NEWS
QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund
21 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Qato Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund returned +3.00% for January, outperforming the S&P/ASX-100's fall of -0.59% by +3.59%.
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21 Feb 2017 - QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund seeks to preserve capital and maximise absolute returns through active and constant risk management, targeting monthly a net market exposure of 0% to hedge broader market risks with up to 50 S&P/ASX-100 positions (up to 25 long positions & 25 short positions). Historically, the strategy has been uncorrelated to traditional asset classes with a negative beta to equity markets. Qato Capital's process is entirely systematic - stock selection and risk management are all employed in a rules based approach. Positions in Qato's long-portfolio and short-portfolio are rotated monthly dependent upon their Q-Score ranking. The strategy employs no financial leverage/gearing to purchase securities, no derivatives and no financial products to imitate leverage. |
| Manager Comments | Bluescope was Qato's best performing long, lifting the Fund's performance by +1.42% in January, as the Company upgraded their earnings outlook due to favourable steel and iron ore prices boosting profitability. In Qato's short book, Carsales was one of the best performing shorts for January, weighed down by expectations for a lower growth profile and as long-term CEO, Greg Roebuck, resigned - the stock fell -7.59% during January. The Fund's short position in Star Entertainment Group contributed +0.34% to the Fund's performance in January. It's fall of -7.86% for the month underperformed the S&P/ASX-100's fall of -0.58% by -7.27%. |
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Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund
20 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana Absolute Return Asia Pacific Fund finished up +0.86% for the month of January 2017.
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20 Feb 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 return of 1.1%, with the position in Yingde Gases being the biggest contributor to the overall performance (25bp). The Fund's position in Huabao and in Ichiko Industries also performed favourably for the month. The overall gross exposure in the M&A sub-strategy came down from 63% to 49% on the back of some M&A deals successfully completing. The Stubs-Strategy was also positive for the month, returning +0.37%. The Wheelock Holding / Wharf was the biggest contributor, gaining 7% in relative terms. However, the Capital Raising and Options strategies detracted from the month's performance. |
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Fund Review: APN Asian REIT Fund January 2017
20 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
January Fund Review is now available on APN Asian REIT Fund, a property securities fund, investing primarily in the Asian REITS.
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20 Feb 2017 - Fund Review: APN Asian REIT Fund January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
APN Asian REIT Fund
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the APN Asian REIT Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- APN is an ASX-listed fund manager specialising in property investment, with an investment team of six. Established in 1996, APN now has FUM of $A2.4bn including four REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) funds.
- The APN Asian REIT Fund (Fund) is a property securities fund that invests in a quality portfolio of Asian REITs, listed on the securities exchanges of the Asian Region, with the ability to hold some cash and fixed interest investments.
- The Fund aims to deliver a competitive yield with lower risk than the market. The underlying stocks are selected based on a highly disciplined investment approach that focuses on the fundamentals and number of valuation approaches. The universe can include new IPO's, other corporate actions take place and / or corporate governance improvements at country or REIT level bring new stocks into focus.
- The Fund provides access to a wide spread of property-based revenue streams that are specifically analysed, selected and weighted with the aim of delivering strong and sustainable income returns. The Fund is an unhedged product.
- APN's Asian REIT Fund invests in a portfolio of 25-40 listed Asian REITs with a core philosophy of investing in properties with sustainable rental income streams.
- The Fund has delivered an annualised return of 14.26% p.a., since inception in July 2011 with a standard deviation of 9.50% p.a. The Sharpe and Sortino ratios are 1.18 and 2.08 respectively.
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
Optimal Australia Absolute Trust
17 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Optimal Australia Absolute Trust returned -1.0% in January 2017, to take the annualised return since inception to 8.32% p.a.
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17 Feb 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 | Several of the Fund's long investments that contributed positively in December, gave up much of their gains in January, including Henderson, Clydesdale, APN and Orocobre. The first two stocks confronted a severe headwind in the form of further weakness in the GBP. Other solid long performers included Woolworths, Newcrest, Link and Vocus Communications. A number of the fund's core shorts in retail and financials worked well for the month. However, the early stage (and small) short markers in materials were a drag on performance. The investment team retains a cautious position with respect to net market exposure and continues to focus on stock opportunities. |
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APN AREIT Fund
16 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN AREIT Fund returned -3.81% in January to take the latest 24 months return to 17.71%.
