NEWS
Touchstone Index Unaware Fund
21 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Touchstone Index Unaware Fund returned +3.16% in February, outperforming the ASX 200 Accumulation Index 2.25%, by +0.91.
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21 Mar 2017 - 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 Fund benefited from its holding in Costa Group (+24.1%) which rose after posting strong growth in earnings of 36%. The Fund's two large positions in the REITs sector, namely Charter Hall (+11.9%) and Goodman Group (+9.1%) also delivered solid returns in the month. However, the holding in the US based James Hardie Industries (JHX) fell in the month -5.7% after the company reported 3Q17 results which were below market expectations. Telstra (-3.6%) was also weaker, largely driven by higher tax and depreciation and amortisation charges. With the current political risks elevated globally, combined with market uncertainties, the investment team continues to remain focused on downside protection. |
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Affluence Investment Fund
20 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Affluence Investment Fund increased 1.20% in February, resulting in a +13.41% return for the latest 12 months.
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20 Mar 2017 - Affluence Investment Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund does not invest directly into any asset class, rather, it invests in investment managers which satisfy Affluence Funds Management's investment criteria; its investment philosophy is based on a formula developed by CEO/Portfolio Manager Daryl Wilson since the start of his career in 1999. The Fund targets total returns of at least 5% above inflation over rolling 3 year periods with volatility of returns less than 50% of the ASX200 Index. The Fund also aims to provide investors with a distribution yield of at least 5% p.a. To ensure appropriate diversity of managers and limit the potential for conflicts of interest, no more than 20% of the Fund will be invested with any one external manager. Affluence seeks to achieve the Funds' investment objective by choosing attractively priced investments overseen by quality managers. The Fund uses a number of processes to identify potential investments including quantitative screens for investments which meet historical performance, volatility and other criteria. They also use a number of external researchers and information sources to assist in this process. |
| Manager Comments | The top performing investments for the month included the listed Brookfield Prime Property Fund up 25%, the Terra Capital Natural Resources Fund up 13.6%, the Phoenix Opportunities Fund up 4.8%, and the India Avenue Equity Fund up 4.3%. The Fund's long only and long short equities funds were mixed, depending on how their portfolios were positioned during the reporting season. At the end of February, the Fund held investments in 26 unlisted funds representing 57% of the portfolio. The Affluence LIC Fund accounted for 19% of the portfolio and provided exposure to 19 LIC's. The Fund held investments in 5 other listed entities which represented 8% of the total portfolio, with the remaining 16% held in cash. |
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Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
20 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund returned -0.04% for the month of February 2017, compared to Asia Pacific markets which posted a gain of 2.4%.
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20 Mar 2017 - 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 | The M&A sub-strategy posted a positive performance of +1.3% after gaining 1.1% in January. The biggest positive contributor was the position in Television Broadcasts Ltd TVB, which gained 14% and contributed 40 basis points to performance. The Fund's position in Yingde Gases contributed 22bp to performance, gaining 13% over the month. The Capital Structure strategy was the main negative contributor, generating a loss of -0.9% for the month. The bulk of the poor performance stemmed from the positions in Korean Preference vs Ordinary shares. |
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Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
17 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Optimal Australia Absolute Trust returned -0.98% in February 2017, to take the annualised return since inception to 8.11% p.a.
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17 Mar 2017 - Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund's bias is likely to be net long under normal market conditions, with the core strategy being to construct a portfolio of listed equity securities priced at levels that do not adequately reflect their underlying value. The Fund will seek to boost returns and limit potential market downside by selective short selling of individual stocks which are priced at levels that are viewed as materially above their underlying value. The Fund will also use certain trading strategies both within its core portfolio (through rebalancing stock weights and overall market exposure in response to price movements) and in certain other situations (typically of a shorter-duration and/or opportunistic nature) with the objective of further increasing returns. |
| Manager Comments | During the earning season, Woolworths, APN, Vocus and CSL contributed positively to the Fund's performance. However, this contribution was undone by Orocobre, which again cut production guidance. On the short side of the portfolio, the positions in Materials and Telco generated solid returns, although this contribution was largely offset by the drag from stronger defensives, Financials, and index futures. The investment team retains a cautious position with respect to net market exposure and continues to look for stock opportunities. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund February 2017
16 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund, which has an annualised return since inception of 11.07% p.a.
