NEWS
APN AREIT Fund
9 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN AREIT Fund rose +3.02% for the month of February, to take the latest 24 months return to 16.70%.
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9 Mar 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 February, the portfolio's property sector allocation remained mainly unchanged, with 61% 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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Allard Investment Fund
9 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Allard Investment Fund (AIF) increased 0.75% during the month of February 2017 and is up 11.07% for the financial year to date.
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9 Mar 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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Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
8 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund returned +2.07% in February, against the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index which returned 2.25%.
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8 Mar 2017 - 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 | Similar to last month, the investment team observed company fundamentals having more influence over performance than the broader market events. The outcomes of the February profit reporting season dominated the performance of most stocks, and the Fund was on the right side of the results delivered across a majority of its pairs. The top three contributors for the month were long Aristocrat / short Tabcorp, long Resmed / short Ansell and the long Quantas / short Flight Centre pairs. |
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Paragon Australian Long Short Fund
8 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Paragon Australian Long Short Fund returned -5.0% for the month of February and +9.96% for the latest 12 months.
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8 Mar 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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Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund January 2017
7 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Titans Fund is now available.
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7 Mar 2017 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (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 returned -0.94% for the month of January. The performance was driven by positive contributions from our holdings in Zimmer, Comcast, BAT, Medtronic and eBay. The main negative contributors were Mead Johnson, McDonald's Corp, and Johnson & Johnson.
- 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 - January 2017 (pdf format)
Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund January 2017
3 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund, which has an annualised return of 8.58% p.a.
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3 Mar 2017 - Fund Review Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
PENGANA ABSOLUTE RETURN ASIA PACIFIC FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund.
- The Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund ("PARAP") was established in 2008 by portfolio managers Antonio Meroni and Vikas Kumra. The Fund is a feeder fund into a Cayman Islands AUD share class fund.
- The Fund invests both long and short in Asia Pacific equities, including in Australian and New Zealand, after a stock specific "event" has either occurred or been announced and the portfolio aims to be uncorrelated to the underlying equity markets. A combination of the Manager's experience, thorough research and continuous back- testing identify the most attractive of these events.
- Risk controls include limits on individual positions as well as gross and net exposure. Limits are in place for option exposure and cash borrowing, with stop loss limits on individual positions. Overall the manager is looking to derive returns from the event strategies as opposed to any currency or market exposures.
- Since inception, the Fund has an annualised return of 8.58% p.a., compared to the MSCI ACWI Asia Pacific Price Index's return of 3.43% p.a.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
2 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund was down -1.47% in January, to take the latest 6 months to 4.05%. 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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2 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 | January's underperformance was largely driven by the International long term portfolio which detracted -1.02%. Some of this detraction came from Peru (-0.16%) and Canada (-0.17%) due to the portfolio's underexposure to copper and silver, both of which were up approximately +7% for the month. U.S. Large caps and U.S. mergers and acquisitions also detracted a combined -0.30% from the performance. On the positive side, overweight positions in Incyte Corp. and Vertex held due to their strong Patent model score, outperformed for the month. |
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Insync Global Titans Fund
2 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Insync Global Titans Fund returned -0.94% in January, compared to the MSCI All Country World ex-Australia Net Total Return Index in $A, which returned -2.0%.
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2 Mar 2017 - 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 performance was driven by positive contributions from the holdings in Zimmer, Comcast, BAT, Medtronic, and eBay. The main negative contributors were Mead Johnson, McDonald's Corp, and Johnson & Johnson. 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 a put protection strategy. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund January 2017
28 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund is now available.
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28 Feb 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 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 - January 2017 (pdf format)
Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund January 2017
27 Feb 2017 - 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 Feb 2017 - Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (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 S&P/ASX-100 positions. In a typical environment, the Fund targets 25 long and 25 short positions.
- Qato Capital's process is 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 - January 2017 (pdf format)
