Category: Research

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Funds Funds

Pendal Sustainable Conservative Fund: An effective asset allocated fund with ESG overlay

It is noted that the investors would be comfortable as the ESG considerations mirror with those of the Manager’s approach- the strategy does not invest in tobacco or weapons manufacturing as well as the Fund has negative screens (alcohol, gaming, pornography) with activities materiality caveat. The fund utilises internal as well as external fund managers in order to make effective decisions while allocating its assets. The fund size is $345m.            

Downside Risks:

  • ESG breaches by investments in the portfolio.
  • Underlying managers fail to deliver performance or breach mandates.  
  • Personnel change – turnover in the team or portfolio managers. 
  • Broader market risk.

Fund Performance & Current Positioning:

(%)FundBenchmarkOut-performance
1-month 1.07%0.74%+0.33%
3-months 3.62%3.09%+0.53%
6-months8.17%5.89%+2.28%
1-year 9.46%7.40%+2.06%
3-year (p.a.)4.82%5.28%-0.46%
5-year (p.a.)4.10%4.76%-0.66%
Since Inception (p.a.)+7.15%+3.86%+3.29%

(Source: Pendal; Past performance is not an indicator of future performance)

Fund Positioning:

 % of Portfolio
Australian shares9.0%
International shares13.0%
Australian fixed interest17.2%
International fixed interest16.2%
Australian property securities3.4%
International property securities 3.1%
Alternative investments15.9%

(Source: Pendal)

Key Highlights:

  • Investment Team:

The Pendal Multi-Asset team is headed by the very experienced Michael Blayney. The team is made up of 4 members- 3 Portfolio Managers and 1 Analyst. The team is also supported by Edwina Matthews who is Pendal’s Head of Responsible Investments.

  • Investment Philosophy and Process:

The Fund’s core belief is that markets are inefficient, and that active management can improve risk and return. The process basically consists of three approaches namely; Strategic Asset Allocation Approach (SAA), Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration and construction of benchmark using neutral’s asset allocation position and index returns.

About the Fund:

The Fund is an actively managed multi-asset portfolio across a range of asset classes and incorporates a range of sustainable, ethical and financial considerations. The strategy aims to provide real return over inflation over the medium term. The strategy’s neutral target asset allocation is 75% defensive assets and 25% growth assets, which is suitable for ESG focused conservative investors.

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

Janus Henderson Australian Fixed Interest Fund: A solid core fixed interest offering

over rolling three-year periods. The fund invests in a range of securities including government, semi-government, corporate and asset backed securities.              

Downside Risks:

  • Investment strategy selection fails to yield alpha.
  • Lead PM departs or significant turnover in the broader investment team. 
  • Credit / interest rates risk.  

Fund Performance & Current Positioning:

(%)FundBenchmarkOut-performance
1-mths0.05%0.09%-0.09%
3-mths2.78%2.55%+0.23%
6-mths4.77%4.23%+0.54%
1-year (p.a.)1.92%1.05%+0.89%
3-year (p.a.)4.90%4.52%+0.38%
5-year (p.a.)3.62%3.33%+0.29%
Inception6.74%6.51%+0.23%

(Source: Janus Henderson)

Sector Allocation:

(Source: Janus Henderson)

Key Highlights:

  • Investment Team:

The Janus Henderson Australian fixed interest team, headed by Jay Sivapalan, is highly experienced and well resourced. The investment team consists of highly qualified people having adequate work experience in investment, portfolio management and credit analysis.

  • Investment Philosophy and Process:

The investment philosophy of this fund focuses on investing in compelling opportunities, diversified strategies, capital preservation and strategic view. The Fund’s investment and portfolio construction process consists of Fundamental Research, Strategy Formulation and Portfolio Construction. 

  • Credit Process:

ESG is integrated into the credit process. Since the manager believes in ‘quality before price’ philosophy, ESG considerations are fundamental to their four-pillar bottom-up credit analysis, which are: business risk, financial risk, management profile and ESG risk.

About the Company:

Janus Henderson is a global asset manager with more than 340 investment professionals and expertise across all major asset classes. Its individual, intermediary and institutional clients span the globe and entrust it with more than $500bn of their assets. Janus Henderson’s commitment to active management offers clients the opportunity to outperform passive strategies over the course of market cycles. Through times of both market calm and growing uncertainty, its managers apply their experience weighing risk versus reward potential – seeking to ensure clients are on the right side of change.

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
LICs LICs

Sandon Capital Declares Special Dividend and Further Aligns Interest with Shareholders

Market Capitalisation of Sandon Capital Investments Limited $111.99 Million. Their last trade was 1.01 on 22nd September 2021.

Net profit is 37.3 Million. Their Annual Revenue is 56.5 Million. 

Sandon Capital Investments Limited (SCN) has declared a fully franked special dividend of 1cps in addition to the full franked FY21 final dividend of 2.75cps. 

The Board anticipates paying an interim FY22 dividend of 2.75cps, fully franked, subject to the Company having sufficient profit reserves, franking credits and it is within prudent business practices. 

This would represent a 10% increase on the FY21 interim dividend. SNC currently has 32.1cps in profits reserves and more than 9cps in franking credits.

In addition to this, the Manager announced that from FY22 onwards, the Manager intends to invest at least 50% of the after-tax proceeds of performance fees earned from SNC in SNC shares. 

Shares will be purchased on-market and will be acquired after the payment of the relevant performance fee where SNC’s share price is trading at a discount to its after-tax NTA. 

The Manager and entities associated with its directors and shareholders currently have in excess of $7.3m invested in funds managed by Sandon Capital Pty Ltd, including 2.1m SNC shares.

Company Profile 

Sandon Capital Investments Limited is an investment company. The Company is engaged in investing activities, including tangible assets, marketable securities or cash. The Company will seek to invest in securities, which Sandon Capital Pty Ltd (the Manager) considers to be under-valued and where the Manager considers there to be opportunity to encourage changes to unlock what the Manager has identified as intrinsic value. The Manager may also invest, from time to time, in market-based investment opportunities, such as placements, merger arbitrage and other investments it considers appropriate. Sandon Capital Pty Ltd is the investment manager of the Company.

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

IPO debut of SSH Group fetches 30% gain on listing

The issue was open for retail investors from 30th July, 2021 to 27th August 2021. GTT Ventures and Taurus Capital Group were appointed as lead managers. 

The company also offered 20,500,000 shares as Vendor offer, 3,250,000 shares as convertible note share offer, 7,000,000 shares as option offer to advisers and 10,000,000 shares as option offer to executives. 

The proceeds of the funds are said to be used mainly for purchasing capital equipment for site services, paying out short-term debts and for offers and acquisition.

SSH shares were listed on ASX on 17th September, 2021 and delivered a decent listing gains of 30% by opening at AU$0.265. The demand on first day led the stock to surge to a high of AU$0.295, garnering a volume of over 5.82 million. The market capitalization of SSH Group comes to be at AU$ 14.36 million and the enterprise value is AU$ 10,106,977. 

SSH Group has identified myriad opportunities for future growth and expansion of the divisions in Western Australia. It estimates that there is over $39.3 billion of market revenue that is not serviced by major players in the operating industries. It currently possesses total clients beyond 100.

About the company:

The company provides a range of safety and people services, including security, labour hire, and road safety services, to the construction, mining, civil and government market sectors in Western Australia. It was founded in Australia and headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. Currently it has the workforce of 700 plus people. The main purpose of the SSH Group is to improve outcomes for Australian projects and communities.

 (Source: asx.com.au, sshgroup.com.au)

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

IPO debut of SSH Group fetches 30% gain on listing

The issue was open for retail investors from 30th July, 2021 to 27th August 2021. GTT Ventures and Taurus Capital Group were appointed as lead managers. 

The company also offered 20,500,000 shares as Vendor offer, 3,250,000 shares as convertible note share offer, 7,000,000 shares as option offer to advisers and 10,000,000 shares as option offer to executives. 

The proceeds of the funds are said to be used mainly for purchasing capital equipment for site services, paying out short-term debts and for offers and acquisition.

SSH shares were listed on ASX on 17th September, 2021 and delivered a decent listing gains of 30% by opening at AU$0.265. The demand on first day led the stock to surge to a high of AU$0.295, garnering a volume of over 5.82 million. The market capitalization of SSH Group comes to be at AU$ 14.36 million and the enterprise value is AU$ 10,106,977. 

SSH Group has identified myriad opportunities for future growth and expansion of the divisions in Western Australia. It estimates that there is over $39.3 billion of market revenue that is not serviced by major players in the operating industries. It currently possesses total clients beyond 100.

About the company:

The company provides a range of safety and people services, including security, labour hire, and road safety services, to the construction, mining, civil and government market sectors in Western Australia. It was founded in Australia and headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. Currently it has the workforce of 700 plus people. The main purpose of the SSH Group is to improve outcomes for Australian projects and communities.

