NEWS
30 Jul 2018 - Performance Report: ARCO Absolute Trust
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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. *Formerly the Optimal Australia Absolute Trust |
Manager Comments | For the 2018 fiscal year, the Trust's long portfolio comfortably outperformed the ASX200 Accumulation Index. ARCO noted the short portfolio was, perhaps predictably, a drag on returns in a market up 13% for the year - although doing its job to hedge market exposure and the volatility of investor returns. The Fund's return for June was -0.67%. During the month, long positions in Caltex, Link, Computershare, Fairfax and BHP contributed positively. The short portfolio broadly detracted from performance, primarily via ARCO's bank and healthcare exposure. The Trust's Index Futures ('insurance') position was also a drag on performance. |
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27 Jul 2018 - Performance Report: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
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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 | In their quarterly report, Bennelong noted the following: they see relatively attractive valuations in equities, improving investor sentiment and markets, and the potential for a market correction. Bennelong believe that, with big-picture macro risks abound, including rate rises, trade wars, Chinese financial instabilities and excessive Australian consumer leverage, the stock market will ultimately manage its way through these issues. Bennelong point out that corrections are inevitable, however, the risk is being underinvested over the long term rather than the occasional correction. |
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26 Jul 2018 - Performance Report: Quay Global Real Estate Fund
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Fund Overview | The Fund will invest in a number of global listed real estate companies, groups or funds. The investment strategy is to make investments in real estate securities at a price that will deliver a real, after inflation, total return of 5% per annum (before costs and fees), inclusive of distributions over a longer-term period. The Investment Strategy is indifferent to the constraints of any index benchmarks and is relatively concentrated in its number of investments. The Fund is expected to own between 20 and 40 securities, and from time to time up to 20% of the portfolio maybe invested in cash. The Fund is $A un-hedged. |
Manager Comments | June was a relatively active month for the Fund. The Fund's student accommodation investee, Education Realty Trust (EDR), received an all cash take-over offer from entities associated with Greystar Real Estate Partners which Quay noted they are in no rush to accept. Separately, Quay's decision to hold Hispania Activos despite an April bid from entities associated with Blackstone has reaped additional rewards; in June the initial cash offer of 17.45 euros/share was revised to 18.25 euros/share with approval from the Board. Throughout the month the management team toured the US, Canada and UK, meeting with existing and prospective investees and their competitors, and looking for new investment ideas. Quay mentioned that they added a new investee during the month in the UK student accommodation space. Overall, Quay noted the outlook was positive, albeit with growth at more modest levels consistent with later cycle positioning. The exception was the industrial sector, where Quay believe the consensus outlook has become almost euphoric. They noted that this makes them cautious and is reflected by the under representation of the sector in the current portfolio. |
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24 Jul 2018 - Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund June 2018
BENNELONG TWENTY20 AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund.
- The Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund invests in ASX listed stocks, combining an indexed position in the Top 20 stocks with an actively managed portfolio of stocks outside the Top 20. Construction of the ex-top 20 portfolio is fundamental, bottom-up, core investment style, biased to quality stocks, with a structured risk management approach.
- Mark East, the Fund's Chief Investment Officer, and Keith Kwang, Director of Quantitative Research have over 50 years combined market experience. Bennelong Funds Management (BFM) provides the investment manager, Bennelong Australian Equity Partners (BAEP) with infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution services.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
23 Jul 2018 - Performance Report: NWQ Fiduciary Fund
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Fund Overview | The Fund aims to produce returns, after management fees and expenses of between 8% to 11% 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 | NWQ noted there was a small reversal in a number of themes in June that the Fund's Alpha managers had profited from in recent months due to investor portfolio repositioning ahead of the financial year end. NWQ expect the effect of this to be transitory and their outlook for their Alpha managers remains positive given the heightened level of volatility and stock-level dispersion seen in recent months. |
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20 Jul 2018 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund June 2018
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 over ten-year track record.
- The Fund has significantly outperformed the ASX200 Accumulation Index since its inception in May 2006 and also has significantly lower risk KPIs. The Fund has an annualised return of 10.52% p.a. with a volatility of 6.90%, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 5.93% p.a. with a volatility of 13.41%.
- 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 Bennelong Funds Management provide infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution capabilities.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
19 Jul 2018 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund June 2018
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-caps from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with over 15-years' track record and an annualised returns of over 16%.
- 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 1.02 and 1.69 respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
18 Jul 2018 - Fund Review: ARCO Absolute Trust June 2018
ARCO ABSOLUTE TRUST (formerly Optimal Australia Absolute Trust)
AFM have released the most recently updated Fund Review on the ARCO Absolute Trust.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
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ARCO Investment Management 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.
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The investment team comprising George Colman, Peter Whiting, and Stephen Nicholls bring 100 years combined experience in equity markets.
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The Fund has an annualised return since inception of +8.00%. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.31 (Index 0.32), Sortino ratio of 2.71 (Index 0.36), both of which are well above the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and has recorded over 77% positive months.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
17 Jul 2018 - Performance Report: Qato Capital Market Neutral Fund
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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 | Long positions in Northern Star (+15.79%) and Evolution Mining (+7.81%) added considerable value to the Fund in June despite spot gold falling -3.49%, whilst the lagging Materials sector contributed to the underperformance of Qato's long book. Of the strong performing oil stocks, Qato's machine learning model held a long position in Santos, adding value to the long book as it rallied on news of an updated dividend policy. The two best contributing positions to Qato's short book were Telstra (-5.80%) and TPG Telecomm (-7.18%) as the telecommunications sector overall fell -5.77%. Qato believe this was due to the detrimental effects of increased production, the NBN rollout and reduced margins. |
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16 Jul 2018 - Performance Report: KIS Asia Long Short Fund
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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 | The KIS Asia Long Short Fund returned -1.06% in June. Since inception in October 2009, the Fund has returned +13.19% p.a. with an annualised volatility of 5.21%. By contrast, the ASX200 Accumulation Index has returned +7.71% p.a. over the same period with an annualised volatility of 11.58%. The Fund's Sharpe and Sortino ratios, 1.90 and 4.29 respectively, are significantly superior to the Index's Sharpe ratio of 0.46 and Sortino ratio of 0.59. The Fund's up-capture and down-capture ratios since inception indicate that, on a cumulative basis, the Fund has achieved positive performance in rising markets and significantly outperformed in falling markets. |
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