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16 Mar 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund February 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
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 over ten year track record.
- The Fund has significantly outperformed the ASX200 Accumulation Index since its inception in May 2006 and also has significantly lower risk KPIs. The Fund has an annualised return of 11.07% p.a. with a volatility of 7.16%, compared to the ASX200 Accumulation's return of 5.32% p.a. with a volatility of 13.97%.
- 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 Bennelong Funds Management provide infrastructure, operational, compliance and distribution capabilities.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
NWQ Fiduciary Fund
16 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
NWQ Fiduciary Fund returned -0.35% in February bringing the net performance since inception in May 2013 to +24.42%.
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16 Mar 2017 - 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 | There was a high degree of dispersion in the performance of the Fund's underlying managers in February. The Fund's Alpha managers combined to make a modest contribution to performance (+0.12%). However, the Fund's overall performance was weighed down by the performance of the Beta managers combined, to post a negative contribution of -0.41%. It remains the view of NWQ that there exists further potential for destructive equity and bond market volatility in the coming months, and therefore, the portfolio continues to remain overweight to the Alpha or market neutral strategies. |
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Totus Alpha Fund
15 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund fell 0.46% in February, to take the latest 24 months return to +23.02%.
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15 Mar 2017 - Totus Alpha Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund is a long/short investment fund principally investing in listed entities, commodities, futures and options in Australia and internationally. The Fund is not a market neutral fund and accordingly may switch between net long positions and net short positions. The Fund may use short sales and derivatives. Gearing may be used to enhance returns and the Fund may be geared in excess of 100% of the Fund's Net Asset Value. There is a limit to net exposure of 150%. |
| Manager Comments | Top contributors in February were long positions in Ramsay +0.46%, Aristocrat +0.30% and Westpac +0.29%. Biggest detractors were short positions in Estia -0.50% and Blue Sky -0.39%, and a long position in Adairs -0.48%. As of 28 February, the Fund had a net exposure of 42.7% and a gross exposure of 171.2%. The Fund held 99 positions (44 long and 55 short). |
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Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund
15 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund returned +2.03% in February against the ASX 200 Accumulation Index which returned +2.25%.
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15 Mar 2017 - 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 | In terms of relative performance, the ex-20 stocks within the portfolio kept pace with the market. Reporting season was generally kind to these stocks. There were a number of solid results, such as BWX and Breville Group that beat expectations, and which were well received by the market. There were also some that were slightly softer than expected, including ARB and Dominos. Aristocrat, one of the Fund's largest positions, was the largest contributor to the Fund's performance over the month. |
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Quay Global Real Estate Fund
14 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Quay Global Real Estate Fund increased +3.1% for the month of February 2017.
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14 Mar 2017 - 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 | The largest contributors to the month's return were Stag Industrial (up +12% in local currency terms) and Equity Lifestyle Properties (US). The smallest contributors (mainly due to their low portfolio weights) were RLJ Lodging (US) and Camden Living (US). Apartments (18%), Storage (11.6%) and Industrial (11.5%) were the most heavily weighted sectors in the portfolio. The Fund holds around 10% in cash as the investment team looks for better entry prices or new opportunities. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund February 2017
13 Mar 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund which has an annualised return of 16.47% p.a.
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13 Mar 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund February 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
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 large-caps from the ASX/S&P100 Index, with over fourteen-year track record and annualised returns of 16.47% p.a.
- The consistent returns across the investment history indicate the Fund's ability to provide positive returns in volatile and negative markets and significantly outperform the broader market. The Fund's Sharpe Ratio and Sortino Ratio are 0.99 and 1.64 respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - February 2017 (pdf format)
