NEWS
19 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Morphic Global Opportunities Fund
MORPHIC GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND
AFM has updated the Fund Review on the Morphic Global Opportunities Fund.
Key points include:
- The Fund is a global equity long/short manager with a long bias and a macro-economic overlay. The mandate allows the Fund to short sell, use derivatives and invest in assets such as commodities & currencies.
- Portfolio construction is stock selection agnostic with a bias to value based and momentum strategies. Risk management is a primary consideration in portfolio construction and the strong emphasis on risk is evidenced by the Fund's very high Sortino ratio of 14.88 and maximum drawdown of -0.52%.
- Morphic's philosophy is that only funds with flexible hedging strategies will be able to deliver acceptable, steady, real, absolute returns over the investment cycle.
- The Fund is an early stage, boutique, Sydney-based fund established in 2012 with experienced CIO's, and an investment team of 6 including a risk manager.
- The Board has a majority of independent members with significant risk and investment experience.
The full Review can be accessed from the link below, or from the Fund's Profile page.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Morphic Global Opportunities Fund (pdf format)
9-10 October 2013, The Excelsior Hotel, Hong Kong. 10% Discount with VIP Code..
18 Sep 2013 - UCITS Asia 2013
UCITS Asia 2013
Strategies for Enhancing Your Presence in Asia and Accessing Local End-Investors
9-10 October 2013, The Excelsior Hotel, Hong Kong
For more information please visit UCITS Asia 2013 (10% Discount with VIP Code: FKW52626FMWB)
With the region's most influential funds (both local and global) in attendance, IIR & IBC Finance Events will be outlining the most effective routes to market for launching and growing your product.
FOCUS ON ASSET MANAGERS
- Mutuals: Asset Manager's Priorities
- Alternatives: Current Fund Strategies
- Chinese Asset Manager Panel
FOCUS ON DISTRIBUTION
- Is UCITS Still Relevant?
- Successful Distribution Strategies
- Sales Trends & Investor Appetite
- Advisory Fee Transparency
FOCUS ON CHINA
- Mutual Recognition Scheme
- Distribution Within China
- How Chine is internationalising
FOCUS ON REGULATION
- AIFMD vs. UCITS
- Bringing Funds Onshore
- UCITS V Implementation
- HK Registration
Expert Speakers include:
REGULATORS
Christina Choi, Senior Policy Director, SFC
FUNDS
Freddie Chen, Executive Director, CHINA ASSET MANAGEMENT
Sundeep Sikka, CEO, RELIANCE CAPITAL AM
Nick Good, Head, Strategy & Business Development, APAC, BLACKROCK
Ashwin Mehta, CEO, ING SECURITIES & INVESTMENT TRUST
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Jenny Tian, Managing Partner, SPRING CAPITAL
Eleanor Wan, CEO, BEA UNION INVESTMENT
Gerard de Benedetto, CEO, AN ZHONG ASSET MANAGEMENT
LEGAL
Alwyn Li, Partner, DEACONS
Stephane Karolczuk, Partner, ARENDT & MEDERNACHT
SERVICE PROVIDERS
Siu-chan Kwan, Director, Securities & Funds Services, CITI
Lawrence Au, Head of Asia Pacific, BNP PARIBAS SECURITIES SERVICES
Stewart Aldcroft, CEO, CITITRUST
To register visit website; call us on +44 (0)20 7017 7790 or email us.
Quote VIP Code: FKW52626FMWB for your additional 10% Discount.
18 Sep 2013 - Pengana Asia Special Events (Onshore) Fund
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| Fund Overview | The Fund seeks to profit from trading securities which are primarily subject to corporate events or from trading-related securities which the Investment Manager believes are mispriced by the market. The Fund invests in securities that are listed on Asian stock markets and other markets where related securities may be listed and in securities which are listed on markets outside of Asia where more than 70% (by assets or earnings) of the underlying business originates from an Asian country. The Fund aims to generate consistently positive returns which have a low correlation to the Asian stock markets. The objective is to generate 10-20% pa with a standard deviation of 6-10% |
| Manager Comments | Short index futures protected the Fund during the month, while non-directional trades such as M&A and stubs trades also contributed positively to performance. Malaysian and Japanese trades proved particularly profitable during the month. With market attention mostly macro related, the Asian event landscape was relatively calm with the announced M&A count remaining healthy for the month. Private equity players have become more active recently with 2 deals in August alone highlighting this trend. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
18 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund
ASX listed Aurora Funds Limited was established on the merger of three existing fund management businesses, managing approx. $480m on behalf of more than 2,500 retail and wholesale investors.CIO John Corr has over 20 years financial market experience with a strong focus on risk.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund (pdf format)
17 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
OPTIMAL AUSTRALIA ABSOLUTE FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Optimal Australia Absolute Fund.
We would like to highlight the following:
Optimal Australia is a specialist Australian equity investment manager and the Fund has a long/short equity strategy typically with a low but variable net market exposure comprising 40 to 65 stocks broadly selected from within the ASX200. The Fund has recorded out-performance of the market since inception in September 2008 with approximately 84% of monthly performances having positive returns and the largest drawdown -1.38%
The investment team comprising George Colman, Peter Whiting and Stephen Nicholls have close to 90 years combined experience in equity markets.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Fund Review: Optimal Australia Absolute Trust (pdf format)
16 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
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 a seven year track record. Consistent top decile long short equity sector performance with a since inception (May 2006) return of 14.11% pa (ASX Accumulation Index 4.18% pa) and a standard deviation of 7.89% pa (Index 14.86%) indicate the Fund's ability to generate strong risk-adjusted returns. 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 the Bennelong Group provide infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution capabilities.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund (pdf format)
16 Sep 2013 - Insync Global Titans Fund
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| Manager Comments | The Fund's low risk is further indicated by it's downside deviation of 3.16% (Index 5.93%) and a down capture ratio of -0.80, also over the last 12 months. The Fund's unit price decreased by 1.9% in August. Positive contributions coming notably from our holdings in British Sky Broadcasting, Hugo Boss and GlaxoSmithKline were more than offset by declines in Sanofi, Philip Morris and Walt Disney. Currency movements had less impact on the portfolio in August than they did in the previous three months. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
13 Sep 2013 - Hedge Clippings
Last week's hope for a clear mandate for the new government in both houses has not come to pass, but it's still too early to tell if incoming PM Tony Abbott will be able to cobble together a working relationship with the rag tag group of independents in the Senate. Anyway, enough of politics. I'm just thankful the electioneering is over for the moment.
This was Hedge Fund Week in Australia, with a range of events and the inevitable post event socialising testing my stamina. AIMA Australia put on an excellent and well attended "by the industry, for the industry" one day seminar in Sydney on Tuesday, which had it not clashed with a commercially sponsored event in Melbourne targeting the same audience would have made it standing room only.
One senior AIMA committee member admitted that they even surprised themselves with the professionalism of the day's proceedings. Certainly the quality of the speakers and panelists, with AIMA Australia's Chairman Paul Chadwick's armchair chat with Sir Michael Hintze from CQS a standout, kept the audience's attention through to the end of the day.
Also on stage was ASIC's deputy commissioner Greg Tanzer who delivered the outcome of ASIC's review of the potential systemic risk of the largest local hedge funds to Australia's financial markets. In what would have been a disappointment to some of the gloom merchants in the media who love to love hating hedge funds, ASIC's findings were that they posed no or little risk. Amongst ASIC's findings were that out of the total funds surveyed, the largest 12, each with greater than $500 million in FUM and representing 42% of the total, held just 0.4% of the ASX All Ords' market capitalisation.
However that's not to suggest that there's no risk, just that they pose no systemic risk to the system in the way that LTCM or Amaranth did in the past.
Last night saw the annual Australian Hedge Fund Awards supporting the Cure Our Kids Foundation. Congratulations to all the finalists, to the evenual winner Chris Black from the Laminar Credit Opportunities Fund, and to John Corr who took out the well deserved "Contribution to the Industry" Award.
