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LICs LICs

Argo Global provides capital growth, dividend income and diversified portfolio to investors

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Being an LIC, it is a close-ended fund with liquidity as it is traded in the secondary market. The total market capitalization is $328.3m and dividend yield is 3.7%.

The Company provides access to a portfolio which is managed by Cohen & Steers; it is a well-regarded asset management firm with a stable, experienced and well-resourced investment team.

The downside of the LIC is that the company has traded primarily at a discount to pre-tax NTA since listing in July 2015. Their management fees are at the higher end in comparison to the listed peer group.

The opportunities offered by this LIC is that it helps investors to diversify their existing portfolio with an infrastructure as an asset class as the returns generated by it are less volatile than the equities market. Investments in infrastructure generally acts as an inflation-hedged income stream.

The portfolio is actively managed and typically hold 50-100 securities. At least 80% of the portfolio will be invested in global listed infrastructure securities, up to 20% can be invested in global infrastructure fixed income securities and up to 5% of the portfolio can be held in cash.

ALI seeks to provide investors a total return, consisting of capital growth and dividend income, from a diversified long-only portfolio of global listed infrastructure securities that outperforms the Benchmark (FTSE Global Core Infrastructure 50/50 Index, net total return, AUD) over the long-term.

About the company:

Argo Global Listed Infrastructure Limited is a Listed Investment Company (LIC) that listed on the ASX in July 2015. Argo Service Company Pty Ltd (ASCO), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Argo Investments Limited (ARG), is the Manager of the Company and has appointed Cohen & Steers as the Portfolio Manager. Cohen & Steers is a global investment manager in long-life assets, including infrastructure, real estate securities, natural resource companies, commodity futures and fixed-income securities.

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
ETFs ETFs

VanEck MSCI: A great quality-factor-focussed passive solution for world developed-markets equity

The benchmark is based on its parent index, the MSCI World ex Australia Index, which includes large and mid cap stocks across 22 developed countries. The top 300 ranked securities are chosen to constitute the quality index and cover around 30% to 40% total market capital as the portfolio tilts towards the large companies. No country or a sector constrains are implemented in the quality index, although a 5% limit is imposed for individual holdings.

Portfolio 

The ETF fully mirrors the composition of the MSCI World ex Australia Quality Hedged Index its large holding is Microsoft account for 5.4% of assets, which is effectively diversifies firm-specific risk. Information technology has been the largest sector exposure 38.9%, reflecting the dominance of tech stocks over the developed markets quality growth spectrum. Financial Exposure 4.7% is discernibly underweight compared with the MSCI World ex Australia Index. 

People

Chesler is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience across Sunstone partners, perpetual limited and liberty. Hannah joined VanEck investment in 2014 source ETF, where he was part of the investment management team. 

Performance 

QHAL has delivered superlative performance since its launch till August 2021. Its lack to exposure to small and mid-caps, paired with the quality growth orientation of the portfolio stemming from overweighting in information technology and healthcare, have been the drivers of outperformance since inception. However, currency hedging has been the prime contributor to robust performance as the AUD appreciated against the USD over the trailing two years till August 2021. Launched in early 2019, the ETF has outperformed the category index and category average rival by 4.8% and 6.6% till 31 July 2021, ranking in the in the first quintile of its category.

QHAL Performance History.png

About the Fund

QHAL gives investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of quality international companies from developed markets (ex Australia) with returns hedged into Australian dollars. QHAL aims to provide investment returns before fees and other costs which track the performance of the Index.

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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Funds Funds

Top pick within global listed property

of stocks within a range of real estate sectors across developed markets (North America, U.K, Europe, and Asia Pacific). The Fund’s objective is to exceed the total returns of the Benchmark (FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index (AUD) Net TRI) after fees on a rolling 3-year basis.

Approach

Resolution mixes top-down thematic and bottom-up fundamental research to arrive at a relatively

concentrated 40- to 60-stock portfolio with little resemblance to the benchmark. The first step filters the 450- plus stock universe down to a manageable size. Macroeconomic drivers play a part, based on the team’s company visitation schedule. Resolution also uses its proprietary screening database to filter out stocks with undesirable characteristics such as high debt/EBIT ratios and balance-sheet risk.

