NEWS
outperformance of 0.88%.
17 Jun 2015 - Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
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| Manager Comments | The biggest contribution to performance was from the exposure to the US health service sector, represented by HCA Holdings and Anthem. The second biggest winner came from the US bank exposure as banks there rallied on the back of a steeper yield curve, improving their margins. The main detractors from the month's performance was mainly due to the pullback in the Chinese market and stocks relating to that position. The Fund has over 50.2% of their equity exposure in North American and 33.0% in the Financial Sector. The Fund closed May fully invested, with the continuing overweight to China, along with lesser overweights to India and Japan, funded from underweight positions in the US and Europe and the rest of the emerging markets. Click below to read the Fund Manager's monthly report and their June outlook of the market. |
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0.41% in May, to bring the Fund's annual performance since inception to 13.01% compared to the ASX200 Accumulation benchmark's 5.60%.
16 Jun 2015 - Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
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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 Fund's net equity market exposure, including derivatives increased to 41.2% (74.3% long and 33.1% short). Long positions in James Hardie, Amcorand Sirius were the largest positive contributors. A long position in Resmed and a short position in Share Price Index Futures (hedging long exposures) were the largest detractors. Click below to read the May 2015 Fund Report. |
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16 Jun 2015 - Fund Review: Monash Absolute Investment Fund May 2015
MONASH ABSOLUTE INVESTMENT FUND
- The Fund is a research driven, active equity long/short strategy investing in listed ASX companies.
- The Fund seeks to identify opportunities in the share market to make positive returns (long and short) irrespective of market conditions. It is style agnostic, as compelling investment opportunities exist across all investment styles from time to time. The Fund places a high priority on capital preservation, and has an absolute return focus in accepting market risk.
Monash Absolute Investment Fund Review May 2015 (pdf format)
15 Jun 2015 - Allard Investment Fund
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| Manager Comments | The Fund portfolio was invested 75.5% in equities and 24.5% in cash and fixed income. There has been little change since the prior month, in terms of the industry and geographic breakdown of the portfolio. The Fund continues to be most exposed to Financial Services at 17.30%, Conglomerates at 10.80% and Telco's at 10.70%. The geographic breakdown was Hong Kong / China at 43.00%, Singapore 10.80% and Korea 9.70%. The top 5 holdings had 40.10% concentration of the portfolio and 17.20% in the next 5 holdings. Click below to review the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
| More Information |
12 Jun 2015 - Hedge Clippings
That's not a bubble, This is a bubble! Or is it?
Hedge Clippings spent an interesting and informative morning this week at Money Management's Asset Allocation event. Apart from moderating a series of discussions covering retirement income amongst financial and wealth advisors, we were treated to a keynote presentation from Stephen van Eyk.
Stephen opened his address by stating that in preparing his presentation he had determined that he would try to put a positive view on his outlook for our collective financial outlook, but that having sifted through all the data and looked at the evidence, this would unfortunately not be possible. No matter which way one looked at it, Australia's low economic growth wasn't responding to interest rates of 2%, and weren't likely to, providing a headache for both the government and the RBA.
The event was wrapped up with a panel discussion entitled "What is the New Bubble", consisting of five leading fund managers, namely Alva Devoy from Fidelity, Tim Samway from Hyperion, Dr Phil Hofflin from Lazard, Anton Tagliaferro from IML, and Matthew Drennan from IOOF. Some interesting ideas, comments and statistics emerged with the usual varying degrees of optimism and pessimism, some of which I managed to recall after the event. Of course given the RBA's comments earlier in the week regarding Sydney house prices, and some typically insensitive, albeit obvious comments from the Treasurer, the discusion leaned towards a real estate bubble.
Anton noted that he did not expect a crash, as they only occurred when not expected, although he also noted the concentration risk within equity markets, and that in his opinion QE had resulted in one of the greatest examples of wealth transfer (from tax payers to financial markets) in history. His expectation was that low growth is set to continue.
