NEWS
Cyan C3G Fund
19 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Cyan C3G Fund gained 1.2% in March, to take the Fund's one year return to 21.22%.
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19 Apr 2017 - Cyan C3G Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Cyan C3G Fund is based on the investment philosophy which can be defined as a comprehensive, clear and considered process focused on delivering growth. These are identified through stringent filter criteria and a rigorous research process. The Manager uses a proprietary stock filter in order to eliminate a large proportion of investments due to both internal characteristics (such as gearing levels or cash flow) and external characteristics (such as exposure to commodity prices or customer concentration). Typically, the Fund looks for businesses that are one or more of: a) under researched, b) fundamentally undervalued, c) have a catalyst for re-rating. The Manager seeks to achieve this investment outcome by actively managing a portfolio of Australian listed securities. When the opportunity to invest in suitable securities cannot be found, the manager may reduce the level of equities exposure and accumulate a defensive cash position. Whilst it is the company's intention, there is no guarantee that any distributions or returns will be declared, or that if declared, the amount of any returns will remain constant or increase over time. The Fund does not invest in derivatives and does not use debt to leverage the Fund's performance. However, companies in which the Fund invests may be leveraged. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund didn't have much in the way of either outlying positive or negative performers over March. There were some small rises experienced from the Fund's core holdings, which included Capitol Health (CAJ), PSC Insurance (PSI), and Skydive the Beach (SKB). The only disappointing performance came from a domestic credit provider Money3 (MNY), which fell 13%. The Fund continues to be conservatively positioned with the cash weighting occasionally reaching 50%. However, the investment team believes that there have been a number of positive signs that the rotation of interest has returned to the small cap sector and thereby creating new investment opportunities for the Fund. |
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Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
19 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund rose 1.04% in March, taking the annualised return since inception to 11.09% p.a.
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19 Apr 2017 - Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund's discretionary investment strategy commences with a macro view of the economy and direction to establish the portfolio's desired market exposure. Following this detailed sector and company research is gathered from knowledge of the individual stocks in the Fund's universe, with widespread use of broker research. Company visits, presentations and discussions with management at CEO and CFO level are used wherever possible to assess management quality across a range of criteria. Detailed analysis of company valuations using financial statements and forecasts, particularly focusing on free cash flow, is conducted. Technical analysis is used to validate the Manager's fundamental research and valuations and to manage market timing. A significant portion of the Fund's overall performance can be attributed to the attention and importance given to the macro economic outlook and the ability and willingness to adjust the Fund's market risk. |
| Manager Comments | For the month, AGL Energy (+36bp) was the largest contributor to performance. The Banks (NAB, ANZ, CBA, WBC) and Aristocrat Leisure were also solid contributors to performance (combined +98 basis points). The key negative contributors included a short position in Spotless Group (-23bp) and a short position in SPI Futures (-19bp). Resources (RIO, MIN, BHP, MGX) also detracted (combined -42bp). Net equity market exposure increased from 53.9% to 69.9% (73.1% long and 3.2% short). |
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Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust March 2017
18 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Read the latest Fund Review on Optimal Australian Absolute Trust.
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18 Apr 2017 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust March 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - March 2017 (pdf format)
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, and Stephen Nicholls bring 100 years combined experience in equity markets.
- In February, the Fund returned +0.9%, to take annualised return since inception to 8.15% p.a. The Fund's approach to risk is shown by the Sharpe ratio of 1.30 (Index 0.28), Sortino ratio of 2.65 (Index 0.29), both of which are well above the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and has recorded over 78% positive months.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - March 2017 (pdf format)
APN AREIT Fund
18 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN AREIT Fund returned +0.2% for the month of March, to take the latest 24 months return to 19.24%.
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18 Apr 2017 - APN AREIT Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The senior management of APN FM all have significant experience in their fields. They include CEO Real Estate Securities, Michael Doble who has 25 years'experience having held various senior roles specialising in real estate valuation, consultancy and funds management. Immediately prior to joining APN in 2003 he was Head of Property at ANZ Funds Management. He is a fellow of the Australian Property Institute and FINSIA as well as holding a Bachelor of Business (Property). The Fund aims to deliver a competitive yield with lower risk than the market. The underlying stocks are selected based on a highly disciplined investment approach that focuses on the fundamentals and number of valuation approaches. The Fund provides access to a wide spread of property-based revenue streams that are specifically analysed, selected and weighted with the aim of delivering strong and sustainable income returns. The Fund is suited to medium to long term investors seeking a relatively high monthly income and some capital growth over the long term. |
| Manager Comments | For the month of March, the portfolio's property sector allocation remained mainly unchanged, with 62% in the Retail sector, followed by 20% in the Office sector. The Fund's top 5 holdings included Scentre Group, Vicinity Centres, Stockland, Charter Hall Retail REIT and Dexus Property Group, with 3 of the holdings above 10% each. |
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NWQ Fiduciary Fund
18 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
NWQ Fiduciary Fund returned +0.21% in March bringing the net performance since inception in May 2013 to +24.68%.
