News
Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund February 2018
9 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review for the Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund is now available.
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9 Mar 2018 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund February 2018
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - February 2018 (pdf format)
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 large-caps from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with over fourteen-year track record and annualised returns of 16.38% p.a.
- The consistent returns across the investment history indicate 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 1.00 and 1.65 respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - February 2018 (pdf format)
Performance Report: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
8 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Long/Short Equity Fund returned -0.58% in February. Since inception in February 2002, the Fund has returned +16.38% per annum.
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8 Mar 2018 - 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 long portfolio performed slightly better than the market with a return close to zero, while the short portfolio was the drag on returns underperforming the market slightly. The portfolio experienced a favourable hit rate of company results in February reporting season across both the long and short portfolio, which was not reflected in the return. Return from the Fund's most profitable pair, long Aristocrate / short Tabcorp, was due to a weak result from Tabcorp. The Fund's weakest pair was long Carsales / short Computershare with both stocks down; Carsales due to profit taking after a strong run and Computershare due to a stronger result and associated earnings upgrades. |
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Performance Report: Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
7 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Australian Long Short Fund returned -3.0% in February. Since inception in March 2013, the Fund has returned +18.79% per annum.
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7 Mar 2018 - 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 | Positive contributions in the month were from Global Geoscience and the Fund's shorts in Invocare, IPH, Ramsay Health (all downgrading), IOOF, Telstra and the Fund's bond proxies. These were offset by declines in Orocobre, CleanTeq, Challenger, Janus Henderson, Agrimin and Echo. The Fund ended the month with 32 long positions and 19 short positions. In their latest report, Paragon briefly discuss the rapid sell-off of bonds at the start of 2018 which triggered higher volatility and a roughly 12% correction in US stock markets - the first >10% correction in two years. Paragon believe the current correction is well and truly overdue, and that rising bond rates and their rate of change will continue to drive increased volatility over 2018. Paragon also noted that, in light of the fact that several of the Fund's key high-conviction long positions carry higher volatility in periods of market stress, Paragon has a flexible mandate and is active with exposure, having the ability to hedge and shift to a higher cash position (currently 35%) when appropriate. |
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Performance Report: Qato Capital Market Neutral Fund
6 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Qato Capital Market Neutral Fund returned -0.95% in January. Qato noted that the Fund was outperforming the fall in the broader ASX-100 in February at the time of writing their latest report.
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6 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: Qato Capital Market Neutral Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund seeks to preserve capital and maximise absolute returns through active and constant risk management, targeting monthly a net market exposure of 0% to hedge broader market risks by generally holding up to 50 S&P/ASX-100 positions (up to 25 long positions & 25 short positions). Historically, the strategy has been uncorrelated to traditional asset classes with a negative beta to equity markets. Qato Capital's process is entirely systematic - stock selection and risk management are all employed in a rules based approach. Positions in Qato's long-portfolio and short-portfolio are rotated monthly dependent upon their Q-Score ranking. The strategy employs no financial leverage/gearing to purchase securities, no derivatives and no financial products to imitate leverage. |
| Manager Comments | South32 was the strongest performer for the month, contributing +0.83% due to the Fund holding an overweight position of +4.6%. Flight Centre also contributed positively (+0.40%) after rallying +15.35%. The Fund's underweight position in the Financials sector, which pulled back -0.79%, also had a positive impact on relative performance, with the Fund holding short positions in ANZ (-0.56%) and Westpac (-1.26%). A strong rally in the healthcare sector (+3.16) negatively impacted performance of the short book which held positions in Sonic Healthcare (+4.3%), CSL (+3.6%) and Cochlear (+1.4%), although the impact was lessened by short positions in Ramsay Healthcare (-2.5) and Healthscope (-8.1%) which contributed positively. |
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Performance Report: Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
6 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund returned +1.04% in January. Since inception in September 2010 the Fund has returned +8.62% per annum with a volatility of 5.30%.
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6 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | PanAgora believes the best way to find opportunities in the global markets is to combine fundamental analysis with robust quantitative techniques in order to filter the investment universe and select the investments. The Fund invests primarily in listed equity securities from a global universe of developed markets and a select group of emerging market countries. The Fund's objective is to seek absolute returns by identifying and exploiting multiple inefficiencies that may exist in global equity markets. These inefficiencies are primarily exploited through the use of a long/short equity strategy which aims to construct a portfolio that is generally neutral to market movements. As such the performance of the investment strategy is largely independent of the market's performance. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by using a diversified set of strategies that have low correlation to one another. In addition, because many of these strategies are designed to generate profit under different market conditions, their combination is expected to result in more stable returns over time than any individual strategy in and of itself. |
| Manager Comments | Performance in January was driven by the long-term portfolio which contributed +1.10%, with strong performance coming from the U.S. large capitalisation and Emerging Markets stocks. Intermediate-term strategies detracted -0.04% due to U.S. merger arbitrage and share class arbitrage related trades, and short-term strategies detracted -0.02% as earnings related trades disappointed. |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
5 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund fell -0.18% in January. Since inception in January 2009, the Fund has returned +18.29% per annum.
