News
Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund April 2015
26 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Fund review available for Bennelong Long Short Fund which has over twelve year track record and annualised returns of 17.33%.
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26 May 2015 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund April 2015
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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 twelve year track record and annualised returns of 17.33%.
- 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 1.05 (Index 0.36) and 1.75 (Index 0.40) respectively.
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Fund performance in April was flat (0.03%), with no major changes to the Fund's positioning. Across the portfolio, The number of profitable pairs exceeded the number of losing pairs; 17 positive, 14 negative. The Fund's strongest positive contributors were Long Caltex / Short Metcash, Long QBE / Short Suncorp and Long Challenger / Short ANZ. On the negative side, the three largest setback were Long Seek / Short Fairfax, Long Resmed / Short Ansell and Long Brambles / Short Sydney.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund
26 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund returned 0.54% over the month of April, bringing its annual performance since inception to 19.13%.
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26 May 2015 - Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund may also invest in derivatives for hedging purposes. The portfolio of the Fund comprises primarily Investment Grade holding of 75% of the Fund's assets. Benchmark allocations are Australasia 50% to 100%, North America 0% to 50% and Europe 0% to 50%. Currency hedging may take place depending on benefits to the Fund. |
| Manager Comments | Laminar has been vocal about avoiding tier 1 securities and as bank stocks have sold off over the last couple of weeks, tier 1bonds have followed. For higher yielding assets, Laminar's preference has been RMBS, which continues to perform extremely well with low volatility and steadily rising prices. The Fund will maintain a healthy allocation to these assets Click on the link below to read the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
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KIS Asia Long Short Fund
25 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
KIS Asia Long Short Fund rose 4.04% during April, bring the Fund's annual return since inception to 15.48% p.a.
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25 May 2015 - KIS Asia Long Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Whilst the Fund's primary strategy is focused on long/short equities, the ability to retain discretionary powers to allocate across a number of other investment strategies is reserved. These strategies may include, but not be limited to: convertible bond investments, portfolio hedging, equity related arbitrage, special situations (e.g. merger arbitrage, rights offerings, participation in international public offerings and placements, etc.). The Fund's geographic focus is Asia excluding Japan, but including Australia). The Fund may invest outside of this region to the extent that: 1. The investment decision is driven from the Asian region or; 2. The exposure is intended to mitigate risk or enhance return from factors external to the Asian region. |
| Manager Comments | Majority of the month's return came from the Long Short Strategy, contributing 355bp. In April the spotlight was on the Hong Kong (HK) and China equity markets. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) rallied 17% while the Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) gained 20%. The Fund finally saw some serious volume in the Southbound Connect flows after a lackluster start back in November. With such an extraordinary rise in Chinese and HK stocks over the past 6 months, investors are starting to look at potential excesses in the market. Margin lending is the biggest focus and the Fund has and will continue to do work around this issue. Elsewhere April was fairly quiet. For the month ahead, investors, will be questioning the 'sell in May' seasonality. Australia has a budget to hand down that is unlikely to cause fireworks, but can have some impact on certain sectors. Click below to read the complete Fund Manager's Latest Report. |
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The Paragon Fund
25 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Fund returned 1.10% versus the ASX 200 Accumulation's -1.70%, for the month of April 2015. The Fund's annual return since inception has been 21.24% p.a. versus the Index's 10.60% p.a.
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25 May 2015 - The Paragon Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Paragon accepts that markets are not always efficient in pricing information into securities and that no one investment style works in every stage of the investment cycle. Subsequently Paragon adopts a top down thematic led approach to identify companies exhibiting sustainable or improving returns on capital driven by volume growth, pricing power and competitive advantages. Paragon utilises both quantitative analysis to provide probability weighted high/low/base case valuations and qualitative analysis in assessing management, the business model and likely direction of returns. Paragon will allocate assets to each investment opportunity based on a risk/reward profile. Positions have defined investment parameters and risk limits, which are then monitored on an ongoing basis. |
| Manager Comments | Key drivers of the Paragon Fund's performance for April included solid returns LNG Ltd, Oz Minerals, Mayne Pharma and Metals X. Short positions across USD exposed companies also contributed. At the end of the month the fund had 29 long positions and 13 short positions. Click below to read the complete Fund Manager's commentary. |
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Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
22 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund had a strong performance of 3.87% for the month of April, bringing the annualised return since inception to 11.43%.
