ASSET ALLOCATION – AUSTRALIA

Risks making volatility an asset

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Original article by Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 30 : 27-Jul-18

The prices of asset classes such as equities, bonds, commodities and real estate have risen sharply as global interest rates begin to rise from historic lows. Triple3 Partners’ chief investment officer Simon Ho says now is a good time to invest in volatility, which has been recognised as an asset class for more than a decade. Triple’s portfolio includes about $70 million worth of volatility strategies.

CORPORATES
TRIPLE THREE PARTNERS PTY LTD, TRIBECA INVESTMENT PARTNERS PTY LTD

Aussie stocks still have room to grow: BlackRock

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 27 : 26-Jul-18

The BlackRock Concentrated Industrial Share Fund posted a return of 24.45 per cent net of fees in 2017-18, and its annual return has average 19 per cent since it was founded in December 2015. The fund’s biggest holdings include Wesfarmers, Qantas and Boral, while its focus is on mid-capitalisation industrial stocks. Charlie Lanchester of BlackRock is upbeat about the outlook for Australian industrial stocks.

CORPORATES
BLACKROCK INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BLACKROCK CONCENTRATED INDUSTRIAL SHARE FUND, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, ARISTOCRAT LEISURE LIMITED – ASX ALL, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, PRAEMIUM LIMITED – ASX PPS, KOGAN.COM LIMITED – ASX KGN, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD

Pure play coal just doesn’t make the cut for UniSuper

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 5-Jul-18

UniSuper’s Talieh Williams says the superannuation fund takes into account a range of factors when deciding whether to invest in a stock. UniSuper has relatively little exposure to the coal sector, and pure-play coal miners in particular, which she attributes to the super fund’s rigorous investment processes. Meanwhile, QSuper says it invests across the S&P/ASX 200 Index and therefore does have exposure to pure-play coal producers. Yancoal Australia recently blamed fund managers’ lack of interest in a capital raising for its proposal for a dual listing in Hong Kong.

CORPORATES
YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, UNISUPER LIMITED, QSUPER LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, HEALTH EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION TRUST AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, CLIMATE ACTION 100+, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ADELAIDE BRIGHTON LIMITED – ASX ABC, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Banks to remain a drag on bourse, says brokers

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 30 : 8-Jun-18

Shares in Australian banks could come under further downward pressure in coming weeks as a result of tax-loss selling before the end of the financial year. David Cassidy of UBS warns that there is little prospect of a rebound in banks’ earnings in the near-term, and investors should retain "underweight" positions with regard to the sector. Richard Wiles of Morgan Stanley is also bearish about the sector, and recently downgraded share price targets for the sector by an average of seven per cent.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ORGANISATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES, RETAIL FOOD GROUP LIMITED – ASX RFG, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED – ASX API, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, ISENTIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX ISD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, QBE INSURANCE (INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, CHICAGO BOARD OPTIONS EXCHANGE VOLATILITY INDEX

Investors follow Future Fund to lift share exposure

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Original article by James Kirby
The Australian – Page: 32 : 2-Feb-18

A report from Investment Trends shows that in early 2017 the average investor expected a return of just 1-5 per cent from Australian equities for the calendar year, but the ASX achieved a full-year return of 11.8 per cent. Investment Trends’ King Loong Choi says the firm’s annual survey shows that the proportion of investors whose main goal is to maximise capital growth has risen from 18 per cent to 25 per cent in 2018. Choi adds that retail investors who increase their exposure to equities in 2018 may choose to do so via investment vehicles such as exchange-traded funds rather than directly buying shares.

CORPORATES
INVESTMENT TRENDS PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Meet the Bond who helped return 74 per cent in 2017

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 27 : 30-Jan-18

Terra Capital founder Jeremy Bond is upbeat about the outlook for equities in 2018, particularly the resources sector. The firm’s natural resources fund achieved a return of 74 per cent in 2017, benefiting from rising demand for raw materials used in electric car and storage batteries, such as lithium and cobalt. However, Bond notes that the rally in the resources sector is broad-based and encompasses most commodities.

CORPORATES
TERRA CAPITAL PTY LTD, TERRA CAPITAL NATURAL RESOURCE FUND PTY LTD, TAWANA RESOURCES NL – ASX TAW, FIRST COBALT CORPORATION – ASX FCC, ECOBALT SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED, OKLO RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX OKU, CHAMPION IRON LIMITED – ASX CIA, CLEVELAND-CLIFFS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RIVERSDALE MINING LIMITED, MERCER INVESTMENTS PTY LTD, BENNELONG CONCENTRATED AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES FUND, TRIBECA GLOBAL NATURAL RESOURCES FUND

AFIC left behind on rising resources

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 18 : 23-Jan-18

The Australian Foundation Investment Company has posted a 2017-18 interim profit of $A136.4m, which is 15.6 per higher than previously. Its investment portfolio achieved a return of 6.9 per cent for the half-year, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gained 8.4 per cent. AFIC failed to benefit from a rally in small and mid-cap resources stocks, as its focus in the sector is on large-cap stocks. AFIC CEO Mark Freeman notes that elevated share price means it is hard to find stocks that are fairly valued at present.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FOUNDATION INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED – ASX AFI, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, INCITEC PIVOT LIMITED – ASX IPL, COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE

Cyclical stocks back in play as bulls charge on

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 22 : 19-Jan-18

Analysis by Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse shows that stocks with the lowest volatility have traded at an average price-earnings premium of nearly 10 per cent over the last decade. In contrast, stocks with the highest volatility have traded on an average PE discount of nearly 20 per cent. Tevfik says investors should rebalance their portfolios in favour of higher-volatility cyclical stocks rather than so-called bond proxies. Stocks he favours include BHP Billiton, Whitehaven Coal, Qantas and Harvey Norman.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, MAGELLAN FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX MFG, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, CHICAGO BOARD OPTIONS EXCHANGE VOLATILITY INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Future Fund’s Apple bite triples

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 31-Oct-17

The Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and the ANZ bank remained the top holdings of the Federal Government’s $A134.5bn Future Fund in 2016-17. National Australia Bank replaced Telstra as the sovereign wealth fund’s fourth-largest holding, while Apple rose from 86th to eighth position in the list of its top 100 holdings. New entrants to the list in 2016-17 include GGP, Amcor, Sydney Airport and JP Morgan.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, APPLE INCORPORATED, GGP INCORPORATED, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, JP MORGAN AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, EQUITY RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES TRUST, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, MAGELLAN GLOBAL FUND, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED, VISA INTERNATIONAL

Brexit shut one door, opened another for Auscap

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 24-Oct-17

Auscap Asset Management, which was founded by Tim Carleton and Matthew Parker in 2012, boasts about $A450m worth of funds under management. Carleton says Auscap saw Britain’s vote to leave the European Union as an opportunity to buy several Australian stocks with exposure to the UK at a healthy discount to their pre-Brexit share price. Likewise, the firm capitalised on bearish sentiment toward retail stocks following the Federal Government’s 2014 Budget to buy oversold stocks in the sector.

CORPORATES
AUSCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ANSELL LIMITED – ASX ANN, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, CALEDONIA INVESTMENTS LIMITED, COTA CAPITAL, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, BLACK DOG INSTITUTE, VICTOR CHANG CARDIAC RESEARCH INSTITUTE LIMITED, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS RESEARCH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL