Australia's regulator, ASIC, has lifted the limit on the covered short selling of financial stocks which was originally imposed on 21 September 2008 as part of the overall ban on short sales.

In reaching  the decision, ASIC noted that the global financial crisis and global recession continues to place pressure on Australia's markets', and that they 'will not hesitate to reimpose the ban immediately ... and without consultation if it considers market conditions warrant such action. ASIC will, in its monitoring of the market along with ASX, pay particular attention to short selling activity by participants (including activity by hedge funds and similar institutions) which could potentially harm Australia's financial system.ASIC also advised that the daily reporting of gross short sales would continue, as would the publication of aggregate short sale statistics the day after trading, until the commencement of the Government's permanant disclosure levels, which have yet to be announced.

Optimal Fund Management's five absolute return funds all reported positive returns for April, with performance ranging from +0.73% to +4.75%.

The Optimal Japan Absolute Long Fund was the strongest performer, up +4.75%, however this was seen by the manager as disappointing as the Topix index rose by over 8%. Real estate stocks performed well, however some of the Fund's top positions, including Nintendo and Shinestu Chemical, ended the month down. The main drag on return however was the Fund's cash holding (approximately 40% of the portfolio), which benefited the Fund earlier in 2009 however is now offsetting positive performance. The manager is expecting to increase the Fund's exposure going forward, however is looking for lower entry points than current levels.

Regarding the other Optimal funds, the Optimal Asia Pacific Fund gained +3.46%, the Optimal Australia Absolute Trust rose +1.4%, the Optimal Japan Fund was up +0.73% and the Optimal Asia Fund posted a return of +1.9%.

The Prime Value Growth Fund gained +4.9% in April, in a month where the Fund's cash holdings held back overall return in another month of market rallies.

Overall sector allocation was positive, the Fund underweight in financial stocks and overweight in industrials and consumer staples. The biggest individual contributor to performance was ABB Grain, which was up +45.8% after a takeover proposal from Viterra, while Mondelphous and Wesfarmers also up over 20% each. Commodity and energy stocks offset these positive returns, with Newcrest (-8.5% on lower production for 3Q), Lihir Gold and Oil Search the largest negative contributors. Although the manager remains cautious regarding the length and sustainability of the current market rally, they have gradually been adding positions to the Fund and reducing cash levels.

Prime Value's other Fund, the Imputation Fund, was up +7.8% in April and outperformed the market benchmark by 2.1%. The manager has continued to consolidate the portfolio, with core stocks now comprising approximately 50% of assets.

The Aurora Property Buy-Write Income Trust lost -1.1% in April, missing out on gains made on the S&P ASX 200 Property Accumulation Index which gained +6.07%.

The majority of gains on the index (+4.6%) were made in the first three days of April, while the Fund only began to reinvest in the market at the start of the month and was fully invested only at 24th April. The index outperformed to ASX 300 in April for the first time in six months. Westfield in particular performed strongly, accounting for 3.65% of the overall 6.07% of the index result. The Fund did hold a position in Westfield, however at a different weighting to that of the index, and return was partially offset by a call option sold over the holding.

The Aurora Sandringham Dividend Income Trust was also in the red in April, down -1.88%, while the Aurora Infrastructure Buy-Write Income Trust gained +1.8%.

The Absolute Macro Diversified Fund was up +8.19% in April (USD class) on the back of gains of almost +20% in Asian markets (ex Japan), India in particular performing strongly.

Energy commodities also contributed strongly to overall performance. The only negative return came from gold, which was down -3% for the month. The manager anticipates however that the US dollar will weaken in coming months, which will ultimately cause gold prices to rise. The Fund has substantially increased its exposure in recent months, however its allocation to 'risk' assets is now near maximum preset levels.

Absolute Asset Management's other funds, the Absolute Trading 1 Fund and the Asian REIT Property Fund, also enjoyed positive returns in April (+2.48% and +2.4% respectively).

The Apeiron Global Macro Fund recorded a small gain of +0.25% in April on the back of neutral to positive global market returns.

The Fund, which aims to identify overarching trends in global futures and FX markets and invest based on markets which qualify as over- or undervalued, ended the month long in wheat and gold amongst others, and short in gilts, Japanese government bonds and Australian equity futures. The outbreak of swine flu increased volatility during the month however overall markets trended upwards.The manager retains a positive outlook in commodities in the medium to long term, however believes further gains in these markets will be volatile, and thus will continue to trade opportunistically.

The Denning Pryce Equity Income Fund recorded a second consecutive positive month, up +5.17%, and outperformed its benchmark (the S&P/ASX 50 Index) by +0.46%.

The Fund, which aims to generate returns of 10% per annum with approximately half the risk of the S&P/ASX 50 Index by holding a blue chip equity portfolio and selling selected call options, is now up +10.28% over the last three months. Top performing stocks included Onesteel, OZ Minerals and Macquarie Group, while worst performing stocks included Bluescope, Macquarie Infrastructure Group and Fortescue Metals. The Fund was heavily invested in equities at month end, with over 87% of the portfolio invested, which enhanced the Fund's overall result.

The Jaguar Australian Leaders Long Short Unit Trust gained +0.06% in April, preserving the Fund's record of generating positive returns for every month in 2009 so far.

This result comes after the Fund gained +13.49% in March, and +12.91% in January this year. During the month the Fund increased its net market exposure from 84% to 99%, adding long industrial stock positions while going short in materials and REITs. The manager acknowledged the Fund's return was affected by the ongoing short selling ban on financial stocks, which reduced their ability to implement their long short strategy. Going forward the manager has identified the sustainability of the current market rally as a key issue facing investors.

The Quant Asset Management (QAM) Global Equities Fund gained +19.9% in April on the back of equities market rallies worldwide.

The Fund, which has the heaviest regional weighting towards the US (22% at the end of the month) followed by Europe (France 12%, Germany 9%), and heaviest industry weighting towards banks (23%), benefited immensely from the strong rallies in these markets during the month. Broken down, the overall result came from a +35.77% gain in long equity positions, less a -15.87% loss on short futures.

QAM's other fund, the QAM Asian Equities Fund, made a smaller gain in April, up +4.39%. This result comprised a -20.55% gain in long equities less a -16.16% loss on short futures. The Fund ended the month strongly weighted towards South Korea (36%) followed by Thailand (15%) and Hong Kong (12%).

The St Helens Capital (SHC) Ailsa Fund was up +3.32%, and the SHC Arran Fund +3.68%, in April on the back of stronger equity markets.

The manager noted that one cause of the recent rally in equity markets may be the improvement in earnings downgrades, as well as the increasingly popular belief that bad news has already been priced into the market and a modest recovery in debt markets. In light of this the manager has been reviewing the defensive positions in the SHC Funds' portfolios, believing the best mispricing opportunities may come from the current discrepancy between defensive and cyclical stocks. However, should the current estimates of 2010 EPS growth prove too optimistic, the downgrade cycle may resume its downward trend.