NEWS
Performance Report: Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
5 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana Global Small Companies Fund rose +0.5% in January, taking annualised performance since inception in April 2015 to +11.88% with an annualised volatility of 8.49%.
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5 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: Pengana Global Small Companies Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is managed by Founder & CIO Leah Zell, and Portfolio Managers Jon Moog and David Li. The Lizard investment team have over 50 years combined investment experience in global small cap investing. Leah Zell has over 30 years of experience and is a recognized expert in international investing in the international small-cap category. The Fund's investment team uses a value-oriented investment approach to small and mid-cap global equities that seeks to identify and invest in quality businesses that create significant value but are mispriced, overlooked or out-of-favour. The investment manager believes that unique opportunities exist due to limited available research, corporate actions or unfavourable investor perception. The portfolio construction process aims to develop portfolios that incorporate the best investment ideas from the investment manager's research while allowing for liquidity constraints and perceived risk. The Fund's investment manager will not typically hedge currency exposures, however during periods of currency extremes, some currency hedging may be employed. Derivatives may be used to achieve long or short exposures, reduce risk and reduce transaction costs. Derivatives will not be used for the purposes of leverage and the Fund's net exposure will never be short. |
| Manager Comments | Pengana mentioned in their latest report that the Fund benefits significantly during periods of uncertainty, as seen throughout January. The Fund started February with 20% cash, near the top of the Fund's allowable threshold, which puts the Fund in a position to buy as opportunities present themselves. Pengana noted that, while holding cash on the way up can be painful, it becomes an important tool when markets disintegrate quickly. There were no meaningful fundamental changes to the portfolio in January. Pengana remain focused on sourcing and finding exceptional businesses. |
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Performance Report: Touchstone Index Unaware Fund
2 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Touchstone Index Unaware Fund returned +0.21% in January, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +0.66% and taking annualised performance since inception to +15.11% per annum.
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2 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: Touchstone Index Unaware Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The portfolio is constructed using Touchstone's Quality-At-a-Reasonable-Price ('QARP') investment process. QARP is a fundamental bottom-up process, however, it also incorporates a top-down risk management framework designed to successfully manage the portfolio during varying market conditions and economic cycles. The Touchstone Fund is concentrated, typically holding between 15-20 stocks. No individual stock will ever make up more than 10% of the portfolio at any one time. The Investment Manager may temporarily exceed the exposure limits of the Fund occasionally, particularly during periods of market volatility, to allow for holdings in excess of this 10% limit where the increase in value of the underlying security is due to market movement. The Fund may also hold between 0-50% of the portfolio in cash. The Fund has a high level of associated risk, therefore, the minimum suggested investment time-frame is 5 years. |
| Manager Comments | The Touchstone Index Unaware Fund primarily selects stocks from the S&P/ASX 300 Index and typically holds 10-30 stocks. It seeks to invest in reasonably priced, good quality companies with a significant share of expected returns coming from sustainable dividends. |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
2 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Australian Equities Fund returned +0.79% in January, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +1.24% and taking annualised performance since inception in Feb 2009 to +13.84%.
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2 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Bennelong Australian Equities Fund seeks quality investment opportunities which are under-appreciated and have the potential to deliver positive earnings. The investment process combines bottom-up fundamental analysis with proprietary investment tools that are used to build and maintain high quality portfolios that are risk aware. The investment team manages an extensive company/industry contact program which helps identify and verify various investment opportunities. The companies within the portfolio are primarily selected from, but not limited to, the S&P/ASX 300 Index. The Fund may invest in securities listed on other exchanges where such securities relate to the ASX-listed securities. The Fund typically holds between 25-60 stocks with a maximum net targeted position of an individual stock of 6%. |
| Manager Comments | At the end of the month, the Fund's weightings in the Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Materials sectors were increased whilst weightings in the Health Care, Industrials, REITs and Financials sectors were decreased. |
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Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund January 2018
1 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Titans Fund is now available.
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1 Mar 2018 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund January 2018
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 2018 (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 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 2018 (pdf format)
Performance Report: NWQ Fiduciary Fund
1 Mar 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The NWQ Fiduciary Fund returned +0.4% in January, outperforming the ASX200 Accumulation Index by +0.85% and taking annualised performance since inception to +7.30%.