Alva Devoy noted that we should get used to current conditions as the "new normal" and it was likely to be 10 years before interest rates returned to the old normal, and that as a result monetary policy would continue to support stretched equity valuations.
Phil Hofflin wondered if we were heading down the Japanese path of long term low growth in spite of central bank stimulation, and turning to the housing market warned of the 65/65 ratio: 65% of bank assets in Australia are in housing, which in turn is on a PE multiple of 65 times, and that the total value of Australia's housing market, if it does correct, is many times larger that the equity market.
Finally Matthew Drennan cautioned that traditional safe havens may not turn out to be so safe. All in all while some of the panel were more cautious than others, along with Stephen van Eyk, none were overly optimistic either.
Specific results received this week include the following PERFORMANCE UPDATES:
Monash Absolute Investment Fund returned -0.40% in May, taking annualised performance since inception in May 2012 to 15.35%.
The Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund performance in May was down 1.91% taking annualised performance since inception in January 2003 to 17.05%.
Allard Investment Fund returned 1.0% during May, with annualised performance since July 2003 of 9.99%.
FUND REVIEWS released this week: Insync Global Titans Fund; Monash Absolute Investment Fund
20 - 21 August 2015 - The 2nd Superannuation Fund Investment Operations Forum 2015 is a two day forum providing invaluable technological, regulatory compliant and best practice insights into improving back and middle office efficiency to drive member loyalty, bottom line profitability and a competitive edge
26 - 28 August 2015 - The 15th Annual Wraps, Platforms & Masterfunds Conference will provide solutions for succeeding in a distribution world of endless possibilities, showcasing strategies to help business achieve the biggest bite of market share, use innovation to overcome problems and support opportunities. Australian Fund Monitors is pleased to offer a discount of $300 to all investors and advisors using coupon code promoFM on registration.
15 September 2015 - The AIMA Australia Hedge Fund Forum 2015 is the annual non-profit hedge fund conference organised by the industry for the industry.
And finally best wishes for a happy and healthy week-end ahead,
Chris
CEO, AUSTRALIAN FUND MONITORS
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12 Jun 2015 - Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
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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. |
| Manager Comments | The short positions were more the driver of the Fund's under-performance than the long positions. A review of the key contributing loss-making shorts, has the Fund Manager confident it was not due to fundamental factors, more the noise associated short-term monthly measurement. The Fund activity for the month of May was modest with weightings revised for few pairs, with a new pair within the Financials sectors - long National Australia Bank / short Bendigo Bank. Click below to read the Fund Manager's complete commentary and future market outlook. |
| More Information |
11 Jun 2015 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund April 2015
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 decreaed by 0.40% during the month of April. The performance was driven by positive contributions from our holdings in Nestle, Reckitt Benckiser, Experian and Sanofi as well as the weaker Australian dollar. The main negative contributors were Time Warner Cable, Microsoft and Discover Financial Services. 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.
- 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.
Insync Global Titans Fund AFM Fund Review April 2015 (pdf format)
11 Jun 2015 - 15th Annual Wraps, Platforms & Masterfunds Conference 2015
FEEDING FRENZY - SECURING MARKET SHARE IN A COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT
26-28 August 2015
Crowne Plaza, Hunter Valley
The evolving regulation and business of financial services, as well as the rapid growth of Fintech, have made the politics of distribution for financial products more competitive than in recent years. With the market swimming with new entrants, there has never been a better time to collaborate and to compete to achieve distribution success in a crowded ocean.
The 15th Annual Wraps, Platforms & Masterfunds Conference will provide solutions for succeeding in a distribution world of endless possibilities, showcasing strategies to help your business achieve the biggest bite of market share, use innovation to overcome problems and support opportunities.
With insights from Steve Baxter, entrepreneur, investor and 'Shark' from Network Ten's television series Shark Tank, this conference will provide a unique perspective on the feeding frenzy of new entrepreneurs keeping platforms alive.