Portfolio

Resolution has managed global property since 2006, but this vehicle was founded in 2008 during the depths of the global financial crisis, when some low-quality REITs flirted with bankruptcy. Resolution didn’t avoid all the underperformers, but it did better than rivals at avoiding the worst offenders. Its focus on sustainability and corporate governance helped, as did the chosen UBS Global Investors Index, which focused more on rent collectors and less on risky development. Being brand new gave Resolution a clean slate, helping the team to buy quality REITs at bargain prices. The quality preference also keeps a lid on portfolio turnover, which oscillates between 30% and 55%–not as low as an index fund but lower than the average active strategy. However, Resolution has been willing to make occasional substantial portfolio shifts. In the first half of 2019, Resolution saw some industrial property such as Goodman as expensive and was underweight in this name, favouring industrial exposure through ProLogis and Segro. During the following 12 months (to 30 April 2021), Resolution preferred residential, data centre, and tower exposure, specifically in the US. The strategy managed AUD 14.4 billion as at 30 April 2021.

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
ETFs ETFs

The fund offers simple approach, portfolio, and low fee

but with some additional trade-offs of the listed structure, including brokerage costs and variable bid-ask spreads. The AsiaPacific investment strategy group and global asset-allocation committee are responsible for setting and reviewing the strategic asset allocation. The methodology starts by defining reasonable investment horizons for each portfolio and alloates to broad asset-class exposures such as equities and fixed interest based on the defensive/growth split. Then, subasset allocation within classes follows a market-cap-weighting approach, while allowing for behavioural biases and regulatory factors specific to each local market. The SAA determination is aided by the Vanguard Capital Markets Model, which forecasts asset-class returns through scenario analysis. An annual review may identify major structural shifts that can lead to a revised SAA, such as a change in the taxation of an asset class. Underlying sector exposures are realised through in-house index-tracking funds. Vanguard does not use tactical asset allocation and cites illiquidity, low transparency,

and cost as reasons for avoiding alternatives

Portfolio

Vanguard’s straightforward approach applies a strategic asset allocation that is updated periodically and broadly mirrors its equivalent unlisted fund range. Dynamic and tactical asset allocation are not used. Vanguard sticks to the traditional asset classes of equities, fixed interest, and cash, while avoiding alternatives and unlisted assets. The four diversified options are designed to suit different investor objectives and risk profiles. Vanguard Conservative has a defensive/growth split of 70/30, Balanced is 50/50, Growth is 30/70, and High Growth is 10/90. In-house index funds are relied on. Vanguard’s SAA, inclusive of both listed and unlisted vehicles, is strikingly similar to the Morningstar Category benchmarks. It hedges 30% of the international equities to keep the non-Australian-dollar exposure roughly steady. Since inception to June 2021, Vanguard’s multisector ETFs have on average traded with a bid-ask spread of 8-25 basis points, though it has elevated during bouts of volatility like most listed structures.

Performance

The Vanguard Diversified Index ETFs were launched in November 2017. Given the consistency in approach to the long-running unlisted iterations, we believe its extended track record is more informative. Vanguard’s inexpensive cost has been a key pillar in leading this strategy to strong medium-term return. Returns have historically closely mirrored the Morningstar Category benchmarks over time, typifying the limited opportunity to exceed the hurdle given the structural likeness between the two. In comparison to unlisted peers, all ETFs sit in the top quartile over a trailing three-year time period as at June 2021. Calendar-year results between 2018 and 2020 have been consistently in the first and second quartiles, surpassing the average manager in each year. Maintaining interest-rate duration has aided peer-relative performance, particularly in the more-defensive options. This structural stance also helped amid the crisis market environment in the first quarter of 2020. Albeit, the more-defensive ETFs lagged the category average over the last year to June 2021 because of its higher allocation to defensive assets relative to peers. Record-low interest rates globally suppressed returns from fixed-income securities over this period but favoured growth

assets, resulting in the more-growth oriented portfolios keeping pace with peers.

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

Facebook’s Network Effect Moat Source Remains Intact

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along with the valuable data that they generate, makes Facebook attractive to advertisers in the short and long term. The combination of these valuable assets and expected continuing growth in online advertising bodes well for Facebook, as the firm generates strong top-line growth and remains cash flow positive and profitable. Facebook has increased users and user engagement by providing additional features and apps to keep them engaged within the Facebook ecosystem. With more Facebook user interaction among friends and family members, sharing of videos and pictures, and the continuing expansion of the social graph, we believe the firm compiles more data, which Facebook and its advertising clients then use to launch online advertising campaigns targeting specific users. While utilization of the data is under scrutiny in different markets, we think Facebook’s large audience size will still attract the ad dollars. Growth in Facebook’s average ad revenue per user indicates advertisers’ willingness to pay more for Facebook-placed ads, as they expect high return on investment from the targeted ads.

We believe Facebook will continue to benefit from an increased allocation of marketing and advertising dollars toward online advertising, more specifically social network and video ads where Facebook is especially well positioned. The firm’s Facebook app, along with Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, is among the world’s most widely used apps on both Android and iPhone smartphones. Facebook is taking steps to further monetize its various apps, such as providing interactive video ads. It is also applying artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality technologies to various products, which may increase Facebook user engagement even further, helping to further generate attractive revenue growth from advertisers in the future.

We assign Facebook a wide moat rating based on network effects around its massive user base and intangible assets consisting of a vast collection of data that users have shared on its various sites and apps. Given its ability to profitably monetize its network via advertising, we think Facebook will more likely than not generate excess returns on capital over the next 20 years.

Financial Strength

 In an industry where continuing investments are required to remain competitive and maintain market leadership, we believe Facebook is well positioned in terms of access to capital. The firm has a very strong balance sheet with $62 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities and no debt.The firm generated $39 billion cash from operations in 2020, 7% higher than the prior year. We expect faster growth in cash flow during the next five years owing to operating leverage after 2022. Facebook’s strong operational and financial health is demonstrated by the 28% average free cash flow to equity/revenue during the past three years. We project average annual FCFE/sales to be in the 35%-40% range through 2025, as a result of strong top-line growth and slight operating margin expansion beginning in 2022. We do not expect Facebook to issue a dividend as it remains in a rapid-growth phase. The firm may use some portion of its cash, as it remains active on the merger and acquisition front.

Bull Says

  • With more users and usage time than any other social network, Facebook provides the largest audience and the most valuable data for social network online advertising. 
  • Facebook’s ad revenue per user is growing, demonstrating the value that advertisers see in working with the firm. 
  • The application of AI technology to Facebook’s various offerings, along with the launch of VR products, will increase user engagement, driving further growth in advertising revenue.

Company Profile

Facebook is the world’s largest online social network, with 2.5 billion monthly active users. Users engage with each other in different ways, exchanging messages and sharing news events, photos, and videos. On the video side, the firm is in the process of building a library of premium content and monetizing it via ads or subscription revenue. Facebook refers to this as Facebook Watch. The firm’s ecosystem consists mainly of the Facebook app, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and many features surrounding these products. Users can access Facebook on mobile devices and desktops. Advertising revenue represents more than 90% of the firm’s total revenue, with 50% coming from the U.S. and Canada and 25% from Europe. With gross margins above 80%, Facebook operates at a 30%-plus margin.

 (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
LICs LICs

PGF Dividend Uplift Offers Attractive Yield

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Last trade price of PM Capital is A$ 1.49. Their Outstanding shares is 390.11 Million. PGF’s provides Public Float which is 279.25 Million. PM Capital Global Earnings Per Share (EPS) is $0.415 while the Price Earning ratio is 3.59 percent. 

Currently, PM Capital’s Annual Yield is 5.03 percent while their Annual revenue TTM is $218.56 Million.

On 24th September 2021, Net Tangible Asset backing per ordinary share before tax accruals is $1.63 while NTA after tax is $1.47. Gross Dividend yield per annum is 9.6 percent.  

The Company also announced that due to its strong profits reserve position, it intends to maintain a minimum dividend of 5.0cps for both the interim and final dividend for FY22, representing a full year FY22 dividend of at least 10cps. As at 30 June 2021, the Company has 5 years dividend coverage at 10cps.

On 12 August 2021, PM Capital Global Opportunities Fund ((PGF)) announced a final dividend for FY21 of 5.0cps, fully franked, a 100% increase on the FY20 final dividend.

The increased dividend announcement represents a significant uplift in yield. Based on the share price at the close of 19 August 2021, the full year dividend declared for FY21 represented a dividend yield of 4.8%. The forecast FY22 dividend would represent a yield of 6.4%, fully franked, which is strong for a global equity focused LIC.

Company Profile 

PM Capital Global Opportunities Fund Ltd. engages in investing in a portfolio of listed securities across global securities markets. Its investment objective is to increase the value of its portfolio by providing long term capital growth. The company was founded on October 1, 2013 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

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

Baby Bunting FY21 results show group revenue surged by 15.6%

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Investment Thesis

  • Mandatory product safety standards for baby goods in Australia limit supply sources and provide barriers to entry to international competitors.
  • BBN has the largest presence in Australia amongst specialty baby goods retailers.
  • Low risk that online sales threaten high service business model of brick-and- mortar stores to showcase goods and in-store advice.
  • Solid growth story via new store openings (targeting 100+ stores network).
  • Strong market shares (currently sits at 30% in a highly fragmented market).

Key Risks

  • Retail environment and general economic conditions in addressable markets may deteriorate.
  • Competition may intensify especially from online retailers such as Amazon, specialty retailers, department stores, and discounted department stores.
  • Customer buying habits/trends may change. Rapid changes in customer buying habits and preferences may make it difficult for the Company to keep up with and respond to customer demands.
  • Higher operating and occupancy costs. Any increase in operating costs especially labour costs will affect the Company’s profitability.
  • Poor inventory control and product sourcing may be disrupted.
  • Management performance risks such as poor execution of store rollout especially into ex-metro areas.

FY21 Results Highlights 

  • Sales of $468.4m were up +15.6%, with same-store comparable sales up +11.3%. Online sales grew by +54.2% and now make up 19.4% of total sales (vs 14.5% in pcp).
  • Gross profit of $173.7m was up +18.3% on pcp, with GP margin up +83bps to 37.1%. Cost of doing business (CODB) as a percentage of sales improved 14bps to 27.8%, aided by store expense leverage and warehouse volume leverage (cost fractionalization).
  • Operating earnings (EBITDA) were up +29.2% to $43.5m (with EBITDA margin up +100bps to 9.3%) and NPAT was up +34.8% to $26.0m.
  • Operating cash flow was weaker versus previous corresponding period (pcp), driven by higher working capital – driven by an increase in inventories and also cycling particularly low levels in the pcp.
  • The Company declared a final dividend of 8.3cps, taking the full year dividend to 14.1cps (up +34.1% on pcp). The Board continues to target a payout ratio in the range of 70-100% pro forma NPAT.
  • Private label sales were up +31.1% vs pcp and now make up 41.4% of group sales (vs 36.5% in FY20). The Company remains on target to achieve 50% of sales from private sales.

Company Profile 

Baby Bunting Group Limited (BBN) is Australia’s largest nursery retailer and one-stop-baby shop with 42 stores across Australia. The company is aspecialist retailer catering to parents with children from newborn to 3 years of age. Products include Prams, Car Seats, Carriers, Furniture, Nursery, Safety, Babywear, Manchester, Changing, Toys, Feedingand others.

(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
Shares Technology Stocks

Netflix faces increase in competition in the U.S and around the world

Netflix has morphed into a pioneer in subscription video on demand and the largest online video provider in the U.S. and likely the world. Our economic moat rating of narrow is based on intangibles resulting from the use of Big Data stemming from the firm’s massive worldwide subscriber base. Already the largest provider in the U.S., Netflix expanded rapidly into markets abroad as the service now has more subscribers outside of the U.S. than inside. 

The firm has used its scale to construct a massive data set that tracks every customer interaction. It then leverages this customer data to better purchase content as well as finance and produce original material such as “Stranger Things.” Media firms will continue to reap the benefits of both an additional window for existing content and another platform for new content. Larger firms like Disney+ and WarnerMedia have launched their own SVOD platforms to compete against Netflix. 

