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Allspring Diversified Income Builder Fund – Class C: A fund providing high income

Fund Objective

The investment seeks long-term total return, consisting of current income and capital appreciation.

Approach

The strategy targets a yield of 4%-5% and allocates 60%-90% of assets in fixed income, with the remainder in stocks. The team may also employ tactical shifts, vetted by the firm’s tactical trading council, by trading currencies or equity sector indexes, but these can be difficult to execute well consistently. Since introducing a multisleeved approach in early 2018, this strategy has undergone three prospectus benchmark shifts that signal it continues to experiment with its profile. The most recent adjustment (February 2020) decreased the equity exposure by 10 percentage points to 25% in order to make room for a more diversified bond sleeve. Other adjustments include the removal of a REITs sleeve in September 2018, the addition of a securitized bond sleeve in March 2019, and the introduction of an options sleeve in January 2020.

Portfolio 

As fixed-income markets have proved richly priced, the portfolio managers cited more attractive capital appreciation and dividends in the equity space, prompting an uptick in the equity holdings to roughly 38% here by September 2021. Within that equity sleeve, technology stocks (Microsoft MSFT is a holding) and healthcare stocks (such as Bausch Health Companies BHC, DaVita DVA, and AbbeVie ABBV) occupied roughly 27% and 17% of assets, respectively. 

High-yield bonds dominate the fixed-income portion of the strategy (59% of the portfolio as of September 2021), and it is worth noting that these are more sensitive to equity markets than the investment-grade fare employed by many peers for downside protection in stressed markets. Other bond sleeves here are modest but diversifying relative to the portfolio’s historical profile and include municipal bonds (3%) and securitized bonds (2%).

People

Kandarp Acharya as co manager alongside Margie Patel, who was the sole manager since 2007 but is departing this strategy (though she remains on Allspring Diversified Capital Builder EKBYX) as of Dec. 13, 2021. This move is accompanied by the arrival of quantitative researcher Petros Bocray, a 15-year firm veteran and Acharya’s collaborator on Allspring Asset Allocation EAAIX.

Performance

Over the strategy’s short tenure with its new contours (January 2018 through November 2021), the 5.5% annualized return of its R6 share class modestly outpaced the 5.3% return of the Morningstar Conservative. Target Risk Index and trailed the 6.7% return of its custom benchmark (60% ICE BoA U.S. Cash Pay HY Index, 25% MSCI ACWI, and 15% Barclays Aggregate Index). From an absolute return perspective, the strategy also generated a higher return than the 5.0% median of its typical allocation–15% to 30% equity Morningstar Category peer.This strategy has a riskier profile than many strategies in the category, particularly during stress periods, resulting in risk-adjusted returns (as measured by the Sharpe ratio) that trail all comparative points (typical category peer and benchmark as well as custom benchmark) over the aforementioned period. In three recent stress periods (when energy prices plummeted from June 2015 to February 2016, the 2018 fourth-quarter high-yield sell-off, and the coronavirus-driven market panic of Feb. 20-March 23, 2020), the fund lagged its category index by more than double and trailed its typical peer.

Top 10 Holdings

C:\Users\Akhila\Downloads\Screenshot 2021-12-10 121827.png

About the fund

The Fund seeks high current income from investments in income-producing securities. The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its assets in income producing securities, including debt securities of any quality, dividend paying common and preferred stocks, convertible bonds, and  

derivatives. The strategy targets a yield of 4%-5% and allocates 60%-90% of assets in fixed income, with the remainder in stocks. The team may also employ tactical shifts, vetted by the firm’s tactical trading council, by trading currencies or equity sector indexes, but these can be difficult to execute well consistently.

(Source:Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Dividend Stocks

Tyson Sets Sights on Improving Long-Term Efficiency

Business Strategy and Outlook

Several secular trends are affecting Tyson’s long-term growth prospects. While U.S. consumers (86% of fiscal 2021 sales) are limiting their consumption of red and processed meat (69% of Tyson’s sales), they are consuming more chicken (29%). International demand for meat has been strong, and although Tyson’s overseas sales mix is just 14%, it is likely to increase over time, as this is an area of acquisition focus. The beef segment has been a bright spot in Tyson’s portfolio in recent years, as strong international demand, coupled with a drought-induced beef shortage in Australia, has increased the segment’s operating margins to 10% over the past four years from 2% prior to 2016. 

Conversely, the chicken segment has suffered from executional missteps that have resulted in structurally higher costs relative to competitors. About 80% of Tyson’s products are undifferentiated (commoditized), so it is difficult for them to command price premiums and higher returns. Although Tyson is the largest U.S. producer of beef and chicken, we do not believe this affords it a scale-based cost advantage, as its segment margins tend to be in line with or below those of its smaller peers.

Financial Strength

Tyson’s financial health as solid and don’t see any issues to suggest that it will be unable to meet its financial obligations. While Tyson generates healthy cash flow and is committed to retaining its investment-grade credit rating, the business is inherently cyclical, with many factors outside of its control. But management has made changes to improve the predictability of earnings. Chicken pricing contracts, which now link costs and prices, and a greater mix of prepared foods (from 10% in 2014 to the current 19%) both serve as stabilizers. 

In terms of leverage, net debt/adjusted EBITDA stood at a rather low 1.2 times at the end of fiscal 2021, below Tyson’s typical range of 2-3 times. At the end of September, Tyson held $2.5 billion cash and had full availability of its $2.25 billion revolving credit agreement. Together, this should be sufficient to meet the firm’s needs over the next year, namely about $2 billion in capital expenditures, nearly $700 million in dividends, and $1.1 billion in debt maturities. Management has expressed a commitment to enhancing the income returned to shareholders in the form of its dividend (targeting a 2.0%-2.5% yield over time).

Bulls Say’s

  • China’s significant protein shortage resulting from African swine fever should boost near-term protein demand, while the country’s continued moderate increase in per capita consumption of proteins will drive sustainable growth. 
  • While investor angst over chicken price-fixing litigation has weighed on shares, Tyson’s recently announced settlements materially reduce this overhang. 
  • In the current inflationary environment, Tyson’s cost pass-through model limits potential profit margin pressure

Company Profile 

Tyson Foods is the largest U.S. producer of processed chicken and beef. It’s also a large producer of processed pork and protein-based products under the brands Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Sara Lee, Aidells, State Fair, and Raised & Rooted, to name a few. Tyson sells 86% of its products through various U.S. channels, including retailers (48%), food service (28%), and other packaged food and industrial companies (10%). In addition, 14% of the company’s revenue comes from exports to Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Europe, China, and Japan.

(Source: MorningStar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Shares Small Cap

Bank of Queensland brings forward cost savings to offset margin pressure

Business Strategy and Outlook

Bank of Queensland is one of Australia’s top-10 largest banks, but is considerably smaller than the four major Australian banks. Preceding the global financial crisis, the bank grew aggressively via acquisitions and the rollout of its distinctive owner-manager branch franchise model. However, expanding the branch network and diversifying away from traditional residential lending came at a cost, with additional equity required to fund growth, significantly increased bad debts, and multiple banking systems, which resulted in deteriorating cost/income and returns on equity. 

The aim is to ensure the bank is more competitive, particularly in the home loan market, but this investment giving the bank any competitive edge. At best, it can narrow the gap to peers, but with the big investment budgets of the majors, those innovations are likely to be hard to keep up with. Bank of Queensland has branches owned by branch managers and corporate branches. The model has the potential for the bank to outperform its peers on customer service, with owner branch managers building relationships with local customers, and niche business lending specialists with an understanding of borrower needs and industry.

Financial Strength

The capital structure and balance sheet provide comfort that the bank can manage a large increase in loan losses associated with COVID-19, but it remains the greatest threat to the bank’s capital position. Common equity Tier 1 capital was 9.8% as at August 2021, well above APRA’s 8.5% minimum capital benchmark for standardised banks. It is expected that the bank will pay out around 60% to 65% of earnings given the credit growth outlook, elevated investment in the banking platform, and integration of ME Bank. Our fair value estimate for no-moat rated Bank of Queensland is unchanged at AUD 8.50.

With the elevated savings rate in 2020, the bank has been able to increase its share of funding from customer deposits to 70% as at Aug. 31, 2021, up from pre-COVID-19 levels of 64% as at Aug. 31, 2019. In March 2020 the RBA announced the Term Funding Facility, or TFF, which provided three-year funding at 0.25%. From Nov. 4, 2020, new drawdowns would pay 0.1%. The initial funding available via the TFF was set at 3% of the bank’s outstanding loan balance, with an additional 2% of balances announced in November.

Bulls Say’s

  • The appointment of new senior executives and a clean out of the troubled commercial loan portfolio has ensured a more risk-conscious culture. 
  • Substantial capital raisings bolstered the balance sheet, ensuring that the bank satisfies capital rules and can still fund investments in technology and expand loan balances. 
  • Productivity improvements not only lead to improved operating margins, but a more streamlined loan approval process lifts mortgage growth rates. 
  • Management extract greater cost and revenue synergies from the acquisition of ME Bank.

Company Profile 

Bank of Queensland, or BOQ, is an Australia-based bank offering home loans, personal finance, and commercial loans. BOQ operates both owner-managed and corporate branches, and is the owner of Virgin Money Australia. Its BOQ business includes the BOQ branded commercial lending activity, BOQ Finance and BOQ Specialist businesses. The division provides tailored business banking solutions including commercial lending, equipment finance and leasing, cashflow finance, foreign exchange, interest rate hedging, transaction banking, and deposit solutions for commercial customers

(Source: MorningStar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Global stocks

Burberry Group Plc 1H22 revenue recovery with strong mainline and digital full – price sales

Investment Thesis

  • The rejuvenation of Burberry under a new creative director is underway, in our view. 
  • Leveraged to increasing consumer consumption in Asia (China). 
  • Leveraged to tourism flows (international travel) as consumers seek out experiences. 
  • Building a credible offering in the important category of leather goods.
  • Improving cash flow generation and a progressive dividend policy.
  • Strong balance sheet, which provides the Company flexibility.   
  • Capital management initiatives (e.g., Share Buyback). 

Key Risks

  • Execution risk with Burberry turnaround under new management team.
  • Fails to build a credible offering in the Leather Goods segment.  
  • Increased competition from existing players and new emerging brands. 
  • Value destructive acquisition of brand(s). 
  • Macroeconomic conditions deteriorate globally, impacting consumer spending and less tourism movements (i.e. travelers overseas).
  • Geopolitical tensions among regions restricting funds & tourists flow or a breakout of health epidemic impacting tourists flow in Europe / Asia. 
  • Significant change at the senior management level (Creative Director).  

Strong Margin accretion – driven by full sales price sales and cost out initatives

Management’s strategy to exit mainline and digital markdowns and the deliberate tight management of outlet business resulted in a significant shift towards full-price sales (within comparable store sales growth of +37% over pcp, full price sales advanced +49%, growing +121% and +10% across 1Q and 2Q, respectively), which underpinned an improvement of +130bps (at CER) in gross margin to 69.3% despite significant pressures from Brexit duties and channel mix. BRBY saw GBP 20m in cost savings (achieved GBP 55m of annualized savings, bringing cumulative savings to GBP 205m and providing a completely restructured cost base), delivering an improvement of +11.2% (at CER) in adjusted operating margin to 16.2%.

Company Profile 

Burberry Group Plc (BRBY), listed on the London Stock Exchange, is a global luxury brand with a British heritage. The Company designs and sources apparel and accessories, which it distributes via retail, digital, wholesale and licensing channels globally. 