 (Source: asx.com.au, sshgroup.com.au)

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

During equity market sell-offs, Man AHL Alpha provided downside protection

 The strategy’s research program is driven by teams from other asset classes or themes (Specialist Strategies, Portfolio Management, Equities, Fast Strategies and Core Strategies) who are responsible for their respective models (existing and new models). The portfolio managers of the AHL Alpha Program are Matthew Sargaison, Co-CEO of Man AHL and Russell Korgaonkar, CIO of Man AHL.  

Investment Process 

The Strategy invests in approximately 500 international markets across a range of sectors, utilizing instruments such as securities, futures, options, forward contracts, swaps, CFDs and other financial derivatives. The Strategy can also gain exposure to sectors via stocks, debt, bonds, currencies, short-term interest rates, energies, metals, credit and agriculture.

Historical low correlation to traditional assets classes such as equities and bonds

Given the focus on Diversification, capital is allocated using a quantitative and systematic methodology to maximise diversification and avoid investment style bais. This aims to deliver low correlation to traditional assets such as equities and bonds.

Solid Performance 

Historically, the fund has delivered strong returns in equity market selloffs, albeit past performance is not an indicator of future performance, it is an indicator that the strategy has performed in the past. The fund delivered significant downside protection during market sell-offs – Covid – 19 market selloffs +5.8 per cent v/s S&P 500 Index -19.6 per cent v/s MSCI World -19.6 percent, fourth quarter in 2018 selloff +3 percent v/s S&P 500 Index -13.5 percent v/s MSCI World -12.9 percent, Eurpean debt crisis +5.3 percent v/s S&P 500 -13.8 percent v/s MSCI World -15.4 percent and GFC +25 percent v/s S&P 500 Index -49.2 percent v/s MSCI World -49.3 percent.

Downside Risks

  • Significant turnover in the Broader Investment team.
  • Investment strategy (trading systems) fails to yield alpha.
  • Uses of derivatives and leverage adds additional risks and complexity.

Investment Approach 

Fund Performance

Figure 1: Fund performance (as ofAug-21)–strategy has an absolute return target

(%)Fund (net)
1-mths+0.0%
Year-to-date (YTD)+6.5%
1-year+10.4%
3-year (p.a.)+7.3%
5-year (p.a.)+4.3%
Inception (p.a.)+5.2%
Annualised volatility 8.8%

Source: Man Group

About the Fund

The fund employs a systematic, statistically based investment strategy to exploit technical or price driven signals across a diverse range of global markets. The main strategy used in trend following i.e price trends (up or down) repeatable pattern ~ 500 international markets the fund can access. The portfolio invests in instruments such as Securities, Futures, Options, Forward contracts, Swaps, CFD and other derivatives, the strategy has an absolute return focus with target volatility of 10% p.a.

Company Profile 

Man group is a global investment manager offering investors a diverse range of specialist active strategies and manages over US$135 billion globally. The company has headquarters in London but a globally network of offices. The company employs an extensive team of scientists, technologies and financial professionals.

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
Fixed Income Fixed Income

Janus Henderson Tactical Income Fund: An absolute return fund aiming to outperform benchmark

Two young women talking together with a tablet in the living room. They sit spaced apart to prevent the virus.

that makes tactical asset allocation decisions between cash, duration, and higher yielding investments to produce returns in both rising and sliding bond yield environments.. The strategy aims to outperform the Benchmark in terms of net total return over rolling three-year periods by investing primarily in Australian fixed income securities.

Investment Philosophy + Process:

The Manager believes that taking a flexible approach to asset allocation allows the team to better manage fixed interest exposure and enhance returns depending on market.

The Fund’s investment and portfolio construction process consists of:

Stage 1: Strategy Formulation: The team ranks the active duration and credit positions of their core Australian Fixed Interest Income strategy. 

Stage 2: Risk Calibration: Determine asset allocation using the ranking. 

Stage 3: Implementation: Invest in range of cash, fixed interest and higher yielding securities, based on investments decisions from the following:

  • Interest rates: (holding longer duration securities versus shorter-dated paper).
  • Sectors:  (government securities versus non-government given the risk premium).
  • Securities: (given the underlying risk/reward, select appropriate non-government securities). 