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5 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The overriding objective of the Concentrated Australian Equities Fund is to seek investment opportunities which are under-appreciated and have the potential to deliver positive earnings, while satisfying our stringent quality criteria. Bennelong's investment process combines bottom-up fundamental analysis together with proprietary investment tools which are used to build and maintain high quality portfolios that are risk aware. The portfolio typically consists of 20-35 high-conviction stocks from the S&P/ASX 300 Index. The Fund may invest in securities listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to ASX-listed securities. Derivative instruments are mainly used to replicate underlying positions and hedge market and company specific risks. |
| Manager Comments | At the end of January, the Fund's weighting in the Materials sector increased to 14.7% from 7.1% as at the end of December. Weightings were decreased in the Discretionary, Health Care, Consumer Staples, Industrials and Financials sectors. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
5 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana Global Small Companies Fund rose +0.5% in January, taking annualised performance since inception in April 2015 to +11.88% with an annualised volatility of 8.49%.
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5 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is managed by Founder & CIO Leah Zell, and Portfolio Managers Jon Moog and David Li. The Lizard investment team have over 50 years combined investment experience in global small cap investing. Leah Zell has over 30 years of experience and is a recognized expert in international investing in the international small-cap category. The Fund's investment team uses a value-oriented investment approach to small and mid-cap global equities that seeks to identify and invest in quality businesses that create significant value but are mispriced, overlooked or out-of-favour. The investment manager believes that unique opportunities exist due to limited available research, corporate actions or unfavourable investor perception. The portfolio construction process aims to develop portfolios that incorporate the best investment ideas from the investment manager's research while allowing for liquidity constraints and perceived risk. The Fund's investment manager will not typically hedge currency exposures, however during periods of currency extremes, some currency hedging may be employed. Derivatives may be used to achieve long or short exposures, reduce risk and reduce transaction costs. Derivatives will not be used for the purposes of leverage and the Fund's net exposure will never be short. |
| Manager Comments | Pengana mentioned in their latest report that the Fund benefits significantly during periods of uncertainty, as seen throughout January. The Fund started February with 20% cash, near the top of the Fund's allowable threshold, which puts the Fund in a position to buy as opportunities present themselves. Pengana noted that, while holding cash on the way up can be painful, it becomes an important tool when markets disintegrate quickly. There were no meaningful fundamental changes to the portfolio in January. Pengana remain focused on sourcing and finding exceptional businesses. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Touchstone Index Unaware Fund
2 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Touchstone Index Unaware Fund returned +0.21% in January, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +0.66% and taking annualised performance since inception to +15.11% per annum.
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2 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: Touchstone Index Unaware Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The portfolio is constructed using Touchstone's Quality-At-a-Reasonable-Price ('QARP') investment process. QARP is a fundamental bottom-up process, however, it also incorporates a top-down risk management framework designed to successfully manage the portfolio during varying market conditions and economic cycles. The Touchstone Fund is concentrated, typically holding between 15-20 stocks. No individual stock will ever make up more than 10% of the portfolio at any one time. The Investment Manager may temporarily exceed the exposure limits of the Fund occasionally, particularly during periods of market volatility, to allow for holdings in excess of this 10% limit where the increase in value of the underlying security is due to market movement. The Fund may also hold between 0-50% of the portfolio in cash. The Fund has a high level of associated risk, therefore, the minimum suggested investment time-frame is 5 years. |
| Manager Comments | The Touchstone Index Unaware Fund primarily selects stocks from the S&P/ASX 300 Index and typically holds 10-30 stocks. It seeks to invest in reasonably priced, good quality companies with a significant share of expected returns coming from sustainable dividends. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
2 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Australian Equities Fund returned +0.79% in January, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +1.24% and taking annualised performance since inception in Feb 2009 to +13.84%.
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2 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Bennelong Australian Equities Fund seeks quality investment opportunities which are under-appreciated and have the potential to deliver positive earnings. The investment process combines bottom-up fundamental analysis with proprietary investment tools that are used to build and maintain high quality portfolios that are risk aware. The investment team manages an extensive company/industry contact program which helps identify and verify various investment opportunities. The companies within the portfolio are primarily selected from, but not limited to, the S&P/ASX 300 Index. The Fund may invest in securities listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to the ASX-listed securities. The Fund typically holds between 25-60 stocks with a maximum net targeted position of an individual stock of 6%. |
| Manager Comments | At the end of the month, the Fund's weightings in the Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Materials sectors were increased whilst weightings in the Health Care, Industrials, REITs and Financials sectors were decreased. |
| More Information |
Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund January 2018
1 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Titans Fund is now available.
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1 Mar 2018 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund January 2018
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 2018 (pdf format)
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 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.
AFM Fund Review - January 2018 (pdf format)