(Source: BanyanTree)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Property

Charter Hall reported solid operating earnings of $58.0m, up +13.5%

Confident beautiful businesswoman in hardhat explaining blueprint to forewoman at construction site

Investment Thesis:

  • Quality assets with strong property fundamentals such as WALE increasing to 15.2 years 
  • Majority of leases are triple-net leases 
  • CQE is a play on (1) population growth; (2) increasing awareness of early childhood education; (3) increasing number of families with both parents working and hence demand for childcare services. CQE has increased its portfolio weighting towards social infrastructure assets. 
  • CQE’s tenants possess strong financials 
  • Strong history of delivering continuing shareholder return and dividends 
  • Solid balance sheet position
  • Strong tailwinds for childcare assets and social infrastructure assets

Key Risks:

  • Regulatory risks
  • Deteriorating property fundamentals 
  • Concentrated tenancy risk, especially around Goodstart Early Learning 
  • Sentiment towards REITs as bond proxy stocks impacted by expected cash rate hikes 
  • Broader reintroduction of stringent lockdowns across Australia due to Covid-19

Key highlights:

  • CQE saw revaluation uplift of $119.4m, up +11.1% net of capex and on a passing yield of 5.6%
  • Statutory profit of $174.1m, up +103.4%
  • Operating earnings of $58.0m, up +13.5%. Operating earnings of 16.0cpu, down -3.0% on pcp
  • CQE retained a strong capital position with balance sheet gearing of 24.5% and look-through gearing is 25.6%. CQE has no debt maturity until May 2024 and a weighted average debt maturity of 4.1 years
  • CQE acquired (i) Mater Health corporate headquarters and training facilities for $122.5m (ii) South Australian Emergency Services Command Centre and adjacent car park (in construction), for $80m
  • CQE acquired three new childcare properties for $12.6m (purchase yield of 6.4%; all leased to ASX-listed tenants on average lease expiries of 20 years)

Company Description: 

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (formerly Charterhall Education Trust) (ASX: CQE) is an ASX listed Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). It is the largest Australian property trust investing in early learning properties within Australia and New Zealand but recently widen its mandate to also invests in social infrastructure properties.

(Source: Banyantree)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
IPO Watch

Shriram Properties Limited opens up IPO on Wednesday,07, Dec,2021

The Shriram Properties IPO open date is Dec 8, 2021, and the close date is Dec 10, 2021. The issue may be listed on Dec 20, 2021.

This public issue comprises fresh issuance of equity shares worth Rs.250 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of Rs.350 crore. The issue includes a reservation of equity shares worth Rs.3 crore for the company’s employees who will receive those shares at a discount of Rs.11 per share to final issue price. The company’s shares are expected to list on stock exchanges BSE and NSE.

The price brand for the IPO is Rs113-118 per equity share.  A retail-individual investor can apply for a minimum of 1 lot comprising 125  shares amounting to Rs.14,750 and maximum of 13 lots comprising 1625 shares amounting to Rs.1,91,750.

Objects of the Issue:

The IPO aims to utilize the net proceed towards the following purposes;

  • Repayment and/ or prepayment, in full or part, of certain borrowings availed by the company and its subsidiaries, Shriprop Structures, Global Entropolis and Bengal Shriram; and
  • General corporate purposes, subject to applicable laws.

About 75 per cent of the issue size has been reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 15 per cent for non-institutional investors and the remaining 10 per cent for retail investors.

Axis Securities Ltd, ICICI Securities Ltd and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities Ltd are the book running lead managers to the issue.

About the company

Incorporated in 2000, Shriram Properties is a part of the Shriram Group and is one of the leading residential real estate development companies in South India. The company primarily focuses on the mid-market and affordable housing segments. The company is also present in the mid-market premium and luxury housing categories as well as commercial and office space categories. Bengaluru and Chennai are the key markets for the company. The company also has operations in Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam, and Kolkata.