Portfolio Characteristics:

Portfolio Characteristics                              Details
Benchmark50% Bloomberg Composite 0 + 50% Bloomberg Bank Bill
Alpa target p.a.n.m (pree –fees)1.0%
Minimum suggested time frame3 years
Alpha source30% Rates + 30% Sector / Security selection + 40% Asset Allocation
Minimum weighted average credit qualityBBB

(Source: Janus Henderson)

Investment team:

The Janus Henderson Australian fixed interest team, headed by Jay Sivapalan, is highly experienced and well resourced. 

The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are factored into the credit decision-making process. The Manager adheres to the “quality before price” attitude, and hence considers ESG factors to be critical in their four-pillar bottom-up credit analysis. The four pillars are as follows:

  • Competitive Advantage and Industry Dynamics 
  • Financial Risk 
  • Management Profile 
  • ESG Risk

Asset and sector allocation:

C:\Users\Akhila\Downloads\TODAY 2.png

(Source: Janus Henders)

 Fund Performance(as of august2021:net) and current positioning:

PercentageFundBenchmarkOutperformance
1-month-0.09%0.05%-0.14%
3-month0.15%1.28%-1.13%
6-month0.74%2.11%-1.37%
1-year1.28%0.56%+0.72%
3-year (p.a.)2.60%2.68%-0.08%
5-year (p.a.)2.60%2.28%+0.32%
Inception4.72%3.93%+0.79%


(Source: Janus Henderson)

Credit Process:

C:\Users\Akhila\Downloads\credit process.png

(Source: Janus Henderson)

Downside Risks:

  • Investment strategy selection fails to yield alpha.
  • Lead PM departsor significant turnover in the broader investment team
  • Manager fails to make the right duration (short or long) call over an extended period of time. 
  • Credit and interest rate risk

Company Profile:

Janus Henderson is a worldwide asset management company with over 340 investment experts who specialise in all major asset types. Its individual, intermediary, and institutional clients come from all over the world and entrust it with over $500 billion in assets. Over the course of market cycles, Janus Henderson’s commitment to active management allows customers to outperform passive strategies. Its managers use their skills to analyse risk vs reward potential in times of both market calm and growing uncertainty, ensuring customers are on the right side of change.

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

The Fund provides investors an opportunity to diversify and distil grow

the portion of return attributed to the S&P/ASX 20 Leaders Index, by 4% p.a. after fees on a rolling 3-year basis. The Fund invests primarily in Australian shares with high quality business models, strong growth, and underestimated earnings momentum and prospects.

Portfolio 

This strategy looks very different from the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index. First, it has traditionally held a significant stake in midsize and larger companies excluding the top 20.Bennelong believes it can capitalise on mispricing through superior fundamental research. The pronounced growth leaning also contributes to this vehicle’s differentiated look. It has traditionally led to an (unsurprising) aversion to the property trust, consumer staples, and utilities sectors. That said, A-REITs have featured on occasion, such as in mid-2019. Consumer discretionary, technology, and healthcare stocks are typically favoured, the attraction being both cyclical and structural growth. This is usually the source of the portfolio appearing expensive relative to the benchmark and peers. The search for growth can lead to mistakes; in such events, liquidity in small-cap names can reduce nimbleness for this strategy given its large asset base. The team is not averse to altering large positions quickly when its view on earnings growth changes. For instance, in early 2021, Bennelong cut the 10% allocation in Afterpay when business execution disappointed and competition increased. This fund is best used in a supporting player role. The firm manages around AUD 8.8 billion, including AUD 4.6 billion in this strategy as of 30 April 2021.

Performance 

The long-term performance at Bennelong is strong. Given the strategy excludes the 20 largest Australian companies, the portfolio has a larger-cap feel than more-dedicated small-cap offerings. As a result, performance comparisons against its equity Australia mid/small-growth Morningstar Category peers should be undertaken cautiously. Bennelong outdid the index and most peers during 2015 and the first half of 2016 thanks to such positions as Domino’s and Aristocrat Leisure. The second half of 2016 was a stumble for Bennelong (and many peers), as resources and value stocks outperformed. The following two years saw it ride the highs of stocks like Treasury Wine Estates, Costa Group, and BWX only to abruptly see their share prices plummet contributing to middling years of performance. Mark East cut the first two names but held BWX as better fundamentals were expected. More recently, 2019 delivered average returns, as Corporate Travel Management detracted while Goodman Group added significant value as investors supported its industrial real estate exposure. However, longtime holdings in James Hardie, IDP Education, and Domino’s delivered in spades in 2020 as the market sought quality growth companies and the fund blazed past both the index and peers. Together with Fisher & Paykel healthcare, Bennelong has continued its outstanding run into the first half of 2021.