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16 Feb 2017 - APN AREIT Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The senior management of APN FM all have significant experience in their fields. They include CEO Real Estate Securities, Michael Doble who has 25 years'experience having held various senior roles specialising in real estate valuation, consultancy and funds management. Immediately prior to joining APN in 2003 he was Head of Property at ANZ Funds Management. He is a fellow of the Australian Property Institute and FINSIA as well as holding a Bachelor of Business (Property). The Fund aims to deliver a competitive yield with lower risk than the market. The underlying stocks are selected based on a highly disciplined investment approach that focuses on the fundamentals and number of valuation approaches. The Fund provides access to a wide spread of property-based revenue streams that are specifically analysed, selected and weighted with the aim of delivering strong and sustainable income returns. The Fund is suited to medium to long term investors seeking a relatively high monthly income and some capital growth over the long term. |
| Manager Comments | For the month of January, the portfolio remained mainly unchanged, with 61% in the Retail sector, followed by 20% in the Office sector. Cash holdings remained at 3%. The Fund's top 5 holdings were Scentre Group, Vicinity Centres, Stockland, Charter Hall Retail REIT and Dexus Property Group, with 3 of the holdings above 10% each. |
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Affluence Investment Fund
16 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Affluence Investment Fund increased 0.33% in January resulting in a +11.84% return for the latest 12 months.
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16 Feb 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. Finally, the Fund aims to outperform the Australian stock market (S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index) by at least 5% in any year in which that index delivers a negative return. 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 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 best performing investments were resources related, with Baker Steel Gold Fund up 9.5% and the Terra Capital Natural Resources Fund up 8.1%. The long Australian equities funds were relatively flat, with the standouts being Sandon Capital up 4.4% and the Phoenix Opportunities Fund up 3.0%. The four long/short funds were down 1.2% overall. At the end of January, the Fund held investments in 24 unlisted funds, representing 56% of the total portfolio. The Affluence LIC Fund accounted for 20% of the portfolio and provided exposure to 21 LIC's. The Fund held investments in 6 other listed entities which represented 7% of the total portfolio, with the remaining 17% held in cash. |
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Totus Alpha Fund
15 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund returned -2.00% in January and +23.35% for the latest 24 months.
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15 Feb 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 January were long positions in Facebook +0.91% and SmartGroup +0.35% and a short position in Mantra +0.25%. Biggest detractors were short positions in Energy World -0.35% and Estia -0.31% and a long position in Premier Investments -0.35%. At month-end (31 January), the Fund had a net exposure of 63.3% and a gross exposure of 217.4%. The Fund held 101 positions (44 long and 57 short). |
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Bennelong Australian Equities Fund
15 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Bennelong Australian Equities Fund beat the market (S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index -0.79%), posting a positive return of 0.79% for the month of January.
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15 Feb 2017 - 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 | The Fund benefited from strong performances from some of the largest positions, including CSL, Treasury Wine Estates, and Resource stocks Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue Metals Group. On the other hand, the Fund's position in Domino's Pizza Enterprises detracted from performance. The investment team continues to remain focused on the company fundamentals, particularly in an environment of macro and political uncertainty. |
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KIS Asia Long Short Fund
14 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
KIS Asia Long Short Fund rose 1.43% in January, taking the return for the most recent 12 months to 15.55%.
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14 Feb 2017 - KIS Asia Long Short Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | Whilst the Fund's primary strategy is focused on long/short equities, the ability to retain discretionary powers to allocate across a number of other investment strategies is reserved. These strategies may include, but not be limited to: convertible bond investments, portfolio hedging, equity related arbitrage, special situations (e.g. merger arbitrage, rights offerings, participation in international public offerings and placements, etc.). The Fund's geographic focus is Asia excluding Japan, but including Australia). The Fund may invest outside of this region to the extent that: 1. The investment decision is driven from the Asian region or; 2. The exposure is intended to mitigate risk or enhance return from factors external to the Asian region. |
| Manager Comments | The January result was driven largely by long positions in Eden Innovations Ltd (EDE.AX) 0.31% and PetroChina Co Ltd (601857.SH) 0.23%. Detractors for the month included short positions in DBS Group Holdings Ltd (DBSM.SI) -0.23%, Hang Lung Group Ltd (0010.HK) -0.19% and CapitaLand Limited (CATL.SI) -0.16%. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund January 2017
14 Feb 2017 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund which has an annualised return of 16.41% p.a.
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14 Feb 2017 - Fund Review: Bennelong Long Short Equity Fund January 2017
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - January 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 16.41% 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 0.98 and 1.63 respectively.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - January 2017 (pdf format)