As of September 30, 2021, the company has completed 29 projects, out of which 24 are in the cities of Bengaluru and Chennai. As of September 30, 2021, the company has a total portfolio of 35 projects in ongoing, projects under development, and forthcoming projects, stages, aggregating to 46.72 million square feet of estimated saleable area.

(Source:   Shriram Properties IPO DRHP)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Property

Landlease Group PAT surges 83% over previous corresponding period

Investment Thesis:

  • Engineering and Services Business sale process is underway – this removes one downside risk to the stock. 
  • Balance sheet remain in solid position and even with the latest provision the Company has headroom available and is within its banking covenants. However, gearing is expected to rise to ~20% as development ramps up to FY23. 
  • Robust development outlook with demand for both commercial and residential especially with strong level of apartment pre-sales. 
  • Outlook for new infrastructure projects to be tendered in Australia in the next 2 years remains attractive.
  • New management team will likely bring a fresh perspective and strategy. 
  • Proposed cost out program of $160m should be supported of earnings in a tough trading environment.
  • Valuation appears undemanding.

Key Risks:

  • Further provisions to the existing problem projects. 
  • New projects mispriced from a risk perspective. 
  • Cut to dividends. 
  • Sudden increases in interest rates. 
  • Increase in apartments default rate. 
  • Any delays or execution problems in development and construction that sees margin being affected. 
  • Any net outflows from its investment management business.

Key highlights:

  • LLC saw FY21 core operating profit after tax surge +83% over pcp to $377m leading to +230bps improvement in ROE to 5.4%
  • LLC completed preliminary findings from a wide-ranging business review commenced by the new CEO, announcing plans to strip out $160m in costs each year that will put it in a better position to respond to an upturn in the construction and development markets it is expecting in FY23.
  • Strong balance sheet with gearing of 5% well below 10-20% target range.
  • LLC is still targeting $8bn+ development production by FY24 at a ROIC of 10-13%.
  • Core segment EBITDA of $918m increased +27% over pcp, driven by Construction (up +71% over pcp) and Development (up +46% over pcp), partially offset by Investments (down -8% over pcp)
  • Core operating NPAT of $377m increased +83% over pcp and core operating EPS of 54.8cps (up +60% over pcp) due to higher number of weighted average securities following capital raising in FY20, leading to ROE of 5.4% (up +230bps over pcp)
  • The Board declared final distribution of 12cps, taking FY21 distributions to 27cps (vs no distribution in pcp) reflecting a pay-out ratio of 49%, within Board’s stated target range of 40-60% of core operating earnings
  • The results by segment are: 
  • Development segment delivered EBITDA of $469m, up +46% over pcp, primarily driven by two residential towers at One Sydney Harbour, Barangaroo (contributed $325m to EBITDA), forward sale of Melbourne Quarter Tower and a new JV partnership at Milan Innovation
  • Construction revenue of $6.4bn declined -16% over pcp, with activity still impacted by delays in the commencement of new projects and ongoing productivity impacts across sites
  • Investments segment recovered from the worst of the COVID impacts, with Asset management revenue increased +32% over pcp to $139m, driven by $1.3bn of redevelopment activity secured across the US residential portfolio

Company Description: 

Lend Lease Corporation (LLC) is a global property developer with three key segments in (1) Development: involves development of communities, inner city mixed use developments, apartments, retirement, retail, commercial assets and social infrastructure (with earnings derived from development margins, development management fees received from external co-investors and origination fees for infrastructure PPPs) (2) Construction: involves project management, design, and construction service, predominately in infrastructure, defence, mixed use, commercial and residential sectors (with earnings derived from project and construction management fees and construction margin); and (3) Investments: involves wholesale investment management platform, LLC’s interests in property and infrastructure co-investments, Retirement and US military housing (with earnings derived from funds management fees as well as capital growth and yield from co-investments and returns from LLC’s retirement portfolio and US military housing business). LLC operates predominately in Australia, but also in the UK and US and with a smaller contribution to earnings derived from the Asia Pacific.