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18 Apr 2017 - 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 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 | The performance of the Fund's underlying managers in March was mixed with six of the nine managers delivering a positive return. In a month where the market rallied strongly, the Beta managers (+0.13%) made a positive overall contribution to the Fund's performance. This was complemented by the performance of the Alpha managers, which combined to make a positive contribution (+0.16%). The Cash and Fixed Income allocation also made a small, positive contribution to performance (+0.01%). NWQ continues to believe that there exists further potential for destructive equity and bond market volatility in the coming months, and therefore, the portfolio continues to remain overweight to the Alpha or market neutral strategies. |
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APN Asian REIT Fund
13 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN Asian REIT Fund returned +0.57% in March, compared to the Bloomberg Asia REIT Index's return of 1.09%.
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13 Apr 2017 - APN Asian REIT Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Pete Morrissey and Corrine Ng are the Portfolio Managers of the Fund. Morrissey has over 15 years financial markets experience and joined APN in 2006. Previously, he worked at Lonsec and also managed an internationally focused private investment fund as well as spending several years as an analyst in the UK for Nomura, amongst others. He has also completed Masters level academic research papers on both commercial real estate cycles and global property cycles. Ng also has a strong background in property and REITs in Australia, Asia and the North American markets. Prior to joining APN, Ng worked for Aviva Investors (Senior Investment Analyst, North America Real Estate Securities Team) and Goldman Sachs & Co (Vice President, Goldman Sachs Asset Management Real Estate Securities Team) in New York. The Fund aims to deliver a competitive yield with lower risk than the market. The underlying stocks are selected based on a highly disciplined investment approach that focuses on the fundamentals and number of valuation approaches. The universe is expected to be dynamic as new IPO's, other corporate actions take place and / or corporate governance improvements at country or REIT level bring new stocks into focus. The Fund focuses on passive rental earnings derived from well managed Asian REITs listed in mature capital markets and will not invest in infrastructure, property development companies or stocks with a 'loose association with property'. The Fund provides access to a wide spread of property-based revenue streams that are specifically analysed, selected and weighted with the aim of delivering strong and sustainable income returns. The Fund is an unhedged product. The Fund is suited to medium to long term investors seeking a relatively high income and some capital growth over the long term. |
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Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
13 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Optimal Australia Absolute Trust rose +0.94% in March 2017, to take the annualised return since inception to 8.15% p.a.
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13 Apr 2017 - Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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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. |
| Manager Comments | The month's performance was largely driven by the Fund's long positions. The stock shorts basically broke even and the short index futures position was a substantial drag on performance. Key contributors during the month included a number of stocks, which have been in the portfolio for some time. These included Clydesdale Bank, Henderson Group, and CSL. Woolworths also continued to drive strong returns, although the Fund has now reduced its position as the stock price approached the upper end of the Fund's fair value range. |
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Totus Alpha Fund
12 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund rose 2.2% in March, to take the latest 24 months return to +19.14%.
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12 Apr 2017 - Totus Alpha Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is a long/short investment fund principally investing in listed entities, commodities, futures and options in Australia and internationally. The Fund is not a market neutral fund and accordingly may switch between net long positions and net short positions. The Fund may use short sales and derivatives. Gearing may be used to enhance returns and the Fund may be geared in excess of 100% of the Fund's Net Asset Value. There is a limit to net exposure of 150%. |
| Manager Comments | The top contributors for the month were the long positions in Shriro +0.86% and Vita Group +0.48%, and a short position in Quintus +0.64%. However, the short positions in Spotless -0.39%, Woodside -0.32% and G8 Education -0.30%, detracted from the performance. At 31 March, the Fund had a net exposure of 37.8% and a gross exposure of 219.1%. The Fund held 105 positions (45 long and 60 short). |
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Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
12 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Australian Long Short Fund returned -1.6% for the month of March and +9.186% for the latest 24 months.
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12 Apr 2017 - Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Paragon believes that markets are not always efficient, exhibiting a common tendency to price securities well outside of their intrinsic value over the medium term. This market characteristic provides the opportunity for Paragon, an active manager with a flexible mandate, to generate superior investment returns over the longer term. Paragon believes that it is critical to understand both the companies and the industries in which they operate, in order to fully comprehend each investment opportunity. Accordingly, a fundamental approach to company research is taken. Assessing the potential downside is also paramount in framing the risk/reward trade-off for potential investments. |
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Allard Investment Fund
11 Apr 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Allard Investment Fund (AIF) increased 3.27% during the month of March 2017 and is up 21.0% for the latest 12 months.
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11 Apr 2017 - Allard Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Allard's investment approach has remained consistent throughout their history: That is to invest prudently but proactively in well-managed businesses that achieve superior returns on capital in industries with long-term growth potential. The Manager uses both broad top-down guidance and detailed bottom-up analysis to identify suitable markets, industries and companies. Although long only investors, a critical factor in their strategy and performance is the ability to hold cash when they cannot find companies that meet their criteria or are at a sufficient discount to their valuations. |
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