Financial Strength 

Netflix’s financial health is poor due to its weak free cash flow generation, large number of content investments that require outside funding (primarily debt), and content obligations. Debt has been taken on to fund additional content investments and international expansion. The net cash burn was over $2 billion in 2017, over $3 billion in 2018, and $3.5 billion in 2019. As of June 2021, Netflix has $14.9 billion in senior unsecured notes that do not have borrowing restrictions, but a relatively small amount due in the near term ($500 million due 2021, $700 million due 2022, $400 million due 2024, and $800 million due 2025), as the firm generally issues debt with a 10-year maturity. Netflix also has a material quantity of noncurrent content liabilities ($2.7 billion recognized on the balance sheet and over $15 billion not yet reflected on the balance sheet).

Bulls Say’s 

  • Netflix’s internal recommendation software and large subscriber base give the company an edge when deciding which content to acquire in future years.
  • Netflix has built a substantial content library that will benefit the firm over the long term.
  • International expansion offers attractive markets for adding subscribers.

Company Profile 

Netflix’s primary business is a streaming video on demand service now available in almost every country worldwide except China. Netflix delivers original and third-party digital video content to PCs, Internet-connected TVs, and consumer electronic devices, including tablets, video game consoles, Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast. In 2011, Netflix introduced DVD-only plans and separated the combined streaming and DVD plans, making it necessary for subscribers who want both to have separate plans.

(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
Fixed Income Fixed Income

Fidelity Government Income Fund: An appealing Government-focused offering

A blended benchmark of the Bloomberg U.S Government Bond Index (75% weighting) and the Bloomberg U.S Mortgage Backed Securities Index (25%), sticks primarily to government-backed fare (Outside of an occasional in the student loan-backed debt that carries a federal guarantee for atleast 97% of principal and interest) and doesn’t make big interest-rate bets. It plays to its strength in the mortgage portion of the portfolio, which typically accounts for 40% to 60% of assets, drawing on significant investments in proprietary analytics to identify mortgages with more attractive cash flow projections than their prices suggest. As of June 2021, the strategy’s market exposure stood roughly 107% of net assets.

Portfolio

The high-quality, government-focused portfolio tends to hold an overweighting in mortgages relative to its blended benchmark (75% Bloomberg U.S Government Bond Index and 25% Bloomberg U.S Mortgage backed Securities Index), with the team actively adjusting this mix based on valuations. Meanwhile, its allocation to U.S Treasuries accounted for 67% of assets in June 2021, up from 50% at the beginning of 2020. Here, the team favors 30-year fixed rate mortgage with repayment-resistant characteristics. The team has found agency collateralized mortgage obligations to be less attractive recently, trimming its stake to 9% of assets as of June 2021 from 14% at the start of 2020. These securities can be volatile and suffer from bouts of illiquidity, although they typically account for 3% or less of the portfolio and stood at less than 1% as of June 2021.

People

This strategy benefits from experienced leadership and a well-resourced securitized team, supporting a people pillar rating of above average. Sean Corcoran was named as a comanger when lrving left the team. Corcoran, a 19 – year fidelity veteran, previously analyzed commercial MBS and other non-agency fare as an analyst. Corcoran and castagliuolo draw on considerable resources, including eight dedicated structured-products analysts and five macro analysts. Five traders across agency, non-agency and rates markets support the team. In mid-2020, the team hired John Torregrossa, an experienced agency MBS trader with over 15 years experience, to replace veteran trader Steve Langan, who retired in late 2020.

Performance 

Well time adjustments have aided recent performance. In 2019, an increase in its Treasuries allocation helped it to a 6.5% return which bested 75% of category peers. In 2020, the team increased its exposure to mortgages amid the first quarter sell-off, helping the strategy to a 6.9% return, which bested over two thirds of peers.

FGOVX Performance.png

About the Fund

Fidelity Government Income Benefits from a well-resourced team and risk-conscious approach backed by the firms’s deep mortgage analytics. Fidelity’s significant investment in analytics, including a proprietary mortgage model that allows the team to quickly model changes in assumptions regarding borrower repayment behavior to identify mispricings in the mortgage market. 

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.