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22 May 2015 - Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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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 | In comparison the HFR Event Driven Index closed +0.50%. The month saw significant volatility in China/ Hong Kong (H Shares) after CSRC allowed Chinese mutual funds to access Hong Kong markets which significantly impacted holding company discounts and A/H spreads. Performance was diversified across the M&A, Capital Management and Stubs sub strategies. The Fund used this opportunity to reduce their gross exposure and overall net to 210% and 15.70% respectively. Forty percent of the Fund's monthly gross exposure by strategy was in M&A followed by Capital management at 24.80%. Whereas the country exposure as percentage (%) of NAV was most in Hong Kong/China with gross of 75.50% and Japan of 36.80%. Click below to read the complete Fund Manager's Report |
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Allard Investment Fund
22 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Allard Investment Fund increased 1.50% during the month of April, to bring the Fund's last twelve month performance to 27.08%.
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22 May 2015 - Allard Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | The Fund portfolio was invested 75% in equities and 25% in cash and fixed income. There has been little change since the prior month, in terms of the industry and geographic breakdown of the portfolio. The Fund continues to be most exposed to Financial Services at 18.30%, Conglomerates at 10.90% and Telco's at 11.10%. The geographic breakdown was Hong Kong / China at 43.00%, Singapore 10.90% and Korea 9.70%. The top 5 holdings had 42.00% concentration of the portfolio and 16.50% in the next 5 holdings. Click below to review the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund April 2015
21 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review now available on Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund, which has over nine years of positive track record.
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21 May 2015 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund April 2015
By: Australian Fund Monitors
BENNELONG KARDINIA ABSOLUTE RETURN FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review. You are also able to view the Fund's Profile.
- The Fund is long biased, research driven, active equity long/short strategy investing in listed ASX companies with an nine year track record.
- The Fund has significantly outperformed the ASX200 Accumulation Index since its inception in April 2006 and also has significantly lower risk KPI's. The Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund fell 0.59% in April and has volatility of 7.33% pa, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's 14.19%.
- The Fund also has a strong focus on capital protection in negative markets. Portfolio Managers Mark Burgess and Kristiaan Rehder have significant market experience, while the Bennelong Group provide infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution capabilities.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sean Webster
Research Manager
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust April 2015
20 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on Optimal Australian Absolute Trust Fund, which reported a positive 1.96% in April.
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20 May 2015 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust April 2015
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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.
- The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.41, Sortino ratio of 3.17, 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.
Sean Webster
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Fund Review: Monash Absolute Investment Fund April 2015
19 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review with statistics since inception on Monash Absolute Investment Fund.
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19 May 2015 - Fund Review: Monash Absolute Investment Fund April 2015
By: Australian Fund Monitors
Monash Absolute Investment Fund Review April 2015 (pdf format)
MONASH ABSOLUTE INVESTMENT FUND
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund:
- The Fund is a research driven, active equity long/short strategy investing in listed ASX companies.
- The Fund seeks to identify opportunities in the share market to make positive returns (long and short) irrespective of market conditions. It is style agnostic, as compelling investment opportunities exist across all investment styles from time to time. The Fund places a high priority on capital preservation, and has an absolute return focus in accepting market risk.
If you have any questions in relation to the Fund Review, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sean Webster
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Monash Absolute Investment Fund Review April 2015 (pdf format)
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
18 May 2015 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund performance in April was flat (0.03%).
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18 May 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. |
| Manager Comments | The number of profitable pairs exceeded the number of losing pairs; 17 positive, 14 negative. Long Caltex / Short Metcash was a top 3 pair. Both sides of the trade contributed positively despite Caltex absorbing the impact of the majority shareholder, Chevron, selling its 50% shareholding. Notwithstanding weakness in the Financials sector, key positive contributors to the portfolio were Long QBE / Short Suncorp benefiting from weakness in domestically focussed general insurers and Long Challenger / Short ANZ benefitting from weakness in banks. Within the negative pairs, our Long Resmed / Short Ansell position was key following a quarterly result from Resmed which the market took negatively. The Fund Manager continues to be apprehensive about the equity market valuation. Click below to read the complete Fund Monthly commentary. |
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