NEWS
Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund September 2016
31 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Insync Global Titans Fund is now available.
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31 Oct 2016 - Fund Review: Insync Global Titans Fund September 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - September 2016 (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 Fund's unit price decreased by 1.75% in September. The performance was driven by positive contributions from the holdings in Paypal, BAT, Diageo, Unilever and Visa Inc. The main negative contributors were Medtronic, Reckitt Benckiser, Mead Johnson Nutrition and Oraclen.
- 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 - September 2016 (pdf format)
Insync Global Titans Fund
28 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
The Insync Global Titans Fund returned -1.75% in September, compared to the MSCI All Country World ex-Australia Net Total Return Index in $A, which returned -1.20%.
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28 Oct 2016 - 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 | The positive contributors for the month came from the Fund's holdings in Paypal, BAT, Diageo, Unilever and Visa Inc. The main negative contributors were Medtronic, Reckitt Benckiser, Mead Johnson Nutrition and Oracle. 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 their put protection strategy. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager Report. |
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King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund
28 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund rose 1.83% in September and +23.77% over the latest 24-months.
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28 Oct 2016 - King Tide NZ/Australian Long/Short Equity Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | The Fund seeks to outperform the market with less volatility than the market by allocating capital to a select group of eight to sixteen funds whose investment mandates allow them to use short selling of equities and equity indices, to use derivatives to manage risk, to use leverage and to hold large amounts of cash. In-depth proprietary research is used to select and monitor fund managers with particular emphasis on their ability to manage equity market risk through stock selection, short selling and the use of derivatives and cash. |
| Manager Comments | There were few changes to the Fund's portfolio composition over the month. They redeemed their positions in two funds, Aspiring and Kardinia, both of which had been in the fund since its inception. Two new long/short strategy fund managers were added to the portfolio. Both funds ticked many of the boxes that King Tide look for in a manager such as great track record, simple fundamental bottom-up strategy and low correlation to market returns. Click below to read the latest monthly report. |
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Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund September 2016
27 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review is now available on QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund, investing exclusively in S&P/ASX 100 stocks.
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27 Oct 2016 - Fund Review: QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund September 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - September 2016 (pdf format)
QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund
Attached is our most recently updated Fund Review on the QATO Capital Market Neutral Long/Short Fund.
We would like to highlight the following aspects of the Fund;
- Qato Capital is a Melbourne-based boutique fund manager backed by single family office, Larkfield Funds Management.
- Qato has a systematic, market-neutral strategy which invests exclusively in S&P/ASX 100 stocks.
- The QATO Capital's Q-score process captures and quantifies six broad fundamental factors, which assess multiple underlying sub-categories. Those companies with the top score (quality companies) are included in the "long" portfolio, those with the lowest score are sold short.
- The Fund seeks to preserve capital and maximises absolute returns through active and constant risk management, targeting monthly a net market exposure of 0% to hedge broader market risks through 30 S&P/ASX-100 positions (15 long & 15 short equally-weighted positions).
- Qato Capital's process is entirely systematic - stock selection and risk management are employed in a rules-based approach. The Fund employs no financial leverage/gearing to purchase securities, no derivatives, and no financial products to imitate leverage.
For further details on the Fund, please do not hesitate to contact us.
AFM Fund Review - September 2016 (pdf format)
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
27 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund rose 1.77% in September. The Fund has a low systematic risk (beta) to the ASX200 and the MSCI World Indices of 0.08 and 0.09 respectively.
