NEWS
Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
11 Nov 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Global Small Companies Fund returned -1.20% in October 2016, outperforming the MSCI AC World SMID Cap Index which returned -2.4%, by 1.2%.
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11 Nov 2016 - 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 top positive contributors for the month were boohoo.com Plc, Broadleaf Co., Ltd, Credito Real S.A. de C.V., Hostelworld Group Plc, and Spirit Airlines, Inc. However positions in ams AG, NetScout Systems, Inc., Peyto Exploration & Development Corp, Sarine Technologies Ltd, and Wizz Air Holdings Plc detracted from the performance. At month-end, the Fund's top 10 holdings accounted for 36.5% of the Fund's assets, with no single name representing more than 5.1% of the Fund. Cash increased from the prior month to 12.3% of the Fund. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's report. |
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Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
11 Nov 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund returned -1.85% in October to take annualised return since inception to 11.29% p.a.
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11 Nov 2016 - 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 a 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 macroeconomic outlook and the ability and willingness to adjust the Fund's market risk. |
| Manager Comments | Healthscope, Bapcor, Star Entertainment and Skycity Entertainment were the largest detractors from performance, whilst a short position in Scentre Group and longs in Rio Tinto, Whitehaven Coal, and Commonwealth Bank were the most significant positive contributors. Net equity market exposure (including derivatives) was reduced to 34.2% (47.7% long and 13.6% short) Click below to read the latest Fund Report. |
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Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund
10 Nov 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund rose 0.82% in October to take annualised return since inception to 16.56% p.a.
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10 Nov 2016 - Alexander 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 | Click below to read the latest monthly report. |
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Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
9 Nov 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Optimal Australia Absolute Trust rose 0.35% in October 2016, outperforming the ASX 200 Total Return Index, which returned -2.15%, by 2.50%.
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9 Nov 2016 - 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 | For the month of October, REITs and Health Care were the worst performing sectors. This benefited the Fund's performance has it had some short exposure to the Healthcare sector. Also, the Fund was largely unaffected by the headlines in the gaming sector (Crown employees detained in China; Sky City profit warning), and the China-facing growth stocks (Bega/Blackmores). The Fund was negatively affected by continued GBP currency weakness, which impacted two of the Fund's high-conviction longs in Hendersons and Clydesdale Bank. At month-end, the Fund had a gross exposure of 93.9% and net exposure -1.5%. The investment team continues to maintain a defensive posture towards market risk and has positioned the portfolio accordingly. Click below to read the latest Fund monthly report. |
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Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
8 Nov 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund returned -1.76% in October. The Fund is up 33.63% for the latest 24-months.
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8 Nov 2016 - 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. The Bennelong Market Neutral Fund, with same strategy and liquidity is available for retail investors. |
| Manager Comments | Performance this month featured a broadly even number of winning versus losing pairs but on balance, gains from the short book didn't quite compensate for losses in the long book. In terms of strongest contributors, the best pair was in healthcare, a short position in Healthscope (a private hospital operator), which fell -28% following a profit downgrade at its Annual General Meeting. Also, two pairs in the financial sectors, particularly the short position in AMP, were strong contributors. Some of the pairs that detracted from performance came from the consumer, energy, and the resources sectors. Click below to read the Fund Manager's commentary and market outlook. |
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Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund September 2016
31 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Titans Fund is now available.
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31 Oct 2016 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund September 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - September 2016 (pdf format)
INSYNC GLOBAL TITANS FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Insync Global Titans Fund.
We would like to highlight the following:
- The Fund's unit price decreased by 1.75% in September. The performance was driven by positive contributions from the holdings in Paypal, BAT, Diageo, Unilever and Visa Inc. The main negative contributors were Medtronic, Reckitt Benckiser, Mead Johnson Nutrition and Oraclen.
- The Global Titans Fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of 15-30 stocks, targeting exceptional, large cap global companies with a strong focus on dividend growth and downside protection.
- Portfolio selection is driven by a core strategy of investing in companies with sustainable growth in dividends, high returns on capital, positive free cash flows and strong balance sheets.
- Emphasis on limiting downside risk is through extensive company research, the ability to hold cash and long protective index put options.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - September 2016 (pdf format)
Insync Global Titans Fund
28 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Insync Global Titans Fund returned -1.75% in September, compared to the MSCI All Country World ex-Australia Net Total Return Index in $A, which returned -1.20%.
