectively, demonstrating its ability to outperform in both rising and falling markets. As at the end of March, the portfolio's weightings had been increased in the Discretionary, Communication, REIT's and Financials sectors, and decreased in the IT, Industrials and Health Care sectors. Relative to the ASX300, the Fund is significantly overweight the Discretionary sector (Fund weight: 33.6%, benchmark weight: 8.0%. The Fund's sector exposures will deviate from the benchmark only to the extent that the actively managed investment in ex-20 stocks results in an over or under-weighting position to any particular sector. |
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Fund Review: Insync Global Capital Aware Fund March 2021
30 Apr 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Capital Aware Fund is now available. The Global Capital Aware Fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of 15-30 stocks, targeting exceptional, large cap global companies with a strong focus on dividend...
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30 Apr 2021 - Fund Review: Insync Global Capital Aware Fund March 2021
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - March 2021 (pdf format)
INSYNC GLOBAL CAPITAL AWARE FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Insync Global Capital Aware Fund.
We would like to highlight the following:
- The Global Capital Aware 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 - March 2021 (pdf format)
Performance Report: Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
30 Apr 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Australian Long/Short Fund rose +6.43% over the quarter, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +2.17% and taking 12-month performance to +89.83% vs the Index's +37.47. Since inception in March 2013, the Fund has...
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30 Apr 2021 - Performance Report: Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Paragon's unique investment style, comprising thematic led idea generation followed with an in depth research effort, results in a concentrated portfolio of high conviction stocks. Conviction in bottom up analysis drives the investment case and ultimate position sizing: * Both quantitative analysis - probability weighted high/low/base case valuations - and qualitative analysis - company meetings, assessing management, the business model, balance sheet strength and likely direction of returns - collectively form Paragon's overall view for each investment case. * Paragon will then allocate weighting to each investment opportunity based on a risk/reward profile, capped to defined investment parameters by market cap, which are continually monitored as part of Paragon's overall risk management framework. The objective of the Paragon Fund is to produce absolute returns in excess of 10% p.a. over a 3-5 year time horizon with a low correlation to the Australian equities market. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's down-capture ratio (since inception) of 74.72% indicates that, on average, the Fund has outperformed during the market's negative months. The Fund returned -6.2% in March. Paragon noted that whilst the major indices continued to rise there was unprecedented turbulence below the surface. Positive contributors for the Fund were Cettire, Betmakers and Chalice, offset by declines in Ionic, Adriatic and other Resources holdings. The Fund ended the month with 32 long positions and 6 short positions. |
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Performance Report: NWQ Fiduciary Fund
30 Apr 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The NWQ Fiduciary Fund has risen +14.12% over the past 12 months with a volatility of 5.98%. Since inception in May 2013, the Fund has returned +5.58% p.a. with an annualised volatility of 5.70%.
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30 Apr 2021 - Performance Report: NWQ Fiduciary Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund aims to produce returns after management fees and expenses of RBA Cash Rate + 4.0-5.0% 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 largest drawdown since inception of -8.77% vs the Index's -26.75%, in conjunction with its down-capture ratio (since inception) of 13.25%, demonstrates its ability to protect investors' capital when markets fall. The Fund has achieved a down-capture ratio over the past 12 months of -8.5% which indicates that, on average, the Fund rose during the market's negative months. The Fund underperformed in March as the short portfolio outperformed the long portfolio. NWQ noted this was largely due to the rotation in the market from defensive/growth companies (typically favoured for long portfolio) and into value/cyclical companies (typically favoured for short portfolio). The Fund continues to be a portfolio diversifier and an alternative to the traditional balanced fund for investors concerned about current equity and bond market valuations. |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Emerging Companies Fund
30 Apr 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Emerging Companies Fund has risen +105.99% over the past 12 months vs the ASX200 Accumulation Index's +37.47%. Since inception in November 2017, the Fund has returned +29.45% p.a. vs the Index's +8.26%.
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30 Apr 2021 - Performance Report: Bennelong Emerging Companies Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund may invest in securities expected to be listed on the ASX within 12 months. The Fund may also invest in securities listed, or expected to be listed, on other exchanged where such securities relate to ASX-listed securities. |
| Manager Comments | Bennelong continue to seek to invest in high quality companies that they believe have solid growth prospects over the foreseeable future. They note that, despite the market's inevitable short-term volatility, they believe the portfolio's investments are all incrementally building value which they expect will underpin strong outperformance over the long-term. The portfolio remains diversified across setor and risk-return drivers. |
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Performance Report: Laureola Australia Feeder Fund
29 Apr 2021 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Laureola Master Fund rose +0.09% in March, taking 12-month performance to +8.57% with a volatility of 2.14%. Since inception in May 2013, the Fund has returned +15.88% p.a. with an annualised volatility of 5.56%.
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29 Apr 2021 - Performance Report: Laureola Australia Feeder Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Life Settlements are resold life insurance policies and can be thought of as a form of finance extended to an individual backed by the person's life insurance policy. This financing is repaid upon maturity by collecting the death benefit from the insurance company. Risk mitigation measures implemented by Laureola include science-driven due diligence of policies, active monitoring of insured through a vertically integrated operation, and investor aligned fund design. |
| Manager Comments | The AUD hedged feeder fund was flat in March. CYTD, it has risen +0.1%. The Fund's largest drawdown since inception of -4.90% vs the Index's -19.60%, in conjunction with its down-capture (since inception) ratio of -37.45%, demonstrates its capacity to significantly outperform in falling markets and emphasises the Fund's non-correlated nature. During the month, Life Settlement markets were relatively stable with transaction prices averaging in the 12% to 14% IRR range (gross, projected IRR) and the usual wide dispersion around this average. One small policy matured and 4 polices were added to the portfolio. The portfolio now has 188 policies with an average face of $710k. 37% of the policies have a Life Expectancy of 48 months or less. Maturities have been below expectation in Q1 but Laureola expect them to pick up for the rest of 2021. Laureola noted the impact of Covid 19 on the Life Settlement markets has been twofold: 1) increased mortality and 2) decreased supply of policies. They added that there is no exact measurement of the deaths caused by Covid but most reputable estimates centre around the 10% mark - i.e. there were 10% more deaths in 2020 than expected. Laureola believe Covid's effect is likely to decline in 2021 due to better treatment and the Vaccine rollout. 25% of Americans are fully vaccinated as of 17 April, the CDC estimates that it will be 50% by June 6 and 85% by August 15. |
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