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27 Oct 2016 - Pengana PanAgora Absolute Return Global Equities Fund
By: Australian Fund Monitors
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| Fund Overview | PanAgora believes the best way to find opportunities in the global markets is to combine fundamental analysis with robust quantitative techniques in order to filter the investment universe and select the investments. The Fund invests primarily in listed equity securities from a global universe of developed markets and a select group of emerging market countries. The Fund's objective is to seek absolute returns by identifying and exploiting multiple inefficiencies that may exist in global equity markets. These inefficiencies are primarily exploited through the use of a long/short equity strategy which aims to construct a portfolio that is generally neutral to market movements. As such the performance of the investment strategy is largely independent of the market's performance. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by using a diversified set of strategies that have low correlation to one another. In addition, because many of these strategies are designed to generate profit under different market conditions, their combination is expected to result in more stable returns over time than any individual strategy in and of itself. |
| Manager Comments | The Fund's performance was driven by the strong performance of the long-term portfolio in the US and, to a lesser extent, internationally. The US sleeve of the long-term portfolio performed strongly due to the stock selection being effective in the Financials, Health Care, and Materials sectors. However, the intermediate and the short-term portfolios slightly detracted performance for the month, at -0.05% and -0.09% respectively. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's Report. |
| More Information |
Totus Alpha Fund
26 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Totus Alpha Fund returned -5.31% in September.
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26 Oct 2016 - 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 | The September return was largely due to 3 things. First, a long position in TPG Telecom which downgraded earnings for the first time in 5 years. The Fund has since exited this position. Second, there was selling pressure in some of the sustainable yield long positions, so the fund trimmed down during the month. And third, strength in the resources and bank shares, in which the fund continues to hold short positions. At month-end, the fund had a net exposure of 21.1% and a gross exposure of 266.8%. The fund held 111 positions (56 long and 55 short) that were diversified across multiple investment themes. Top contributors were a short position in OFX Group and long positions in Challenger and Northern Star. Biggest detractors were a long position in TPG Telecom and short positions in BHP Billiton and Amaysim. Click below to read the latest Fund's Monthly Report. |
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APN AREIT Fund
25 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
APN AREIT Fund returned -3.21% in September. The long term performance since inception remains strong with annual returns of 17.90% p.a.
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25 Oct 2016 - 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. |
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Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund September 2016
24 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Latest Fund Review on Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund is now available.
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24 Oct 2016 - Fund Review: Bennelong Twenty20 Australian Equities Fund September 2016
By: Australian Fund Monitors
AFM Fund Review - September 2016 (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 - September 2016 (pdf format)
Affluence Investment Fund
21 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
Affluence Investment Fund rose 0.59% in September to take the annualised performance since inception to 10.95% p.a.
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21 Oct 2016 - 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 | Of the Fund's 25 unlisted fund investments, 16 provided positive returns. The Affluence LIC Fund was the biggest positive contributor to performance, with other strong results from the Cromwell Direct Property Fund, the Microequities Deep Value Microcap Fund, and the Smallco Broadcap Fund. The largest detractors were the Totus Capital Alpha Fund and the Auscap Long Short Australian Equities Fund. In September, the Fund invested into two new funds, the KIS Capital Asia Long Short Fund and the Heathley Direct Medical Fund No.1. The unlisted funds represented 60% of the portfolio. The Fund's exposure to 23 listed investment companies and 5 other listed entities, represented 24% of the portfolio. The rest of the balance (16%) was held in cash. Click below to read the latest Fund Manager's report. |
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KIS Asia Long Short Fund
21 Oct 2016 - Australian Fund Monitors
KIS Asia Long Short Fund rose 1.45% in September taking the return for the most recent 12 months to 16.55% versus the AFM Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index of 2.95% over the same period.
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21 Oct 2016 - 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 Fund's return was driven largely by long positions in Cardinal Resources Ltd (CDV.AX) 0.76 and in SJM Holdings Ltd (0880.HK) 0.23% and a short position in the ASX 200 (.AXJO) 0.24%. Detractors for the month included long positions in XREF Ltd (XF1.AX) -0.15%, AviChina Industry and Technology Co Ltd (2357.HK) -0.11% and Xinyi Solar Holdings Ltd (0968.HK) -0.11%. Click below to read the latest monthly Fund Report. |
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