(Source: Banyantree)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Funds Funds

Touchstone Flexible Income Fund Class Y: A flexible Income fund providing income as well as capital appreciation

Approach

The strategy’s primary hunting grounds include U.S. investment-grade and high-yield corporates, preferred stock, municipal bonds, and U.S. Treasuries. The strategy gains exposure to high-yielding corporate and municipal bonds via closedend funds–an uncommon tactic–which compose 5% to 15% of assets. Within these positions, the team focuses on the fund’s discount and quality of cash flow rather than its underlying holdings. Unlike most peers, the team doesn’t invest in emerging-markets debt, nor do they take on any currency risk. The strategy is benchmark-agnostic and flexible in its construction across asset classes and credit quality. It can invest up to 40% in junk-rated debt, which had peaked near 30% (including non-rated debt) up until September 2020. As of October 2021, the strategy’s non-investment grade exposure stands at 45%, owing to the increase in nonrated debt over the last year. The strategy tends to be concentrated; it is common to see individual positions between 2% and 4% each.

Portfolio

 The strategy continued to maintain a high allocation to preferred securities (34% of assets as of October 2021), followed by structured credit (32%, mostly in commercial mortgage-backed securities). The team modestly added shorter term Treasuries and maintained a nominal allocation to cash and cash equivalents towards the end of 2020 due to near zero interest rates. However, in the first quarter of 2021, the portfolio cut its 9% allocation to Treasuries to zero as the long-end of the curve sold off and no desirable returns were seen in the short-end. Post the first quarter of 2021, the portfolio’s exposure to treasuries, mostly short-dated, has increased drastically to 16% as of October 2021, owing to the flat credit curve and the credit spreads for riskier securities having tightened to pre-pandemic levels. The team has also reduced the exposure to corporate credits, both investment-grade (3.7%) and high yield (6.4%), given tight credit spreads. The portfolio’s exposure to nonrated debt has increased and stood at 30% as of October 2021, an increase of roughly 18 percentage points from last year. Most of this exposure comprises multifamily MBS originated by Freddie Mac, but still carry some risk.

Performance

 Institutional share class has shown middling performance within its nontraditional Morningstar Category peer group, returning 3.8% annualized. From November 2018 through November 2021, the strategy’s I share class has gained 6.5% annualized, outpacing more than 65% of its category peers, and beating its typical rival by 60 basis points. The team has made good use of its flexible mandate by tilting towards Treasuries and high-quality securitized credit heading into 2020 which helped ease some pain as the markets tumbled during the coronavirus-led self-off from Feb. 20 to March 23, 2020. However, the strategy’s 14.2% loss over that stretch was still in line with its peers. As markets recovered, the strategy gained a swift 25.3% from March 24, 2020, through to the end of the year, owing to the addition of battered corporate credits that rebounded later that year

(Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Funds Funds

Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Fund Investor Shares: A Solid Mid-Cap Growth offering with rock bottoms fees

Approach

Frontier’s approach is best described as growth-at-a-reasonable-price. The team, like Wellington, also invests with a multi-year time horizon, though the end portfolio is more diversified, owning 70 to 80 stocks, while sector bets have stayed within 10 percentage points of the index over the years. Rounding out the subadvisor group is RS, which employs a sector-neutral approach to build a 60-80-stock portfolio. While risk management efforts–such as a desired 2:1 upside/downside ratio for each stock and the use of technical indicators–have proven efficacious on RS’ small-cap offering, they have consistently failed to have the intended impact in the mid-cap arena.

