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Performance Report: Gyrostat Absolute Return Income Equity Fund
29 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Gyrostat Absolute Return Income Equity Fund has returned +5.87% over the past 12 months with a volatility of 7.40%. Since inception in December 2010, the Fund has returned +4.74% p.a. with an annualised volatility of 4.30%.
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29 Sep 2020 - Performance Report: Gyrostat Absolute Return Income Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The investment objective is to deliver regular and stable income stream (from ASX20 dividends) in a low interest rate environment with capital security - a 'highly-defensive' asset class. Gyrostat has operated for 38 consecutive quarters within a 'hard' pre-defined risk parameter (no more than 3% capital at risk with the Fund's maximum draw-down 2.2% in any circumstances) always in place, delivering regular income by passing through ASX-20 dividends, and meeting returns guidance based upon market conditions (demonstrating increasing returns with market volatility). The Fund buys and holds ASX-20 and international assets with lowest cost protection always in place with upside. It is a conservative asset allocation. Note that Gyrostat have expanded their international assets within the Fund to include SP500, FANGS, Nikkei, Hang Seng, MSCI China, MSCI Developed and Developing markets. Advances in investment risk management enable cost-effective protection to always be in place for a 'hard' defined risk parameter (say no more than 3% capital at risk). Returns are designed to increase as volatility levels increase, as this provides more opportunities to lower protection costs. Investment Objectives: - Returns: 6% - 8% pa in trending markets, greater than 8% pa in volatile markets, BBSW90 + 3% in stable markets - Income: Minimum cash rate + 3% paid semi-annually (currently 4.0% p.a.) from dividends and franking credits - Protection: No quarterly NAV draw-downs exceeding 3% Also includes a 'tail hedge' for gains on large market falls. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund returned -1.27% in August. Gyrostat noted returns were lower as volatility fell which was consistent with their guidance for stable markets. Market conditions during the month enabled Gyrostat to enter additional positions for more elevated returns on any uplift in market volatility. The investment strategy allows for up to 15% of the Fund's assets to be invested in international assets, with positions in S&P500, Nasdaq, Hang Seng, MSCI Developed and Emerging Markets (among others). Gyrostat anticipate returns in all market environments of at least BBSW 90 +3% which they expect will enable investors to receive income and capital growth. The Fund also includes a 'tail hedge' for gains on large market falls. Gyrostat anticipate increasing levels of 'late cycle' market volatility with elevated geopolitical risk, historically high debt levels and elevated valuations. |
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Performance Report: Australian Eagle Trust Long-Short Fund
28 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Australian Eagle Trust Long Short Fund rose +1.83% in August, taking 12-month performance to +8.76% vs the ASX200 Accumulation Index's -5.08%. Since inception in July 2016, the Fund has returned +18.08% p.a. vs the Index's annualised...
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28 Sep 2020 - Performance Report: Australian Eagle Trust Long-Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Manager Comments | The portfolio's largest positive contributors for the month came from long positions in IDP Education Ltd, Xero Ltd and a short position in Whitehaven Coal Ltd, while the largest detractors were a long position in ResMed Inc and short positions in WiseTech Global Ltd and Flight Centre Ltd. The Fund ended the month with 32 long positions and 22 short positions, with the largest exposure being to medical devices & services and technology stocks. The Fund ended the month with relatively less exposure to banking and real estate stocks. |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
28 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund rose +10.20% in August, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +7.37% and taking 12-month performance to +16.32% vs the Index's -5.08%. Since inception in February 2009, the Fund...
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28 Sep 2020 - Performance Report: Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The overriding objective of the Concentrated Australian Equities Fund is to seek investment opportunities which are under-appreciated and have the potential to deliver positive earnings, while satisfying our stringent quality criteria. Bennelong's investment process combines bottom-up fundamental analysis together with proprietary investment tools which are used to build and maintain high quality portfolios that are risk aware. The portfolio typically consists of 20-35 high-conviction stocks from the S&P/ASX 300 Index. The Fund may invest in securities listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to ASX-listed securities. Derivative instruments are mainly used to replicate underlying positions and hedge market and company specific risks. |
| Manager Comments | As at the end of August, the portfolio's weightings had been increased in the Discretionary and IT sectors, and decreased in the Health Care, Consumer Staples, Materials, REIT's, Industrials and Financial sectors. The portfolio is significantly more heavily weighted towards the Discretionary and Health Care sectors, with 'Active Weightings' of 25.3% and 12% respectively; the portfolio's weighting towards the Discretionary sector is 32.9% vs the Index's 7.7%, and 32.9% for the Health Care sector vs the Index's 11.8%. |
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Performance Report: Harvest Lane Asset Management Absolute Return Fund
25 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Harvest Lane Absolute Return Fund rose +1.66% in August. Since inception in July 2013, the Fund has returned +4.99% p.a. with an annualised volatility of 10.57%. The Fund has maintained a down-capture ratio for performance since...