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1 Mar 2018 - Performance Report: 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 | In January, the returned of the underlying managers were varied. NWQ noted that the Beta managers, whose returns can depend on the direction of the equity market, produced marginally positive returns demonstrating sound stock selection. Alpha managers drove portfolio performance during the month, demonstrating the diversification benefits that these managers can provide in falling markets. The portfolio currently comprises five Alpha managers (62.5% of the portfolio), four Beta managers (25%) and 12.5% cash. |
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Performance Report: Quay Global Real Estate Fund
28 Feb 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Quay Global Real Estate Fund fell -4.50% in January, with approximately -2.4% from the underlying stock exposure and the strong $A detracting a further -2.1%.
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28 Feb 2018 - Performance Report: 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 | Headwinds which impacted returns during the month, as noted by the Manager, include - $US weakness, rising long-dated treasuries yields, and enthusiasm by the market for growth and risk. During the month, the biggest detractors were Brixmore (US, Retail), Ventas (US, Healthcare) and Store Capital (US, Triple Net). The best performers were Pure Industrial (Canada, Industrial), Hispania (Spain, Diversified) and Safestore (UK, Storage). In their latest report, the Manager contrasts the markets in 1999 to those now. They mention that over 1999, the US 10-year nominal bond yield rose from 4.6% to 6.4%, and global real estate underperformed global equities by 15%. However, over the next 12 months global real estate outperformed global equities by 32% and delivered an $A total return of 34% as the tech bubble burst. The Manager remains confident the underperformance of global real estate can't be sustained forever. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Insync Global Titans Fund
27 Feb 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Insync Global Titans Fund returned +3.32% in January, outperforming the MSCI ex Aus by +1.22% after the cost of fees and protection.
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27 Feb 2018 - Performance Report: 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 | Performance was driven by positive contributions from the Fund's holdings on PayPal, Alphabet, Microsoft and Visa. The main negative contributors were RELX, Walt Disney and Diageo. 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 the Fund's put protection strategy. |
| More Information |
Performance Report: Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
26 Feb 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund rose +0.50% in January, taking annualised performance since inception in October 2008 to +8.51% with an annualised volatility of 6.00%.
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26 Feb 2018 - Performance Report: Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund will usually hold 40 to 80 positions and will be well diversified across the various event strategies. In keeping with the absolute return focus the Manager will eliminate market risk where appropriate by hedging market and foreign currency risks. Since inception the Fund has averaged a net equity market exposure of ~10%. Sizing of an investment position will depend on the expected risk adjusted returns while taking account the liquidity and volatility of the stock. In addition, the maximum potential loss on any one position should be greater than 0.5% of the NAV and the position should not exceed 30% participation of stressed volume assuming a $200m NAV. Other criteria considered are ability to hedge and the availability of pair candidates as well as the average bid-ask size. For M&A strategies average long position is 3 to 5.5% and average short position 2 to 5%. |
| Manager Comments | M&A, Directional and Relative Value strategies all contributed positively for the month. The largest contributor in the M&A sub-strategy was Alpine Electric which rose +5.7%, contributing 42bps to overall performance. In the Relative Value book, the largest positive contributor was the Fund's long/short position +SINA/-Weibo Corp. contributing +16bps. The Directional Alpha book contributed +0.7% to performance, key successes in January included Tsingtao (+13.7%), China Conch Venture (+19.8%), SIIC Environment (+4.9%), whilst key detractors included Bharti Airtel (-3.0%). The Fund's M&A gross exposure increased to 73% from 57% on the back of strong M&A deal activity and the Fund's Relative Value exposure increased to 90% from 75%. On the back of strong equity moves, Pengana have reduced the Fund's Directional Alpha book to 14.7% from 19.9%. The Fund's net and gross exposures averaged +14.7% and 186% respectively during the month. |
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Performance Report: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund
23 Feb 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund fell by -0.16% in January. Since inception in May 2006, the Fund has returned +10.80% per annum with a volatility of 6.95%.
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23 Feb 2018 - Performance Report: 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 | Top contributors included Whitehaven Coal (+23bp contribution for the month), Seven Group (+13bp), South32 (+11bp), Macquarie Group (+11bp) and Independence Group (+11bp). Short positions in Share Price Index Futures (+29bp) and Macquarie Atlas (+6bp) also contributed positively. Detractors included Mineral Resources (-25bp), Netwealth (-21bp), Costa Group (-19bp) and Amcor (-16bp). Net equity market exposure (including derivatives) was kept fairly stable at 46.0% (73.9% long and 27.9% short) as the Manager added new positions in Bellamy's, Qantas and Worley, sold Incitec Pivot and added to the Fund's short position in Share Price Index Futures. |
| More Information |
Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund January 2018
22 Feb 2018 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund is now available.
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22 Feb 2018 - Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund January 2018
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 2018 (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 2018 (pdf format)