Portfolio

Portfolio’s sector weightings hover fairly close to the Russell Midcap Growth Index’s. As of June 2021, the biggest overweighting was to consumer discretionary, with 19% of assets, more than the Russell Midcap Growth Index’s 16%. The Wellington team purchased hospitality firm Hilton Worldwide Holdings in 2021’s second quarter, believing its asset light business model, good management team, and strong growth prospects in Asia will serve the stock well going forward. Conversely, the end fund held modest underweights to industrials and information technology.

portfolio vanguard.png

People

This strategy’s three subadvisors are experienced, stable, and capable, driving a People rating upgrade to Above Average from Average. The group has been more successful in the small-cap space over the years, and the standalone RS Mid Cap Growth offering has struggled since its July 2008 inception. In October 2021, Vanguard slashed RS’ stake to 20% from 45%. Frontier also came on board in December 2018 and manages 40% of fund assets (down from 45%). While the January 2020 retirement of Stephen Knightly was a loss, a thoughtful transition to Chris Scarpa–who had been a comanager since 2010–and the grooming of longtime analyst Ravi Dabas as comanager mitigate concerns.

Performance

The current subadvisors have been in place here together since December 2018. Since then, through October 2021, the fund’s 28.5% annualized gain lagged the Russell Midcap Growth Index’s 31.1% return and 60% of its mid-cap growth. Frontier Mid Cap Growth–the strategy behind Frontier’s sleeve–gained 30.6% annualized gross-of-fees between December 2018 and October 2021, slightly lagging the index but placing in line with peers. While stock selection was strong in financials, it was poor in healthcare, and the underweighting to the solidperforming information technology sector also detracted. 

Wellington–via its Focused Mid Cap Growth strategy–has been the strongest-performing subadvisor but long had had the lowest allocation, though Vanguard raised its stake to 40% of fund assets from 10% in October 2021. Between December 2018 and October 2021, its 31.8% annualized gain gross-of-fees bested 57% of peers. The sleeve benefitted from solid picks in I.T., including DocuSign and Square.

performance vanguard.png

(Source: MorningStar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Shares Technology Stocks

ResMed witnesses strong revenue growth of 10%

Investment Thesis:

  • Global leader in a significantly under-penetrated sleep apnea market
  • High barriers to entry in establishing global distribution channels
  • Strong R&D program ensuring RMD remains ahead of competitors
  • Momentum in new masks releases
  • Bolt-on acquisitions to supplement organic growth 
  • Leveraged to a falling Australian dollar

Key Risks:

  • Disruptive technology leading to better patient compliance 
  • Product recall leading to reputational damage 
  • Competitive threats leading to market share loss
  • Disappointing growth (company and industry specific)
  • Adverse currency movements (AUD, EUR, USD)
  • RMD needs to grow to maintain its high PE trading multiple. Therefore, any impact on growth may put pressure on RMD’s valuation

Key highlights:

  • The net result was strong revenue growth of 10% for our ResMed business in the June quarter
  • In 4Q21, Revenue in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America (excluding Software as a Service), grew +18%, over the pcp, on demand for sleep devices and masks, including recovery of core sleep patient flow that was previously impacted by Covid-19 and increased demand following a recent product recall by one of RMD’s competitors, partially offset by lower Covid-19 related demand for RMD’s ventilators
  • Revenue in Europe, Asia, and other markets grew by 2% on a constant currency (CC) basis, on strong sales across RMD’s mask product portfolio, partially offset by weaker device sales due to the incremental Covid-19 respiratory care revenue in the pcp
  • Excluding the impact of the incremental respiratory care revenue associated with Covid19, revenue increased by 35% on a constant currency basis
  • Software as a Service revenue was +5% higher than the pcp, on continued growth in resupply service offerings and stabilising patient flow in out-of-hospital care settings

Company Description: 

ResMed Inc (RMD) develops, manufactures, and markets medical equipment for the treatment of sleep disordered breathing. The company sells diagnostic and treatment devices in various countries through its subsidiaries and independent distributors. RMD reports two main segments – Americas and Rest of the World (RoW) – with US its largest market. The company is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) via CDIs (10:1 ratio).

(Source: Banyantree)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.