EVENTS
An upcoming event that may be of interest for Superannuation member administration and investment operation service providers is the Superannuation Fund Back Office conference coming up on 21-22 October. Visit the International Business Review Conferences website for more details.
The Asset Allocation Conference is also coming up from 30th October to 1 November 2013 at the Grace hotel in Sydney. Details are here.
Specific results received this week include the following PERFORMANCE and NEWS UPDATES:
Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund returned 0.96% over August with a net equity market exposure of 24.7% (49.2% long and 24.4% short). The Fund's since inception (May 2006) return is 14.11% pa (ASX Accumulation Index 4.18% pa) with a standard deviation of 7.89% pa (Index 14.86%).
The Optimal Australia Absolute Trust returned 0.14% for August with a net risk exposure of 9.2% and gross risk exposure of 61.2%. The Fund is characterised by low risk with a Sortino Ratio of 5.39 (ASX Accumulation Index 0.06) and high reward-to-risk with a Sharpe Ratio of 1.81 (Index 0.12). All data is since the Fund inception in September 2008.
Morphic Global Opportunities Fund returned -1.57% over August with net leverage of 88%. The Fund's lower risk is evidenced by a downside deviation of 1.87% (ASX 200 Accum 5.70%). The Sortino ratio of 14.88% as compared to 3.37% (Index) and the Sharpe ratio of 3.10 compared to 1.87 (Index) demonstrate the Fund's strong risk-adjusted returns.
The Aurora Fortitude Absolute Return Fund returned 0.18% for August bringing the Fund's percentage of positive months to 87% since March 2005. Sentiment towards China appears to have turned with the materials index posting a solid 3.7% gain for the month. US Macro data continued to impress, however September does bring a large number of Macro risks to the table including the Tapering debate; Fed Chairman continuity; US Debt Ceiling; German Elections and ongoing tensions in Syria.
Pengana Australian Equities Fund returned 2.27% for August with a cash holding of 26% at month-end. The largest positive contributors to the month's performance were McMillan Shakespeare (validating the Fund's decision to acquire additional shares during the strong reaction to the proposed regulatory change), Seven West Media, Resmed, Woolworths and Ainsworth Gaming.
Updated AFM Fund Reviews were also completed on the following funds this week:
The Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund is a research driven, market and sector neutral, "pairs" trading strategy investing primarily in large cap stocks from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with a ten year track record and annualised net returns of over 20%. Since inception in January 2002 the Fund has had positive annual returns each year, including an 11.95% return in 2008 and 20.6% in 2011, both of which were negative years for the ASX200. The consistent returns across the investment history indicates the Fund's ability to provide positive returns in volatile and negative markets and significantly outperform the broader market.
For something completely different - things you need to know when you are in leadership.
On that note, enjoy the week-end!
Regards,
Chris
CEO, AUSTRALIAN FUND MONITORS
13 Sep 2013 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund
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 cap stocks from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with a ten year track record and annualised net returns of over 20%. Since inception in January 2002 the Fund has had positive annual returns each year, including an 11.95% return in 2008 and 20.6% in 2011, both of which were negative years for the ASX200. The consistent returns across the investment history indicates the Fund's ability to provide positive returns in volatile and negative markets and significantly outperform the broader market.
Research and Database Manager
Australian Fund Monitors
Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund (pdf format)
13 Sep 2013 - Pengana Australian Equities Fund
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| Manager Comments | The Fund's exposure to non-Australian dollar earnings streams (inclusive of companies with global earnings profiles such as Resmed and Fox Group, NZ based companies and US dollar exposure) stood at 21%. Although the Manager has been biased towards a weakening A$ for some time, they note that the speed of its decline has been surprising. On the one hand, a lower Australian Dollar represents lower global purchasing power for us as consumers. However, the Manager expects several important domestic industries to benefit materially from the currency shift. These include the tourism, education, agricultural and even, dare we say it, the mining industry. Many companies have been forced to streamline their operations to cope with the high A$. The recent falls could translate into a period of very high levels of profitability for some. |
| More Information | » View detailed profile of this fund |