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25 Sep 2020 - Performance Report: Harvest Lane Asset Management Absolute Return Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Harvest Lane Asset Management employs a conservative, highly selective and opportunistic approach. Using their extensive knowledge in the area of corporate actions, the Fund's managers assess each opportunity based on a thoughtful, diligent and disciplined process and invest where they believe an opportunity exists to generate above average investment returns relative to the risk incurred. Investment decisions are made without speculating on market direction, with rigid risk controls enforced to minimise the risk of large losses of investor capital. The Fund invests in securities that are predominantly listed on the ASX and occasionally in those listed in other developed markets. Equity swaps and other derivatives may be used at times to reduce risk. The fund typically holds high levels of cash in the absence of sufficiently attractive opportunities to deploy investor capital in accordance with its objectives. |
| Manager Comments | The Harvest Lane Absolute Return Fund rose +1.66% in August. Since inception in July 2013, the Fund has returned +4.99% p.a. with an annualised volatility of 10.57%. The Fund has maintained a down-capture ratio for performance since inception of 16.29% which indicates that, on average, the Fund has significantly outperform during the market's negative months. Harvest Lane saw a lull in corporate activity during August as the market paused to assess the damage during reporting season. However, they noted this lull didn't last for long having seen a flurry of activity in the first week of September. Harvest Lane highlighted the transaction between Abano Healthcare (ABA.NZX) and BGH Capital as one of the most interesting they witnessed during the month. BGH Capital walked away from a NZ$5.70 per share transaction in March by relying on a Material Adverse Change (MAC) clause to exit the deal. The revised deal was struck at a lower headline price of NZ$4.45 with the added condition that the new deal could not be terminated due to a material adverse change. Other key transactions throughout the month are discussed in more detail in the latest performance report. Overall, Harvest Lane are pleased with the Fund's performance in August and expect September to be the same. They noted they continue to make progress making up the portfolio's recent underperformance and are genuinely encouraged by the level of corporate activity they are currently witnessing. |
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Performance Report: Ark Global Fund - Class B AUD Hedged
25 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Ark Global Fund - Class B AUD Hedged was flat in August. Since inception in July 2017, the Fund has returned +6.82% p.a. with an annualised volatility of 9.27%.
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25 Sep 2020 - Performance Report: Ark Global Fund - Class B AUD Hedged
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The investment objective of the Fund is to achieve long-term capital appreciation with low correlation to global equity markets through investment in the Underlying Fund. Fund One is a global macro fund that utilises quantitative research including machine learning techniques and fully automated trading algorithms which will aim to generate positive uncorrelated returns relative to any significant equity benchmark. The traded instruments are either major FX pairs or the most liquid exchange traded stock index, bond, and commodity futures across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The algorithm backtests over 10 years of tick data and in order to do so effectively requires machine learning to filter noise and identify meaningful signals, which results in statistically significant prediction of price movements. In production this processing is done in real time and the portfolio reacts to asset movements by rebalancing automatically to the desired risk exposure through the market impact optimised execution logic. Risk management layers built into the algorithm have been developed using the experience the team has gained from their decades in highly liquid fast-moving markets in the proprietary High Frequency Trading world. This allows the system to trade autonomously but safely to all trading opportunities and potential system issues, and to alert the team to any behaviour outside of strictly controlled bounds. The Fund is a 'feeder fund' which indirectly gains exposure to the underlying assets by investing all or substantially all of its assets in the Underlying Fund. The Fund may retain a certain amount of cash from the investment in the Fund for the purpose of payment of costs, fees, hedging and expenses. |
| Manager Comments | The best performing assets for the month were: Euro Stoxx 50 (+1.71% of NAV), Euro/USD (+0.86% of NAV) and 10-yr US Treasury Note (+0.80% of NAV). The worst performing assets were: E-mini S&P 500 (-0.47% of NAV), AUD/USD (-1.02% of NAV) and S&P/TSX 60 (-1.39% of NAV). |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
25 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund rose +6.57% in August, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +3.74% and taking 12-month performance to +6.67% vs the Index's -5.08%. Since inception in November 2009, the Fund has...
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25 Sep 2020 - Performance Report: 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 | As at the end of August, the portfolio's weightings had been increased in the Discretionary, IT and Health Care sectors, and decreased in the Communication, Consumer Staples, Industrials, Materials, Energy and Financial sectors. By comparison with the Fund's benchmark (ASX300 Accumulation Index), the portfolio is significantly more heavily weighted towards the Discretionary sector, with an 'Active Weight' of 19.6%. |
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Performance Report: Atlantic Pacific Australian Equity Fund
24 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Atlantic Pacific Australian Equity Fund rose +0.93% in August, taking 12-month performance to +21.82% vs the ASX200 Accumulation Index's -5.08%. Since inception in June 2013, the Fund has returned +9.37% p.a. against the Index's...