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28 Oct 2016 - Insync Global Titans Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Insync employs four simple screens to narrow the universe of over 40,000 listed companies globally to a focus group of high quality companies that it believes have the potential to consistently grow their profits and dividends. These screens are size of the company, balance sheet performance, valuation and dividend quality. Companies that pass this due diligence process are then valued using dividend discount models, free cash flow yield and proprietary implied growth and expected return models. The end result is a high conviction portfolio of typically 15-30 stocks. The principal investments will be in shares of companies listed on international stock exchanges (including the US, Europe and Asia). The Fund may also hold cash, derivatives (for example futures, options and swaps), currency contracts, American Depository Receipts and Global Depository Receipts. The Fund may also invest in various types of international pooled investment vehicles. At times, Insync may consider holding higher levels of cash if valuations are full and it is difficult to find attractive investment opportunities. When Insync believes markets to be overvalued, it may hold part of its resources in cash, or use derivatives as a way of reducing its equity exposure. Insync may use options, futures and other derivatives to reduce risk or gain exposure to underlying physical investments. The Fund may purchase put options on market indices or specific stocks to hedge against losses caused by declines in the prices of stocks in its portfolio. |
| Manager Comments | The positive contributors for the month came from the Fund's holdings in Paypal, BAT, Diageo, Unilever and Visa Inc. The main negative contributors were Medtronic, Reckitt Benckiser, Mead Johnson Nutrition and Oracle. The Fund continues to have no foreign currency hedging in place as Insync consider the main risks to the Australian dollar to be on the downside. Over 50% of the fund is currently protected using their put protection strategy. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager Report. |
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King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund
28 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund rose 1.83% in September and +23.77% over the latest 24-months.
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28 Oct 2016 - King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund seeks to outperform the market with less volatility than the market by allocating capital to a select group of eight to sixteen funds whose investment mandates allow them to use short selling of equities and equity indices, to use derivatives to manage risk, to use leverage and to hold large amounts of cash. In-depth proprietary research is used to select and monitor fund managers with particular emphasis on their ability to manage equity market risk through stock selection, short selling and the use of derivatives and cash. |
| Manager Comments | There were few changes to the Fund's portfolio composition over the month. They redeemed their positions in two funds, Aspiring and Kardinia, both of which had been in the fund since its inception. Two new long/short strategy fund managers were added to the portfolio. Both funds ticked many of the boxes that King Tide look for in a manager such as great track record, simple fundamental bottom-up strategy and low correlation to market returns. Click below to read the latest monthly report. |
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Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund September 2016
27 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund, investing exclusively in S&P/ASX 100 stocks.
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27 Oct 2016 - Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund September 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - September 2016 (pdf format)
QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- Qato Capital is a Melbourne-based boutique fund manager backed by single family office, Larkfield Funds Management.
- Qato has a systematic, market-neutral strategy which invests exclusively in S&P/ASX 100 stocks.
- The QATO Capital's Q-score process captures and quantifies six broad fundamental factors, which assess multiple underlying sub-categories. Those companies with the top score (quality companies) are included in the "long" portfolio, those with the lowest score are sold short.
- The Fund seeks to preserve capital and maximises absolute returns through active and constant risk management, targeting monthly a net market exposure of 0% to hedge broader market risks through 30 S&P/ASX-100 positions (15 long & 15 short equally-weighted positions).
- Qato Capital's process is entirely systematic - stock selection and risk management are employed in a rules-based approach. The Fund employs no financial leverage/gearing to purchase securities, no derivatives, and no financial products to imitate leverage.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - September 2016 (pdf format)
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
27 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund rose 1.77% in September. The Fund has a low systematic risk (beta) to the ASX200 and the MSCI World Indices of 0.08 and 0.09 respectively.
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27 Oct 2016 - 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 Fund's performance was driven by the strong performance of the long-term portfolio in the US and, to a lesser extent, internationally. The US sleeve of the long-term portfolio performed strongly due to the stock selection being effective in the Financials, Health Care, and Materials sectors. However, the intermediate and the short-term portfolios slightly detracted performance for the month, at -0.05% and -0.09% respectively. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
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