NEWS
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
23 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund gained 0.87% for the month of February. The Fund has a low systematic risk (beta) to the ASX 200 and the MSCI World Indices of 0.07 and 0.08 respectively.
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23 Mar 2017 - 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 | The month's performance was driven by the long-term portfolio (+0.86%), primarily the international (ex U.S.) sleeve. Attribution wise, Japan was the top performing country contributing 0.59%. From a sector perspective, the largest contributor was Consumer Discretionary, which returned 0.79%, with both long and shorts contributing. Energy was the largest detracting sector for the month, with the majority of the underperformance coming from the Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuel industy, where several companies missed earning expectations. The intermediate strategies detracted slightly from returns in February (-0.03%) due to a few U.S. merger arbitrage related trades. The short-term portfolio contributed +0.04% to performance, with positive performance coming from news related and index reconstitution strategies. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund February 2017
22 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund is now available.
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22 Mar 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund February 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
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.
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
22 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Global Small Companies Fund was up 0.8% for the month of February, compared to a 1.1% return for the MSCI AC World SMID Cap Index.
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22 Mar 2017 - 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 | The largest positive contributors to February's performance included ams AG, Halogen Software Inc., NetScout Systems Inc., Pico Far East Holdings Limited, and Rami Levi Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing 2006 Ltd. However, positions in Broadleaf Co. Ltd, CROOZ Inc., Peyto Exploration & Development Corp., Ubiquiti Networks Inc., and Wizz Air Holdings Plc detracted from the performance. At month-end, the Fund's 10 holdings accounted for 32.4% of the Fund's assets, with no single name representing more than 4% of the Fund. Cash increased from the prior month's 8.7% to 17.4%, mainly due to inflow into the Fund. |
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Collins St Value Fund
21 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Collins Street Value Fund rose 0.46% for the month of February, to take the latest 12 months return to 23.85%.
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21 Mar 2017 - Collins St Value Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The managers of the fund intend to maintain a concentrated portfolio of investments in ASX listed companies that they have investigated and consider to be undervalued. They will assess the attractiveness of potential investments using a number of common industry based measured, a proprietary in-house model and by speaking with management, industry experts and competitors. Once the managers form a view that an investment offers sufficient upside potential relative to the downside risk, the fund will seek to make an investment. If no appropriate investment can be identified the managers are prepared to hold cash and wait for the right opportunities to present themselves. |
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Touchstone Index Unaware Fund
21 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Touchstone Index Unaware Fund returned +3.16% in February, outperforming the ASX 200 Accumulation Index 2.25%, by +0.91.
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21 Mar 2017 - 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 Fund benefited from its holding in Costa Group (+24.1%) which rose after posting strong growth in earnings of 36%. The Fund's two large positions in the REITs sector, namely Charter Hall (+11.9%) and Goodman Group (+9.1%) also delivered solid returns in the month. However, the holding in the US based James Hardie Industries (JHX) fell in the month -5.7% after the company reported 3Q17 results which were below market expectations. Telstra (-3.6%) was also weaker, largely driven by higher tax and depreciation and amortisation charges. With the current political risks elevated globally, combined with market uncertainties, the investment team continues to remain focused on downside protection. |
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Affluence Investment Fund
20 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Affluence Investment Fund increased 1.20% in February, resulting in a +13.41% return for the latest 12 months.
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20 Mar 2017 - Affluence Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund does not invest directly into any asset class, rather, it invests in investment managers which satisfy Affluence Funds Management's investment criteria; its investment philosophy is based on a formula developed by CEO/Portfolio Manager Daryl Wilson since the start of his career in 1999. The Fund targets total returns of at least 5% above inflation over rolling 3 year periods with volatility of returns less than 50% of the ASX200 Index. The Fund also aims to provide investors with a distribution yield of at least 5% p.a. To ensure appropriate diversity of managers and limit the potential for conflicts of interest, no more than 20% of the Fund will be invested with any one external manager. Affluence seeks to achieve the Funds' investment objective by choosing attractively priced investments overseen by quality managers. The Fund uses a number of processes to identify potential investments including quantitative screens for investments which meet historical performance, volatility and other criteria. They also use a number of external researchers and information sources to assist in this process. |
| Manager Comments | The top performing investments for the month included the listed Brookfield Prime Property Fund up 25%, the Terra Capital Natural Resources Fund up 13.6%, the Phoenix Opportunities Fund up 4.8%, and the India Avenue Equity Fund up 4.3%. The Fund's long only and long short equities funds were mixed, depending on how their portfolios were positioned during the reporting season. At the end of February, the Fund held investments in 26 unlisted funds representing 57% of the portfolio. The Affluence LIC Fund accounted for 19% of the portfolio and provided exposure to 19 LIC's. The Fund held investments in 5 other listed entities which represented 8% of the total portfolio, with the remaining 16% held in cash. |
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Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
20 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund returned -0.04% for the month of February 2017, compared to Asia Pacific markets which posted a gain of 2.4%.
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20 Mar 2017 - 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 | The M&A sub-strategy posted a positive performance of +1.3% after gaining 1.1% in January. The biggest positive contributor was the position in Television Broadcasts Ltd TVB, which gained 14% and contributed 40 basis points to performance. The Fund's position in Yingde Gases contributed 22bp to performance, gaining 13% over the month. The Capital Structure strategy was the main negative contributor, generating a loss of -0.9% for the month. The bulk of the poor performance stemmed from the positions in Korean Preference vs Ordinary shares. |
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Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
17 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Optimal Australia Absolute Trust returned -0.98% in February 2017, to take the annualised return since inception to 8.11% p.a.
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17 Mar 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 | During the earning season, Woolworths, APN, Vocus and CSL contributed positively to the Fund's performance. However, this contribution was undone by Orocobre, which again cut production guidance. On the short side of the portfolio, the positions in Materials and Telco generated solid returns, although this contribution was largely offset by the drag from stronger defensives, Financials, and index futures. The investment team retains a cautious position with respect to net market exposure and continues to look for stock opportunities. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund February 2017
16 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund, which has an annualised return since inception of 11.07% p.a.
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16 Mar 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund February 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
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 11.07% p.a. with a volatility of 7.16%, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 5.32% p.a. with a volatility of 13.97%.
- 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.
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
NWQ Fiduciary Fund
16 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
NWQ Fiduciary Fund returned -0.35% in February bringing the net performance since inception in May 2013 to +24.42%.
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16 Mar 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 | There was a high degree of dispersion in the performance of the Fund's underlying managers in February. The Fund's Alpha managers combined to make a modest contribution to performance (+0.12%). However, the Fund's overall performance was weighed down by the performance of the Beta managers combined, to post a negative contribution of -0.41%. It remains the view of NWQ 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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