NEWS
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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Totus Alpha Fund
15 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund fell 0.46% in February, to take the latest 24 months return to +23.02%.
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15 Mar 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 | Top contributors in February were long positions in Ramsay +0.46%, Aristocrat +0.30% and Westpac +0.29%. Biggest detractors were short positions in Estia -0.50% and Blue Sky -0.39%, and a long position in Adairs -0.48%. As of 28 February, the Fund had a net exposure of 42.7% and a gross exposure of 171.2%. The Fund held 99 positions (44 long and 55 short). |
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Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
15 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund returned +2.03% in February against the ASX 200 Accumulation Index which returned +2.25%.
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15 Mar 2017 - Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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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 terms of relative performance, the ex-20 stocks within the portfolio kept pace with the market. Reporting season was generally kind to these stocks. There were a number of solid results, such as BWX and Breville Group that beat expectations, and which were well received by the market. There were also some that were slightly softer than expected, including ARB and Dominos. Aristocrat, one of the Fund's largest positions, was the largest contributor to the Fund's performance over the month. |
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Quay Global Real Estate Fund
14 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Quay Global Real Estate Fund increased +3.1% for the month of February 2017.
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14 Mar 2017 - Quay Global Real Estate Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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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 | The largest contributors to the month's return were Stag Industrial (up +12% in local currency terms) and Equity Lifestyle Properties (US). The smallest contributors (mainly due to their low portfolio weights) were RLJ Lodging (US) and Camden Living (US). Apartments (18%), Storage (11.6%) and Industrial (11.5%) were the most heavily weighted sectors in the portfolio. The Fund holds around 10% in cash as the investment team looks for better entry prices or new opportunities. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund February 2017
13 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund which has an annualised return of 16.47% p.a.
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13 Mar 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund February 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
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 large-caps from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with over fourteen-year track record and annualised returns of 16.47% p.a.
- 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 0.99 and 1.64 respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
APN Asian REIT Fund
13 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN Asian REIT Fund returned -0.19% in February, outperforming the Bloomberg Asia REIT Index which returned -0.81%, by 0.62%.
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13 Mar 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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Cyan C3G Fund
10 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Cyan C3G Fund returned +0.1% in February, taking the Fund's one year return to 22.44%.
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10 Mar 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 | Since the run-up to the US election last year, the Fund has been conservatively positioned with the cash weighting occasionally touching 50%. However, over the past month, the weightings have been increased in the some of the Fund's positions that have performed ahead of expectations and prices have been relatively unchanged. The majority of the portfolio's larger positions continue to have the investment team's preferred characteristics of high return on equity, strong cash conversion and below average dividend payout ratios, which positions them well to deliver ongoing earnings growth and share price appreciation. |
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Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
10 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund returned +0.25% in February, taking the annualised returns since inception to 11.07% p.a.
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10 Mar 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 | The Banks (NAB, ANZ) were the largest contributors to performance (combined +94 basis point contribution). Other key positive contributors included Costa Group (+26bp), Bluescope Steel (+23bp), and AGL Energy (+20bp). The major negative contributors included Mineral Resources (-29bp), BHP and RIO (-23bp each), and James Hardie (-21bp). Net equity market exposure increased from 45.1% to 53.9% (58.0% long and 4.1% short). |
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