Key topics and conference themes include:
- The Murray Inquiry and future of financial services
- The changing market dynamics of the financial advice industry
- Licensee negotiation and approved product list strategies
- What financial advisers want from technological service providers
- Developments in the fintech - opportunities and threats
- Overview of the dealer group market and
- What dealer heads want
- Marketing and product distribution strategies
- Adapting to changes in the dealer group market
- Strategies for attaining market share in competitive technology markets
Who should Attend?
The conference is a must-attend event for any financial services business or provider seeking to better understand the current market and opportunities for growth. Over 14 years the conference has delivered market intelligence, insights and opinions to:
- Platform providers
- Dealer group heads and other senior executives
- Investment researchers
- Fund managers
- Distribution heads and senior distribution managers
- Senior product and marketing managers
- Financial advisers
- Mortgage industry executives
- Other intermediary businesses seeking to diversify in the financial planning/advice sector
Contact
Registration enquiries
Craig Lynch
Phone: 02 8045 2020
Email: craig.lynch@sterlingpublishing.com.au
General enquiries
Jennifer Hardy
Phone: 02 8045 2067
Email:jennifer.hardy@sterlingpublishing.com.au
Sponsorship enquiries
John Briggs
Phone: 02 8045 2010
Mobile: 0418 694 292
Email: John.Briggs@sterlingpublishing.com.au
2015 wraps platforms conference agenda (pdf format)
10 Jun 2015 - Monash Absolute Investment Fund
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| Fund Overview | The fund seeks to identify opportunities in the share market to make positive returns (long and short) irrespective of market conditions. It is style agnostic, as compelling investment opportunities exist across all investment styles from time to time. The Fund places a high priority on capital preservation, and has an absolute return focus in accepting market risk. The Manager's experience across value, growth and discounted cash flow styles allows them to use a comprehensive approach to investment decisions that applies all three. They also have the patience to seek out only compelling opportunities, rather than settling for relative value. The portfolio is somewhat concentrated, looking to diversify across industries and themes, rather than by trying to stay near an index. The portfolio may at times have a large amount of cash or other protection. However once investments are made turnover may be relatively high in order to lock in gains and avoid losses. |
| Manager Comments | The fund continues to have a low Beta and a relatively weak correlation with the market. Over the last three months, the fund is up 0.75%, while the market is down. Most of the Fund's stocks had a good month, with the average returns from the Outlook Driven stocks and the Product Launch group positive. However the Fund had a weak result from the Event Trade stocks. Click the link below to the rest of the Fund Manager's Report. |
| More Information |
9 Jun 2015 - Fund Review: Supervised High Yield Fund April 2015
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund:
- The Supervised High Yield Fund (SHYF) has a 6 year track record investing in fixed interest investments. The Investment strategy aims to deliver returns with zero correlation to equity markets by investing in debt securities with minimal default probability and offering a premium return above the risk free rate.
- The Fund is managed by Philip Carden whose experience in debt and capital markets spans 33 years, including time with JB Were's Capel Court Securities and Macquarie Bank, where he was the Executive Director responsible for the Debt Markets Division.
- SHYF is an Alternative Income fund which invests in Global and Australian debt markets, with all foreign currency receivables hedged back to Australian dollars.
- The Fund utilises a top down analysis of the economic environment and market to screen and identify debt market opportunities which it believes offer low risk with high yield. The next stage is the development of a risk matrix and investment strategy, following which detailed research is undertaken on specific investment opportunities which meet the pre-defined criteria established in the investment strategy.
- Prior to approving an investment for the Fund each potential investment is subject to two stress tests. The first of these is for credit and default risk, in which the investment is stress-tested to ensure that in a worst case economic environment it can repay 100% of its principal and interest obligations case scenario for the asset by examining the highest margin over the risk rate that the investment has previously experienced in a crisis situation. Any decline in value under the stress test that exceeds 10% of the Fund's value is avoided The second test examines market risk. In this case Carden looks at the worst case scenario for the asset by examining the highest margin over the risk rate that the investment has previously experienced in a crisis situation. Any decline in value under the stress test that exceeds 10% of the Fund's value is avoided.