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24 Sep 2020 - Performance Report: Atlantic Pacific Australian Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The primary objective of the Atlantic Pacific Australian Equity Fund is to generate a mixture of capital and income returns for investors with a high risk profile, over a 5 to 7 year investment period. The Investment Manager believes that markets are fundamentally inefficient and that active investment management will result in higher than 'benchmark' returns. The Fund has adopted the S&P/ASX200 Accumulation Index as the benchmark for its performance. The Investment Manager also believes that, on review of many markets globally, no individual style or method of investing will always ensure outperformance in terms of return on investment. In light of this, the Investment Manager may adopt a 'value', 'growth' or 'momentum' style bias, for example, depending on where the market is in its investment cycle. Further, the Investment Manager believes that actual and forecasted events underpin absolute and relative price movements of securities. The Investment Manager will utilise a number of frameworks to assist in positioning the Fund's portfolio of investments. These include fundamental research, quantitative analysis, and macro and catalyst research. |
| Manager Comments | The following statistics (since inception) highlight the Fund's capacity to protect investors' capital in falling markets: Sortino ratio of 1.61 vs the Index's 0.52, maximum drawdown of -7.10% vs the Index's -26.75%, and down-capture ratio of 23.70%. Positive contributors in August included long positions in Adairs, Citadel Group, Mesoblast and Ooh Media. Key detractors included long positions in A2 Milk, Resmed and Terracom, as well as a short position in Altium. Altium noted the portfolio remains conservatively positioned with a continuation of weekend hedges. |
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Fund Review: Insync Global Capital Aware Fund August 2020
23 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Capital Aware Fund is now available. The Global Capital Aware Fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of 15-30 stocks, targeting exceptional, large cap global companies with a strong focus on dividend...
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23 Sep 2020 - Fund Review: Insync Global Capital Aware Fund August 2020
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - August 2020 (pdf format)
INSYNC GLOBAL CAPITAL AWARE FUND
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the Insync Global Capital Aware Fund.
We would like to highlight the following:
- The Global Capital Aware 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 - August 2020 (pdf format)
Performance Report: Frazis Fund
23 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Frazis Fund rose +15.5% in August, taking 12-month performance to +52.02% vs AFM's Global Equity Index's +6.41%. Since inception in July 2018, the Fund has returned +18.57% p.a. vs the Index's annualised return over the same period of +9.39%.
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23 Sep 2020 - Performance Report: Frazis Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The manager follows a disciplined, process-driven, and thematic strategy focused on five core investment strategies: 1) Growth stocks that are really value stocks; 2) Traditional deep value; 3) The life sciences; 4) Miners and drillers expanding production into supply deficits; 5) Global special situations; The manager uses a macro overlay to manage exposure, hedging in three ways: 1) Direct shorts 2) Upside exposure to the VIX index 3) Index optionality |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's August return was achieved with over 35 positions. Since initial purchase, some of the Fund's best performing investments include Afterpay (return since initial purchase of 17x), Carvana (5x), Shopify (5x), Xero (4x) and Tesla (4x). Frazis noted their systematic framework based around customer love and explosive growth is working to identify strong performing stocks long before they become household names. They are currently working on a number of new undisclosed opportunities that, in addition to having a devoted customer fanbase and explosive growth, are trading at the low multiples that marked the stocks mentioned previously as good buys. Frazis aim to remain invested in the highest quality and fastest growing companies they can find. |
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Performance Report: Glenmore Australian Equities Fund
22 Sep 2020 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Glenmore Australian Equities Fund rose +11.52% in August, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +8.69%. Since inception in June 2017, the Fund has returned +19.02% p.a. vs the Index's annualised return over the same period of +5.90%.
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22 Sep 2020 - Performance Report: Glenmore Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The main driver of identifying potential investments will be bottom up company analysis, however macro-economic conditions will be considered as part of the investment thesis for each stock. |
| Manager Comments | Top contributors to performance in August included People Infrastructure, ARB Corporation, Temple and Webster, Integral Diagnostics, NRW Holdings, Alliance Aviation Services, Fiducian Group, Mineral Resources and Collins Foods. There were no detractors of any materiality during the month. Glenmore noted in their latest report that in Australia, with the exception of Victoria, all other states appear to have the virus under control. They believe the most likely scenario to be a continuation of the current economic settings (low interest rates, subdued economic growth, fiscal stimulus), which they expect will be sufficient for continued positive market conditions for equity investors. |
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