Source: Mornigstar

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
Fixed Income Fixed Income

Fund provides a solid offering to those clients seeking to manage their Fixed Interest

ESG screens and bottom-up fundamental analysis. The ESG philosophy is based on the view that sustainability and/or ethical screens improve the quality and robustness of the portfolio. This is because companies scoring high on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) dimensions will likely have lower systematic risks and regulatory risks from adverse ESG events. The Fund aims to exceed the benchmark returns (before fees and expenses) by 0.75% p.a. over rolling 3-year.      

Opinion

  • Well respected Fixed Interest team and experienced Portfolio Managers. The Pendal Income and Fixed Interest team is well resourced and led by the well-respected Vimal Gor, who is Head of Income and Fixed Interest at Pendal. The strategy is managed by Portfolio Manager George Bishay and Co-PM Timothy Hext, both with extensive experience in fixed interest markets. In terms of sustainable philosophy and screening processes, Edwina Matthew (Head of Responsible Investments) assists the team.
  • Access to inhouse equity research team adds competitive advantage to bottom-up fundamental research on issuers. Bottom fundamental research on issuers and financial modelling to identify investment opportunities and avoiding deteriorating credits. Access to the Pendal Australian Equities team and CreditSights, a third-party global research house, are important components in the process
  • Economic + Market + Technical models. The Manager feels their competitive edge comes from focusing on economic quant models, market quant models and technical models within a global context which help determine future direction of markets. These factors working in tandem and then the overlay ESG screens leads, in the manager’s view, a far superior portfolio composition   

Investment Philosophy 

Philosophy. The Fund’s core belief is that markets are inefficient, and that active management can improve risk and return. The ESG philosophy is based on the view that sustainability and/or ethical screens improve the quality and robustness of the portfolio. This is because companies scoring high on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) dimensions will likely have lower systematic risks and regulatory risks from adverse ESG events.

Portfolio Construction

The portfolio construction process is driven by the output from the macro input stage (top-down view on duration and yield curve), credit spreads and sector allocations (government vs credit, sector over/under weights within credit (defensive versus cyclical sectors). The portfolio construction process also gives considerations for correlation with existing securities, issuer/sector diversification, concentration, position sizing, liquidity, hedging, tracking error, and valuation.

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
Global stocks Shares

Invocare solid 1H21 results reflect profits of $44m, a turnaround from -$18m loss

Investment Thesis 

We rate IVC as a Neutral for the following reasons:

  • Trades in-line with our blended valuation (DCF / PE-multiple). IVC is currently trading on a 12-mth blended forward PE-multiple of 36.4x and 1.7% dividend yield. 
  • IVC continues to be impacted by Covid-19 and associated lockdown/containment measures.
  • Potential for increased death rates.
  • Continued cost control from strategic review and operational efficiency.
  • IVC benefits from demographics and long-term population growth.
  • IVC holds leading market positions in its core markets.
  • IVC has strong cash flow conversion and generation.
  • High barrier to entry with quality assets and business model that is difficult to replicate.  
  • Increased competition from budget operators in Australia.

Key Risks

We see the following key risks to our investment thesis:

  • Continued reduction in death rate compared to expectations/forecasted trend.
  • Increased competition especially around pricing.
  • Protect and Grow 2020 does not yield incremental returns as anticipated.
  • Underperformance of funds under management.

1H21 Results Highlights 

Relative to the pcp: 

  • Statutory Revenue of $260.9m, up +13%. 
  • Operating Revenue of $257.3m, up +13%. 
  • Operating EBITDA of $63.6m, was up +31% with IVC returning to positive operating leverage. 
  • Operating EBIT of $39.4m, was up +46%. 
  • Reported Profit After Tax of $44m, compared to a Reported Loss After Tax of $18m in the pcp. Operating EPS of 14.4cps, was up +57%. 
  • IVC retained a strong balance sheet with cash of $131.2m and net debt of $124.7m. Capital management metrics improved with leverage ratio of 1.1x, strong cashflow conversion of 102% and ROCE of 10.4%, up 1.8 points on FY20.
  • The Board declared an interim fully franked dividend of 9.5cps, up 73% over the pcp and equates to a dividend payout ratio of 66%, within IVC’s preferred dividend payout range.

Company Description  

InvoCare Ltd (IVC) is the largest private funeral, cemetery and cremation operator in the Asia Pacific Region. It has leading market positions in countries like Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

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.